The desire for prayer is already prayer.

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‘My soul is longing for the Lord more than watchman for daybreak’

Ps129

In days gone by, when there was no electricity and night was pitch dark, city walls would have guards posted to watch for daybreak. They would call out as soon as light began to appear over the horizon, as a sign for people to get up and begin the day. This is the image the psalmist uses to describe our longing for God, just like that of a watchman waiting for daybreak. Our prayer life is like that.  It is a time of watching and waiting. We need to be patient. The consolation and peace that comes from prayer cannot be turned on like water from a tap. God will give us consolation in prayer when the time is right, and it will often come unexpectedly. Most of our prayer time, therefore, is patient watching for the dawn of God’s presence.  Michael Ramsay, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, had a reputation as a man of prayer. He was interviewed on television and asked how much time he prayed each day. The interviewer was shocked at the reply. ‘Five minutes’, the Archbishop said. He then went on to add, ‘but it takes me an hour to get there!’.

Take time this Lent to spend a little more time waiting for God.  Sometimes it is good to stop saying prayers and just be in God’s presence.  All sorts of things will come into your mind.  Not to worry. Let them come, and go. Some people have the mistaken idea that to pray you have to have holy thoughts all the time.  That is unrealistic. The important thing about prayer is not the attention we give to but the intention.  The fact that we intend to be there, before the Lord, wherever that happens to be, is prayer.  As Augustine says, the desire for prayer is already prayer. So don’t worry about those random thoughts.  Just be in God’s presence, preferably in a quiet place, and allow the silence to take over. And God will come to you in God’s own good time.  ‘Our heart is restless, Lord, until it rests in you.’

A reflection written by Paul Graham O.S.A., St Joseph's Broomhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland


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Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Col 4:6

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