Pilgrim - Prayers of Thanks
Part of our congregation's Lent journey has been to adopt the word PILGRIM as an acronym to take us through the roughly six weeks to Easter. P is for Monday's, I is for Tuesdays, L is for Wednesdays and so on...You can see the Pilgrim poster below...
So Mondays are:
Pray short prayers of gratitude throughout the day. Put your watch on the other arm (or something similar) to remind you...
When I first started reading the Bible, I battled with Paul's call to continual joy, prayer and thanks. I was intimidated by what seemed to me to be an impossible task. How could I study and pray, work and pray, cook and pray, etc.
But prayer isn't exclusively about closed eyes and thoughtful words offered to God even though this is important. Sometimes prayer is awareness of God's presence in all we do. Prayer can be observing hints of God's working and hearing the whisper of God. Sometimes prayer is an attitude of gratitude or the patience of waiting. Sometimes prayer is a sigh or a groan.
Years ago, reflecting on marriage, I wrote this:
"Brenda and I do many things together. Each day passes with us working side by side and sharing the ups and downs of each day. We are able to communicate constantly with words, grunts, smiles, signs, and expressions. In fact, we actually say very little - it isn't necessary. Prayer can be like this too..."
If we become sensitive to and aware of God's presence, we will be able to "spend the day with God". When I get this right, then my 'prayers' sound something like this:
- (Driving in the car) 'What a beautiful morning Lord - thank you'
- (later whilst looking around in traffic) 'Gosh, Lord, the lady in the car over there is crying - please would you be with her.'
- (Arriving at the church) 'There's a lot to do today Lord, please give me the energy I need!'
- (Faced with a pile of work) 'Groan! I need help Lord!'
- and so on...
Joy and Gratitude are both attitudes and I don't think that Paul sandwiched Prayer between them by accident. I think each day can be a stream of communication between us and our ever-present God. You'll find that the words don't matter much.
| Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (1Thessalonians5:16-19) |
