ON THE WAY TO WORK: MORNING PRAYER
PRESENCE AND PEACE
Prayer is bringing yourself, your concerns and everyone you love into the presence of God who is love, knowing that he is with you now and always. So each session begins with a time when you place yourself consciously in the presence of God. Of course, God is with us at every moment. He is as close and as intimate to us as breathing, but in prayer we bring all that to mind.
Let the words of the opening sentence or prayer act like the hands of a potter making a pot: allow the words to mould your thinking and praying. Say the words to yourself slowly, a few times, and then wait; that’s all, just wait. What you are doing is bringing your very self into the presence of God. It may take the whole journey just to do that. And if it does, so be it.
PRAISE
Once you feel you have some kind of inner peace, if only for a brief moment, you could turn to the prayer or passage of Scripture inviting you to offer praise. God is always very close to us, waiting for our response of love, and this is a moment to call to mind not only being in God’s presence but also the pleasure of being with him.
READING AND REFLECTION
Each day in the pages that follow you will find a biblical passage for you to think about. There are a number of suggestions to help you to read the passage thoughtfully, but you may want to ignore those suggestions and approach the text in your own way. That’s fine, but please let both your imagination and your intelligence play their part in what you are doing. And again, don’t rush. Reading the Scriptures as a part of prayer needs to be done with an open mind and with gentle, rigorous patience.
PRAYER
Now begin to turn towards all those people or situations that are on your own heart. Think of the people you are going to meet later today: a colleague, a friend, a stranger – perhaps the people who are sitting around you on the bus or train. Imagine that they are with you now and accompany them into the presence of God. Ask God to bless them and to look upon them with love.
And finally, pray for anyone you have had to leave at home today; with them and for them, in silence, say: ‘Our Father . . .’
CONCLUSION
At the end of the ‘Our Father’ there is a closing prayer to send you out into the day that lies ahead. You might want to try to memorise and hold on to a phrase from this – or from any part of the session – to repeat to yourself throughout the day.
THE JOURNEY HOME: EVENING PRAYER
On the journey homewards, hopefully there comes a moment where the cares of the workaday world begin to be shed and in their stead new, home-directed thoughts and issues take over. Some of those home-concerns may be of enormous and worrying importance, others much more mundane, but sometimes, deeper still, there are more profound moments of introspection about life and its meaning.
There will also come a point, perhaps on the journey itself or, perhaps, later in the evening, when time can be found to reflect on the day that has passed. It’s a sort of tidying-up-and-putting-to-one-side kind of process, a time for turning down the lights and for placing all that has happened before God.
The structure for Evening Prayer is similar to that for Morning Prayer, but with some variations appropriate to the time of day and the different mood of journeying home.
PRESENCE AND PEACE
As with Morning Prayer, this is a moment to focus on God, and to try to achieve a sense of stillness and peace in his presence amongst the commotion of the journey. It will be easier if you have managed to get a seat – but by no means impossible if you haven’t!
READING
As with Morning Prayer, the Bible readings have been selected because they represent some of the most powerful and important elements of our faith. In fact, the readings in the evening sessions echo the readings from the Morning Prayer time.
The readings are followed by Reflections designed to help you to think about one or more of the themes of the reading. At night especially, it is important not to struggle intellectually with each reading, that’s for the daytime. In the evening, the mode and the mood are different. They should be marked by a kind of willing and restful patience.
CONFESSION
The reflections will almost inevitably prompt more serious thought about what has happened during the day, and any things that have left you uneasy or with a troubled conscience. You can, if you wish, examine your soul by asking some questions about your own attitudes, thoughts and behaviour.
The fact is, as human beings we are extraordinarily adept at deceiving ourselves, and therefore, from time to time, in an act of confession before God, we need to be absolutely honest with ourselves and with God. We need to acknowledge what we are truly like and ask God to help us to amend our ways and to become the people he would have us be. Do not wallow in your time of confession; that’s a form of self-indulgence. Once you have confessed to God, move on. Think not of yourself but of others.
PRAYER
Offer prayers of thanksgiving for the day that has passed. If there are things that concern you, place those also in God’s hands. Chew over them for a while if you like, but try not to worry over them like a dog worrying a bone. God knows you and your concerns and looks on you with love. And then, finally, as an act of trust say: ‘Our Father’.
CONCLUSION
Then, simply hand yourself over to God. Leave your thoughts, your worries and the day that has passed with him, knowing that his redeeming and healing love are always at work, reconciling all things to himself.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
