Rhythmic Prayer: The exercises

The second chapter of my prayer journey is all about rhythm. The contrast between periods of work and rest creates gaps into which we can invite God.
These are the exercises that Gerard and Chrissie Kelly suggest in their book, which can allow us to fill the gaps in our lives with prayer.

Liminal Prayer: coming apart at the seams

Coming apart at the seams sounds like bad news! But in another sense, it's nothing but good news. Coming apart is an old-fashioned term for the life of prayer, and often the time to find moments to withdraw from the preoccupations of the day is the joining places. The moments between waking and sleeping, between home and work, the pause between appointments. These are liminal moments, stages between one state and the next and they most offer the chance of private thoughts in an otherwise public day. Can you identify some of the seams in your life that you can convert into prayer moments? Having done so, can you commit to using them with regularity? Every traffic light, two seconds before each meeting, the same bus ride every day. What about offering a silent prayer every time you cross a boundary or threshold?

Pause, rewind, play

There is great scope for creating “pause moments” in the day and habitually turning them to prayer. The time it takes to boil a kettle, to take a shower... In the Celtic tradition each of these would have its own prayer. There were prayers for lighting the fire, milking the cow, or washing your face. Perhaps we can create prayers like that for ourselves. Think about the “pause moments” that most regularly occur in your days and which of them could most easily be turned to prayer.

Spot the dot

We have done this before in church. We were invited to put a sticker on our watch, or our phone, or our glasses case, so that every time we saw it, it would remind us to pray. Would anyone like a new dot?The fishbowl of faithThe Kellys have a friend in London who used to feel guilty about all the people he promised to pray for. He had too many people on his list, and couldn't stick to a timetable. His ingenious solution was to find an empty fishbowl at home, and write the names of everyone he had committed to pray for on pieces of paper. Whenever he went out of his front door, he would pick a slip with closed eyes and pray for that person through the day.

Thanktank

The German mystic Meister Eckhart taught that “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was 'Thank you.' that would suffice.” Saying grace before meals can for some people be a rare island of gratitude in an ungrateful world. Some make a habit of praying on the last moment before sleep, thanking God for the warmth, security and comfort of a bed and for the home that allows a family to rest in peace. Some have learned in their first waking moments to pause and thank God for the new day. When Jesus broke bread and said “Do this in remembrance of me,” was he thinking about the service of Holy Communion, or something simpler? “Every time you see bread, think of me. Every time you break it, remember me.” Sew prayer into the very fabric of your day and you will find that fabric transformed.

Prayer Journey - My second step

After admitting to some struggles as I try to get my prayer life up to speed, this Sunday I'm going to preach on the second chapter of Gerard and Chrissie Kelly's book, Intimate with the Ultimate.

This is all about getting a rhythm in your prayer life. Music to my ears. I've always been stop start, trying out something new and being all enthusiastic for a week or two, only for the next new thing to become another source of guilt, or an unwanted millstone round my neck.

The chapter begins with a provocative quote from Christine Sine: "I am challenged by the idea of entering into the joy of the Sabbath as a glimpse of eternity. Taking the Sabbath seriously affects the rhythm and focus of my whole life, not just one day a week."
Tomorrow will be my day off, and I will be resting. I don't always manage a full day off, and if my sermon isn't finished, I'll be sneaking into the study or sitting with my laptop on my knees while watching television in the evening, finishing my Powerpoint or the notice sheet.
(Ever wondered why there are so many typos in the notice sheet? Maybe there was something good on telly on Saturday night ...)

But it's not just about taking a day off once a week. Important though that is, what the Kellys are really talking about, is contrast.
They give the example of the discovery made by impressionist painters, that using contrasting colours could make each one shine more brightly. If we can inject some contrast into our lives - times of effort interspersed with times of rest, times of action balanced by times of reflection - then the resulting rhythm will add depth to all we do.

These rhythms aren't prayer in themselves, more containers into which prayer can be poured. They can be thimble-sized, or big enough for a gallon of Spirit. But without the container, the prayer can't be held. Try getting yourself a drink without a glass to put it in. You end up in all sorts of contortions trying to get your head under the tap.

If rhythm can stop my prayer life getting contorted, it's well worth a go!

Prayer journey? Prayer traffic jam, more like

Well, I have to confess that my prayer journey is off to a slow start.

Thank you to everyone who has been asking me how it is going - I hope I've been honest enough with you to say that it is going very very slowly! I did say that prayer wasn't my strong point, didn't I?

So instead of zipping along the M1 of prayer, I am firmly stuck in the traffic jam of the spiritual life. But not disheartened. It's too easy to get either guilty or fed up, and decide that's it, I'm not going to bother. I don't want to succumb to these temptations. I also want to try some of the suggestions in the Kellys' excellent book.

Past of what I am doing at the moment is removing some of the blockages to prayer. I've spoken about guilt already, I've spoken about the fact that we need to be really persuaded that God is on our side, not waiting to appeased by us, or argued into grudgingly helping us out. I really believe that, and I'm determined to put it into practice.

The next sermon on this subject will be preached on June 23rd, at 8am and 10am in Holy Trinity Hertford Heath. There will also be blog posts on the subject of chapter two - prayer as a rhythm. I am really looking forward to this - I sense that my own efforts at prayer are fitful and clumsy because I lack any rhythm. I hope to be reporting on some ways to bring God into the ups and downs of my life pretty soon.

Peace to this house

We're getting going on our prayer journey.
Or at least I am. Don't know if there's anyone going to be travelling with me yet. Unless you comment. (Hint hint)
Anyway, after talking last Sunday about the idea of prayers as a relationship, and posting the exercises suggested by Gerard and Chrissie Kelly in their book, here'a little report on my first steps.

This has been Christian Aid Week, a time when we try to deliver envelopes to as much of the parish as we can manage, and invite people to fill them with money and bring them back to church on Sunday, where coffee cake and a car wash await them. And a smile. And a box to put their envelopes in. We don't raise as much money as we would if we did it the traditional way, of returning to each house where we'd delivered an envelope, and asking for a donation. But that's hard, and some people are rude and unwelcoming, and the church family by and large are not willing to do this any more.
And to be fair to the community at large, nobody knocks on someone's door in the evening, unless it's an emergency, and nobody asks for money these days, and if they do, we feel embarrassed and offended. But the discussion about door to door collecting belongs in another place.

All that is just to say that I have been walking the streets, delivering around 300 envelopes, and taking the opportunity to try and pray while I walked.
It's interesting to reflect, after 8 years here, just how many of the houses and the people who live in them I now know. A surprisingly large number. I have been privileged to be invited in to many of the houses, and into the stories of the lives of those who live there. So as I walk up their garden path, I can call them to mind, and commend them to God's love.
And for those I don't know, there are always clues about who lives there. Can I see toys in the garden? Then there's children. A handrail by the door? Someone elderly, probably living alone. Pets? Decorations? All clues that have helped me aim an arrow prayer heavenwards for God to bless the likely occupants of this house.

But I also need to confess that doing this yearly job makes me nervous. I'm not a natural postman. I used to work on large council estates in London, often delivering bad news such as details of rent arrears and eviction notices. I got a hostile reception. I've had my hand bitten by a dog, pushing a letter through a door, and a loud volley of barking as I approach someone's house always makes my pulse race. I'm very aware that I'm stepping on to someone's territory  and occasionally I catch suspicious looks as the curtain is twitched aside, and an anxious resident looks out to see who is invading their space.
So it's been very calming to imagine myself as an emissaary of peace. I remembered Jesus' instructions to his disciples when he sent them out in pairs: “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house. If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you.”
"Peace to this house," I say, as I push open the letterbox, and shove a little red envelope through. I imagine myself not bringing them a request for money, not remonding them of their responsibility to the poor, which might evoke feelings of guilt or annoyance, but bringing them a gift.
It's been a positive experience.
So - people of Rushen Drive, Oak Tree Close, Trinity Road, London Road and the Roundings - be blessed today!

The long watches of the night

Ok, I know I'm not off to a great start with my prayer journey. Not many posts yet, and you may be in danger of forgetting what it's all about!
The truth is, I've been struggling to find time to be with God in more than a perfunctory way. Many demands of my time and energy in recent days, and one of the negative consequences of being too busy is that I sleep less well.

For me, lying awake in the small hours is the time when I succumb to guilt. I remember all the things I haven't done, and I think about the ways I wasted time yesterday instead of shifting more things off my to do list.

Where does this guilt come from? For years, I thought it was God speaking to me. It never occurred to me to wonder why he always had such negative things to say in the middle of the night. I think the truth is more to do with the way my mind works - when awake at night I generally feel worse about myself than at any other time.My thoughts turn to guilt more easily that blessing.

I'm learning to remind myself that God is nice, and he loves me. OK, he might have some stern things to say about the way I serve him badly, but he is adept at saying them in ways that build me up, not in ways that grind me down.

The first thing to be done on this prayer journey is to shift away some of the rubbish that gets in the way of my relationship with God. Night time guilt - that's first for the wheelie bin.

Finding God in unlikely places

I'm meant to be on a prayer journey at the moment. As you know, if you're a regular follower of my blog.
But nothing has happened this week because of various things, one the main ones being the arrival of OFSTED at my local school.
I'm not allowed to divulge the outcome of the report before it is published, but anyone who has connections with the world of education will know how stressful the inspectors' visits can be.
It was very hard not to get caught up in the tension, and to let nerves get the better of me when with Sue the Chair of Governors, I took my turn to be lightly grilled.
It turned out not to be the ordeal I feared. The inspector was calm, friendly and understanding. She smiled. She urged us to relax. She communicated that she was here to inspect, not to judge.
In short, she did all that I wanted to do for the staff - bring a little sniff of the peace of God into the school in the midst of the anxiety and fear.
In the midst of a time of great testing, God was present, brought in by the most unlikely of people, found in the most unsought for place - the person of the OFSTED inspector.

Relational Prayer 3 - The Exercises

As I begin my journey of prayer, beginning with the easy and obvious, here are the exercises that Gerard and Chrissie Kelly recommend in their book, Intimate with the Ultimate.

Prayer is relationship

Consider the elements that contribute to a healthy relationship: you might think, for instance, that time should be invested, not only doing things together but simply being together; you might suggest that listening is important, each person being truly heard by the other; you might want to say that complete transparency and honesty are essential. Make a list of the five or six most important elements. Now ask yourself, what is the place for this in my relationship with God?

Prayer is trust

Take some time to reflect on your walk with God over the past 12 to 24 months. Ask yourself where are the high spots where you have truly trusted God, and where are the low spots, where you have given way to fear? What made the difference? What can you do to see fear expelled? Try noting in a journal the things you have said and done that might be construed as being born out of fear – then, on another page, those things born of trust. Do you see a pattern in the difference between the two? Are there ways you can shift the balance from being fearful to trusting?

The empty chair

Therapists sometimes use a technique of recreating a conversation you have had in the past by asking you to talk to an empty chair, imagining that the person is there in front of you. Try doing the same for a while with God. Rather than praying to a God “somewhere out there”, imagine God on a chair beside you. What do you want to say?

Emmaus Road

If you have struggled in recently to find time to pray, take a literal walk with God. If possible, walk somewhere where people will not think you crazy for talking to yourself. Book some time: two hours; a morning; a whole day and talk to God as you walk. Shout at him if you have to; cry if you need to. Imagine him asking you “So how is life going for you?” and “How do you feel about that?” and “What would you ask me if nothing was considered off limits?”

Table for two

A few years ago we created a prayer installation in the church on the day of the village fête. Part of it consisted of a table, laid for two, with a jug of juice. Each person was invited to take a seat, pour themselves a drink and dine with Jesus. Given such an invitation, what would you talk about?

Letters of love

If you sometimes find it hard to talk to Go, write to him. Write, “Dear God ...” and then say what you've been trying to say. Explain yourself; ask your questions; express your feelings. Sign off with love, then seal the letter and set it aside. Three months later, read it and ask, “Did God answer?”

His prayer – your prayer

Use the words of the Lord's prayer as your framework for prayer. After each phrase, simply pray about the things that come to mind. If you run out of time, write some of the things down to pray about later. Come back daily to the list. Pray daily; ask daily; forgive daily; seek guidance daily. Let the categories sparked by the Lord's Prayer become the categories in which you pray: use the filing cabinet Jesus designed for you because he knew that you would need one ...