Recently I’ve begun making plans with my husband to fly to Italy for a week’s holiday in a few months’ time and we’re now working through all the admin which is involved: passport renewal, travel insurance, transport to the airport, currency, luggage allowance.
Now, a few weeks after booking and inspired by a worship service on the theme of Walking the Way and another where we exchanged names with another person in the congregation to form prayer partnerships for the coming twelve months, I’ve been reflecting on arguably the most remarkable journey anyone can make. One which doesn’t involve flying or indeed any form of transport or even walking (in the physical sense).
Not a ‘once in a lifetime’ journey; not a journey we have to take or are forced to take but one we can choose to take, one which has the potential to become a beautiful, continuous, lifelong and life-changing adventure.
That is, the journey of prayer, leading us from wherever we are at this point in our lives to the heart of God. Wherever we start from, we know that we’ll be journeying in the company of others, even though no two people will be taking the same route. Indeed we’ll be deliberately taking other people with us on many occasions; those we know such as our family, friends, colleagues, carers, neighbours and prayer partners, along with those we don’t know personally but who have been placed on our hearts, for example people across the world whose faces we see on our screens existing in desperate circumstances who we can carry to God in prayer.
Our holiday preparations have involved computers at home and at the travel agent’s office and we’ve marvelled at how the human designed internet has connected us to so much information and support. How much more we should marvel at our connection to God through prayer, one which doesn’t need for a physical link but using instead the power of the Holy Spirit.
On any journey, some people seem to be able to get to their destination very directly and need few, if any, signposts to follow. So too with prayer journeys we’re likely to have periods when it seems to come easily; when we seem to be able to find the right words at just the right time and may even see tangible results from our prayers quite quickly.
At other times and stages of life though, prayer can seem like a burden, just another thing to be ticked off the endless “to do” list we carry. Even if we know who or what we should be praying for or about, often we can’t always find the right starting point. Or we begin full of good intentions but allow ourselves to be distracted by that noisy notification from our phone which we feel has to be checked instantly, or the demands of family or ill health seem to restrict the time and space we can make for prayer.
We feel lost and disillusioned on our prayer journey. We’re walking in a forest with no clear path ahead or on a path which comes to a junction, where we’re presented with a choice of routes. Or, perhaps, we feel that our load is simply too heavy, the responsibility of carrying the sadnesses of others was well as our own too much to bear.
That’s when we need to acknowledge our need for a companion; someone who can point out the best path for us or, who if we ignore them then press ahead and trip over an obstacle, will gently pick us up, dust us down and make clear the way ahead, laying stepping stones or a trail of footprints on our hearts, without exasperation or judgment but with loving concern. When I’m praying at home, I often sense Jesus sitting alongside me as a concerned friend, listening closely as I open my heart and talk about the things which concern me or which I need help with. He’s the guide who never fails me.
Whenever and wherever I’m praying, I find that every prayer is a journey. A moving from one subject to another, sometimes travelling in straight lines, often doubling back or, occasionally, taking a completely circular route so that I finish back where I started. What an adventure!
Some days I feel guilty that I’m carrying so much ‘baggage’ with me but I need to keep reminding myself that, unlike the baggage I’ll take on my journey to Italy, with God there’s no limit to what I can bring to him; he won’t be overwhelmed, as I am so often.
I know that I can talk in simple language; no special vocabulary is needed. I might sometimes speak fluently but I know too that it’s alright if I don’t. I can pause, struggle to find the exact words I want to use, even repeat myself. I know that, however tentative my words, they’ll be carried by the Holy Spirit straight to God’s heart. What a destination!
At times when I can’t find any words at all, I simply sit in God’s presence, knowing that his Holy Spirit is doing the talking for me. How life changing it is to know that truth.
Of course, on my prayer journeys I have times of great happiness too: celebrating joys and successes, whether other people’s or my own and giving thanks for hopeful signs, however small, in those ongoing stories of tragedy and pain which seem to dominate our news. What a relief it is when the Spirit prompts us to receive God’s happiness.
Whatever prayer journeys you take, whoever and whatever you carry with you, be excited about having the privilege of being on a road which, however convoluted, connects you so powerfully to the heart of God.
Happy journeying!
Sunlight Through the Shadows 