Sunday 21st January - Prayer

Our church is embarking upon a Year of Prayer, which all sounds rather daunting. 

It was launched last week, with a sermon encouraging us to just try and connect with God, even for just a few minutes, three times a day. But how? It doesn't have to be perfectly scripted, or in a special place, we were told. Just remember, include Him in, say a thank you. That's a start.

This week was more of the same, using the Lord's Prayer in whichever version you are familiar with. I remember when sat still and meditated each phrase in turn every morning for 5 minutes by my stopwatch (I know my limitations only too well).  It was a wonderfully calming way to start even the busiest of days.

At the moment I am slowly reading a couple of books on prayer, on an 'as and when' basis, and I'm also using Angela Ashwin's book of 1000 prayers every day to 'get me started'. Sometimes reading the prayer is the beg8nning and the end of it and sometimes I stay with it a bit longer.

The books are a golden oldie, 'Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer' by C S Lewis, and a newer book, recommended by a friend (and on offer for 99p on kindle until the end of January) called 'Praying like Monks, Living like Fools' by Tyler Staton.

I think I can manage a few minutes, a couple of times a day, to do the equivalent of sending a text or WhatsApp to God... and hopefully catch an idea of what He would like me to pay attention to in return!