From the Pastor - March 2018
Dear Friends in Christ,
Prayer is like a humidifier. You can get along without it, but it makes
life more pleasant and comfortable.
Here’s what I mean.
If you have forced air heating in
your house, then the air is probably drier during the cooler months than it is
at other times of the year.
When I started using a humidifier a
couple of months ago, I immediately noticed a difference. The air was
more refreshing. My skin was not
as dry. And my indoor plants didn’t
droop as much.
Likewise, there are benefits to praying,
such as relief from anxiety, pain, and depression. According to Burke Lennihan, prayer can also
help your creativity, intuition, and inner peace.1
Henri Nouwen says that prayer
deepens our awareness of God’s goodness, and it cultivates a spirit of
gratitude. Thankfulness sets us free
from seeing our commitments as burdens, and it allows us to offer ourselves
freely and fully for the work of God’s kingdom because, as Nouwen puts it, “God
has already given us what we need for life in abundance.”2
The catch with prayer is that you have to keep at it. Consistency is key. The same way I need to fill the humidifier
with water on a regular basis, I need to pray regularly to maintain the benefit
of prayer.
Prayer is one of the disciplines of
Lent, and if you see prayer as a pathway to God’s goodness, then it will not feel
like a chore. You can pray anywhere,
anytime, about anything.
Betty Cloyd offers several
suggestions to give your praying focus.
She recommends praying a short Bible verse throughout the day, keeping a
prayer journal to record your conversations with God, maintain a prayer list that
names people on your heart, or making use of prayers from people across the
ages.3
Cloyd also suggests praying for the
people with whom you live while standing at the threshold of their rooms. A simple breath prayer like “Lord, have mercy”
or “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me” is another prayer practice.4
Trevor Hudson’s devotional book Pauses for Lent offers a brief reflection
and simple practice for each day of Lent.
Pick a prayer practice that resonates
with you, and stick to it for the rest of
Lent. Let it be a “means of grace,” a
channel for experiencing Christ’s refreshing love and peace.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Dr. Brian C. Smith
________________
1 "What Meditation Can Do for Your Mind, Mood, and
Health," (July 2014),
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/what-meditation-can-do-for-your-mind-mood-and-health-.
2 Henri J. M. Nouwen, A
Spirituality of Fundraising, ed. John S. Mogabgab, The Henri Nouwen
Spirituality Series (Nashville, TN: Upper Room Books, 2010), 57-58.
3 Betty Shannon Cloyd, Encouraging
Praying Households, ed. Reuben Job, Becoming a Praying Congregation
(Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2009), 164.
4 Ibid.
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