A church that prays

Hush!

An open church, a quiet space

But

I often hear a hum.

Is it the heating? Is it the lighting? Is it the sound system?

Hush!

I hear it now.

It’s not the heating. It’s not the lighting. It’s not the sound system.

It’s something else.

It’s no bad thing to repeat the 10 commandments, not least on Mothering Sunday. Honour your father and your mother is something that comes right to the fore this year! Though this year in particular it has occurred to me that we ought to add an eleventh commandment ‘Honour your grandfather and your grandmother’.

There are lots of things you can add to the 10 commandments. As he writes to churches Paul is fond of lists. He often comes up with lists of commandments that he is convinced a church family needs to take to heart.

I like lists. I like the 10 commandments. And I like those lists Paul comes up with too. As he comes to the end of the first letter he writes to the church in Thessalonica Paul comes up with just such a list. There is something timeless about it. It speaks very much to any church family, to every church family and to our church family.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

12 But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labour among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; ¹³esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. ¹⁵See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. ¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰Do not despise the words of prophets, ²¹but test everything; hold fast to what is good;²²abstain from every form of evil.

23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

25 Beloved, pray for us.

26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. ²⁷I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them.

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

They are wonderful principles. Let me go through them again. But this time I am going to take three away. A bit like Kim’s game where you take things off a tray and see whether you can spot what is missing.

• Respect
• Be at peace among yourselves
• Admonish the idlers
• Encourage the fainthearted
• Help the weak
• Be patient with all of them
• See that none of you repays evil for evil
• But always seek to do good to one another and to all
• Do not quench the Spirit
• Do not despise the words of the prophets
• Test everything
• Hold fast to what is good
• Abstain from every form of evil.

There are three things in the middle of that list that stand out. A couple of them are given entire verses – which make them rank among the shortest verses in the Bible. Paul adds a comment to these three which somehow captures for him their importance.

“for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

It is as if these three hold the key to the observance of all the others, important though they may be.

• Rejoice always
• Pray without ceasing
• Give thanks in all circumstances
• For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you

And maybe the middle one is the key to them all … and one of those very short verses. Pray without ceasing.

In seeking a church there are, says the Bishop of Reading, ten things to go to the stake for.

1. A church that takes God seriously.
2. A church that takes our humanity seriously.
3. A church that takes the world seriously
4. A church that prays

“A church that prays has its priorities absolutely spot on. Prayer is to us as milk is to a baby, as love is to a newly-wed. It’s how we live and thrive.”

Prayer meeting and at house group and at Hy-Way and at Hy-Tec and here in our services – prayer is part of what we do. It is what we are.

The Leprosy Mission works in parts of the world where leprosy is still a major problem. Each year and each quarter they publish a prayer diary. In the welcome notes to Ask2010, this year’s diary, Geoff Warne, the General Director of the Leprosy Mission International quotes from a wonderful lhymn by James Montgomery …

“Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, unuttered or expressed

The motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast.

He goes on to suggest that ‘the motivation for prayer comes not just from having a prayer guide in our hands but from a fire within.”

‘a hidden fire that trembles in the breast’.

“What fire is that?” he asks.

“We are fired up by trusting in the power of God. Prayer is a mystery. We don’t understand why or how the Creator of the universe responds to our prayers. But scripture affirms again and again that he does.

“Our experience in TLM is that God’s response is not always what we expect, and sometimes goes far beyond. In Ephesians 3:20 Paul speaks of God ‘who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”

He goes on to suggest that it is good for prayer to be informed.

“We are fired up by knowing something of the need.”

So it is that this prayer diary includes suggestions for prayer for each of 365 days. Being informed in our prayer – be it in CWM through Inside Out and the Web site, through the prayer requests we have in Highbury News. The email requests for prayer that Lorraine is now co-ordinating supported by Judi Marsh. If anyone not on email would like to participate have a word with Lorraine or Judi and we can link you in by phone. And the re-issue of Highbury’s Prayer diary – suggestions for prayer in a four week cycle that takes you through the month – with space for personal prayers to be noted as well.

I love that comment on the front cover … “Prayer puts God’s work in God’s hands … and keeps it there.” (E.M.Bounds)

But what is this prayer?

It is a mystery.

It is difficult to understand.

It is not simply a wish list presented to God

It is not simply a shopping list of expectations from God

It is something more.

And Paul gives us the clue. It is at the heart of what we are and who we are … it is nothing less than ‘the will of God in Christ Jesus for each one of us.”

What is this will of God in Christ Jesus for each one of us.

Rejoice always

Pray without ceasing

Give thanks in all circumstances.

Prayer is framed in a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. That does not always come naturally. Praise takes you out of yourself and focused you on God. Thanks acknowledges our indebtedness to God. Rejoicing always is not to put a brave face on it, it is not to smile in the face of adversity, it is to lift our eyes above the awfulness of a situation that may be unfolding and to see God … praise releases that sense of the presence of God.

We rejoice always. We give thanks in all circumstances.

Rejoice and Give thanks frames the middle statement.

Pray without ceasing.

I think that is one of the most exciting insights into the nature of prayer. We know that Paul was an incredibly busy person – his life was action packed. His travels took him all over the Mediterranean world, he preached, he taught, he healed and he got into many scrapes which he describes on more than one occasion .. hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, sleepless nights, hunger – you name it, Paul endured it. He was busy, a great doer.

When he says ‘pray without ceasing’ he does not mean that you have to extract yourself from the real world and simply say your prayers. No, prayer is a greater mystery than that.

Prayer is the life-blood of what we do. It is the air we breathe. It is an attitude of mind that is always there. Often we are not aware of it … but then it will surface, just in a thought, a moment’s reference to the God who is always there.

“Prayer is to us as milk is to a baby, as love is to a newly-wed. It’s how we live and thrive.” John Pritchard is right.

And prayer is at the heart of all we do and all we share in the life of the church. And if it’s there just under the surface … popping up to the surface as and when necessary that makes a difference.

“A praying church,” John Pritchard suggests “is relaxed, joyful, purposeful. It doesn’t strive. It may agonize but it doesn’t worry. It may struggle but it doesn’t despair. It’s turned towards God like a sunflower towards the sun.”

Through Holy Week we are going to open the church each day from 10-00 to 11-00 and again from 6-00 to 7-00 so that we can have an open church and a quiet space. In the church we are going to focus on the stations of the cross and give people the space to share in the quiet of this place, to share in prayer.

Hush!

An open church, a quiet space

But

I often hear a hum.

Is it the heating? Is it the lighting? Is it the sound system?

Hush!

I hear it now.

It’s not the heating. It’s not the lighting. It’s not the sound system.

It’s something else.

“A praying church is turned towards God like a sunflower towards the sun. There’s a saint in every other pew quietly humming with holiness. This is a good place to be in.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m with John Pritchard. I would go to the stake for a church that takes prayer seriously.