A list has been drawn up of those willing to take part and we have each been asked to nominate a time and day to pray for one hour for five people.
I may have mentioned before that I find prayer difficult without the 'trappings' of a set liturgy, so this is going to be a very long 60 minutes.
We were told we could choose where we wanted to perform this duty, either walking, in the company of others, on our own at home - basically, where we liked.
After giving it some thought my decision was to do it at home between 7.00 am and 8.00 am tomorrow (29th) as this is a Bank Holiday and I am unlikely to be interrupted.
The view seems to be that a very large number of people praying over a set period will institute change.
Whether this will prove to be true I have no idea but it will at the very least effect some sort of change in those who pray.
If it does nothing else for me it will be a good exercise in self-discipline..
We shall see.
Well done Ray....you did better than me.....but I've been more or less praying since Manchester happened...
ReplyDeleteMe too Jean, but that sort of prayer for me is like a sort of inner dialogue. A constant silent 'chatter'. This much more concentrated prayer seemed very difficult at first, but suddenly became easier after about 20 minutes, so that by the time I reached 8.00am I could have continued without much strain.
ReplyDeleteFood for thought.
I would find this difficult. I used to attend Quaker meetings (and may again one day.) I find within the discipline of the hour's silence that my mind often wanders. At home, I often write a "prayer list" like a to do list and work through it systematically praying through each item and then, at the end, I return to any that I feel need more thought. Works for me!
ReplyDeleteFrom previous attempts I knew that the most difficult part was to stay focussed. This time I was able to keep stray thoughts at bay by repeating my previous 'sentence', then continuing.
DeletePraying is never in vain but the Lord does say that a prayer with many beautiful words , is no better than the short but sincere prayer. To pray for an hour is a great achievment without the liturgic setting. When I pray like that, which I seldom do, I start out with the issue or the people I like to speak to the Lord about. When my mind start to walk away on it's own, I'll settle with The Kyrie Eleison. Sometimes I let the thoughts wander off and then I very often find that a lot of the thoughts actually are prayers in themselves. Are those five people known to you? Even if they are, the Lord knows better than you what they need, so I would focus on that . If the purpose with the prayers are to prepare for the KIngdom. praying can never be wrong, the Devil doesn't pray much does he, so the strenght in even wanting to chat, speak, pray or wisper in the Lords ear knowing he will listen, is far beyond his horizon. If the five are not already a part of the community, I would pray that they will be and if they are I would pray for them staying, growing and be strong in faith.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree with Jean, things like Manchester and the poor Egyptian sisters and brothers, makes prayer stronger.
We were told to choose five people to pray for, No mention was made of who they might be, so I chose five who I know are in dire need of healing at this time. I cheated by adding a group also, but was quite organised as to how and when to do it. Making a plan helps to keep focus.
DeleteI felt very tired at the end of it but also very calm. (Not a common state for me).
Well done for signing up and committing to it. As Solveig says, all prayer is special.
ReplyDeleteI think feeling part of a chain was a help too.
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