Reflecting further on Titus 2:14 we read these words "to purify for himself himself a people that are his very own."
Being connected to God requires that as a people we be pure and a good start to any prayer session is a prayer for purity.
The Book of Common Prayer supplies us with a prayer for purity (Page 67). It is the Collect for Purity that we prayer at the start of every service of Holy Communion. It asks God to send his Holy Spirit to clease the thoughts of our hearts so that we may approach a holy God as a Holy people.
The Book of Common Prayer has a great many examples of prayers that can be used for all occassions. Two of the best known are The Prayer for All Sorts of Conditions of Men and the General Thanksgiving (Page 14-15).
While there is much to commend extemporanous prayer there is also much to commend the use of prepared prayers such as those I have mentioned. Prepared prayers can give expression to thoughts and feelings that we may have difficulty expressing in our own words. I think this can be especially helpful to those who are beginning to develop a prayer life.
These prayers can also serve as prayer models that can be modified to fit our personal life situation. One way of modifying these prayers is to change the words "our" to "my" and "we" to "I".
Try beginning your prayer sessions with the Collect for Purity with these changes. Notice what the conclusion of the prayer becomes.
"Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden. Cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit that I may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Jesus Christ my Lord."
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Connected to God
In less than four months a new ministry will begin at Trinity. In the past week I have wondered what gift we could give to our new rector when they assume their duties on the the first Sunday of December.
The words of Titus have been on my heart: "to purify for himself a people that are his own eager to do what is right." (Titus 2:14)
This passage from Titus is read at Christmas and speaks to the Lord's coming. What type of people will he find?
Perhaps as a people eager to do what is right implies that we should first of all be a people at prayer. Often our prayer life, mine included, becomes nothing more than a list of things we want God to do for us. It is good that we should pour out our needs to God but if that is all our prayer life is then we miss the point of prayer.
Prayer is our connection with God. It is not only the means by which we pour out our hearts to God but is is also the time when we listen to God.
Perhaps the greatest gift we could give our new rector is the gift of a people committed to prayer and desirous of having a deep and intimate relationship with the living God and his son Jesus Christ.
May I suggest that in the three plus months to come that we focus on getting to know God in new and exciting ways. Perhaps the prayer from the musical Godspell is a good place to start:
"Three things I pray: To see thee more clearly, to love thee more dearly, to follow thee more nearly."
The words of Titus have been on my heart: "to purify for himself a people that are his own eager to do what is right." (Titus 2:14)
This passage from Titus is read at Christmas and speaks to the Lord's coming. What type of people will he find?
Perhaps as a people eager to do what is right implies that we should first of all be a people at prayer. Often our prayer life, mine included, becomes nothing more than a list of things we want God to do for us. It is good that we should pour out our needs to God but if that is all our prayer life is then we miss the point of prayer.
Prayer is our connection with God. It is not only the means by which we pour out our hearts to God but is is also the time when we listen to God.
Perhaps the greatest gift we could give our new rector is the gift of a people committed to prayer and desirous of having a deep and intimate relationship with the living God and his son Jesus Christ.
May I suggest that in the three plus months to come that we focus on getting to know God in new and exciting ways. Perhaps the prayer from the musical Godspell is a good place to start:
"Three things I pray: To see thee more clearly, to love thee more dearly, to follow thee more nearly."
Friday, March 23, 2012
unanswered prayer
recently I had a conversation with a man who told me how discouraged he was that God did not seem to be answering his prayers. In fact, instead of making things better, the situation seemed to be getting worse.
"Where is God in all of this?" he asked. "Why doesn't God answer my prayers?"
The issue of unanswered prayer is one that I hear about frequently.
Often our prayers amount to little more than a list of wants and when God seems indifferent to our wants we give up.
If our prayers don't seem to be getting answers then perhaps we need to change the way we pray.
In John 12:27-28 we have an example of this. Jesus is about to pray that he be saved from the cross when I changes his prayer to "Father, glorify your name!" That prayer was answered before it was uttered.
Prayer is about a relationship with God. When prayer is only about ourselves we shouldn't be suprised that it is unanswered.
True healing only begins when we start to look outward and upward.
"Where is God in all of this?" he asked. "Why doesn't God answer my prayers?"
The issue of unanswered prayer is one that I hear about frequently.
Often our prayers amount to little more than a list of wants and when God seems indifferent to our wants we give up.
If our prayers don't seem to be getting answers then perhaps we need to change the way we pray.
In John 12:27-28 we have an example of this. Jesus is about to pray that he be saved from the cross when I changes his prayer to "Father, glorify your name!" That prayer was answered before it was uttered.
Prayer is about a relationship with God. When prayer is only about ourselves we shouldn't be suprised that it is unanswered.
True healing only begins when we start to look outward and upward.
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