Lord Teach Me to Pray

It seems that the need for prayer is becoming more urgent in recent days with the trucker protest in Ottawa and other strategic locations and the threat of war in the Ukraine.  I am very relieved that the occupation of Ottawa appears to have been resolved relatively peacefully.  I have been praying for that outcome but I would not be so presumptuous to believe it was because of this that the issue was resolved and I will just give thanks to God for this outcome.  However, I am not deluding myself that the divisions that were manifest in these events have been healed.  The threat to peace in the Ukraine seems even more dire and our prayers are needed all the more.

This morning I want to reflect on prayer and hope that this will help me and perhaps others as we continue to be in great need for our prayers to be given and received.  Here are two reflections of prayer which I received this week as a starting place:   

Prayer is not primarily saying words or thinking thoughts. It is, rather, a stance. It’s a way of living in the Presence, living in awareness of the Presence, and even of enjoying the Presence. —Richard Rohr

Prayer is the longing of the human heart for God. It is a yearning and desire for relationship with God, and it is God’s attention to our desire: God-in-communion with us. —Ilia Delio

 

It has been noted by The Very Rev. Alan Jones, that there are five elements of prayer: Adoration, Praise, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.  Of these, Adoration and Supplication place us in the correct relationship with God and all of creation.  He notes that Confession and Supplication are also necessary because they are ways of self-examination.  In addition, they are a means to pray for others.   

Then we have Thanksgiving.  I turn to my favourite saying about Thanksgiving.  We need to give thanks to God in all things rather than for all things (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  We give thanks that God is with us and that we are able to give thanks. 

Finally, we can rejoice in the Lord always on our journey.