By Revd Preb Julian Ould
Prayer is a difficult subject and yet it shouldn’t be. It has been described by some as a kind of conversation with God and, if this is the case, then we are immediately faced with perhaps the major difficulty in that it does tend to be something of a one-sided chat; we do all the talking and we hope God is listening. Added to which, there are occasions when we desperately ask God for something and, when our hopes or desires don’t come to fruition, we assume that He is not listening. So, how do we proceed? Is it perhaps that we are saying the wrong things and, in which case, what should we say?
I have titled this reflection ‘Prayers of Intercession’, and this is because I personally find this type of prayer the most difficult and therefore admire those who lead intercessions week by week during our Sunday services, which are so important, and open our horizons to a breadth of thought.
Prayer generally, however, covers more than just intercession, and importantly should include thanksgiving, not just for things that appear to turn out the way we might wish, but in acknowledgement for the many good fortunes we do have and the wonder of life in all its richness. Furthermore, in returning to intercession, this should not be about giving God a shopping list of our wants and desires, but about seeking guidance and direction in the way we conduct ourselves, and for understanding within the many issues that go beyond our grasp and sometimes comprehension.
The big question, however, still remains about how we pray and, indeed, whether God listens. For many, the way into prayer is with the use of structured prayers that others have written, the greatest of these being the Lord’s Prayer, when Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray. There are so many prayers that in some way are special to the individual, and of course these greatly aid collective worship, but should really be used as a means of inspiration leading into our own reflections, our relationship with God being something personal.
But does God listen? Well, yes, I believe He does, and He does also answer, but not always as we might expect. One of the great failings in prayer is saying so much ourselves that we hardly allow God the chance to get a word in edgeways. One of the greatest forms of prayer is to learn the art of being still and truly listening, and this is not about sitting still or indeed the absence of sound, important though this can be; in fact, the opposite can be true in that music can and is a great aid to prayer and of course music forms a very special part within much of our worship. Being still, though, is about an inner calm that lets go of all the clutter of our lives, not forcing it out but accepting it and then moving on. In such stillness there is that chance to listen to God and whilst this might be in the form of words within our thoughts, it is more often about an awareness and enlightenment. However, it is also important to be aware of the fact that some of our biddings cannot have a straightforward answer, that sometimes the answer might be no and at other times an answer comes, but not as we might necessarily expect, in that we don’t always grasp the wider perspective of things in our own field of view.
Prayer is not easy, but should be natural and come from the heart, and therefore for all who might lead intercessions there is no right or wrong. It is helpful not to give biased views in that not all will be able to share these, but should nevertheless be personal enough to have substance and meaning and hopefully enable us all to be stimulated within our own reflections, praying for the Church, the world, our local community, those in need and the departed.