CELTIC BENEDICTION....an ancient blessing just for you

HOW TO PRAY

True intercessionary prayer is at the level of the heart and at that level we do not need words. We do need to be in harmony with God to achieve this state and we do need to be fulfilling the wishes of our God…. Love your neighbour as yourself. While talking about intercessionary prayer we are thus talking about how we come into harmony with God and how we know his will. He after all knows what is in our hearts … he knew us in our mother’s womb.

We concentrate on words and get it wrong.

"Then the way we often pray came into my mind and how, through lack of knowing and understanding of the ways of love, we pester him with petitions. Then I saw truly that it gives more praise to God and more delight if we pray steadfast in love trusting his goodness, clinging to him by grace than if we ask for everything our thoughts can name. All our petitions fall short of God, and are too small to be worthy of him, and his goodness encompasses all that we can think to ask. The best prayer is to rest in the goodness of God knowing that the goodness can reach right down to our lowest depths of need".

This quotation from Julian of Norwich expresses succinctly how we usually pray and how we should pray instead. Perhaps this is why we feel God does not always answer our prayers?

Prayer is a mystery. It really does change things; and it changes us, but we shall never know in this life just how powerful Christian prayer really is, because to know is to know the mind of God.

Prayer is unheard where there is insufficient love. The more we love God the easier it is to pray and to co-operate with him in his work of salvation.

As I write this, a few days after the funeral of Princess Diana, I think of all those millions of people who came and brought their flowers and their messages for her and the young princes. Everyone wept for Diana, from the smallest little child to the noblest in the land. Every single one of those people was offering prayers to God for the life of Diana, interceding for her soul to be at peace in heaven. It was not necessary to make formal speeches; in fact collective unconscious cast these aside in dramatic fashion, or to use formal prayers; but just to "reach right down to our lowest depths of need." The spiritual atmosphere created by the perfume of those millions of flowers in silent London streets spoke volumes to all who experienced it, without a word spoken. The best intercession flows from heart to heart and need to need. God answers in the language of the heart. This is what we are trying to achieve in our intercessionary prayers.

So what do we know about prayer? As usual we turn to the Bible for our answers. What does Jesus tell us about how we should pray?

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours, and when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." (Mark 11 v 24-25.) So we must be in union with Christ, with our sins forgiven before we dare to ask for anything in his name.

When we hold up each other in prayer we are putting our trust in God, and we are crying out to him to change those things we cannot change. But God uses prayer to change US. We are the hands, minds and bodies of Christ on this earth. For prayer to be answered we are required to act.

True intercessory prayer is asking God what he wants from us and then listening to his answer. The very act of prayer changes the one who prays. It imparts us with God’s love, fills us with awareness of Him and makes us try to love one another as he commanded us to do. In putting these emotions and feelings into practice we are beginning the process of change that we prayed for. .... and the change is in us! By praying in communion with others our shared awareness in God’s love can become a corporate, effective force. If we pray hard enough, things will change!

Intercessory prayer is not asking God for favours but means literally "standing in between". This is something you do or are, rather than something you say. This may be a comfort for people who find the right words difficult to find. Those who pray move into an area of need and stay with it, perhaps even in complete silence.

The only prayer that Jesus gave us is the Lord’s Prayer and when you look at the intercessions laid out in the ASB, you find they follow a very similar pattern.

"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name," is praising God and acknowledging Him as our father. Here we are starting the process of coming into our Father’s presence and attempting to reach harmonious oneness.

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven"; here we acknowledge and agree the point of our prayer, harmony and oneness of purpose. Desire to make this world like heaven and reveal the kingdom of love.

"Give us this day our daily bread". Sustain us to do your will , "and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" we ask for cleansing of ourselves as we acknowledge the Grace of your redemption. Jesus paid the price. We also must forgive those who have hurt us.

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". Don’t put us to the test and keep us safe from all evil; keep us close to you. This is illustrated beautifully in Psalm 91 v. 3 & 4 "For he will deliver you from the snare of the hunter, and from the destroying curse. He will cover you with his wings and you will be safe under his feathers."

The prayer finishes (although not the Mark and Luke versions and probably added by later worshippers) "For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the Glory, forever and ever, Amen." which is a great shout of triumphant praise to God. It always feels right to finish our prayers in this way." We end our prayers by placing them all in the hands of Jesus, as our mediator before God.

Although this is the only prayer Jesus actually taught us, he showed us in other ways how to pray, by the prayers he prayed himself. A most wonderful example is the priestly prayer during the Last Supper, when he prays for his disciples, knowing he is going to leave them and go out to die. (John 17). See how the Priestly prayer mirrors the Lord’s Prayer and again gives us the basis of intercession.

He acknowledges God as his father and that he is not of this world . He prays for the disciples to be kept safe and asks for them to be protected from the test of Satan. He prays the same for all believers that they may be one "Father just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one." (Jn. 17 V.21 & 22)

So here we have the basis of intercessionary prayer. Know God and His love. Know Him as our Father and know we are not of this world; its materialism and temptations. Be in harmony with God’s plan and feel safe. Be one with God as Jesus was, and aim to bring the whole world to this oneness by the truth.

The intercession is placed in the Eucharist between the teaching and cleansing part of the service, the offering of our gifts and the blessing of the Holy Communion. It is the link between the worldly and the spiritual. The Eucharistic service is the process of leaving behind the outside world, being drawn in deeply together as one body in reverence, to a meditative place before God, and reaching a state worthy to share of his precious sacrifice. It is only when we arrive at this place that we are able to intercede on behalf of the others in this world.

What I have written up to this point, whilst it obviously lays out essential principles for intercessory prayer in public worship, is predominantly written around thoughts on private prayer. Meaningful silences in public worship have a different characteristic from those of private meditation, and the objective of public intercession must include the drawing in of those in the congregation who have not thought so deeply about prayer. The overriding objective must be to involve the whole congregation in unity, in these prayers. Therefore we should avoid politics, contentious issues, personal hobbyhorses etc.)

When we come to prepare intercessions for the Holy Communion we usually need some guidance at first. We need to learn to focus on God and focus on the liturgy. Focus on areas of concern, both of the parish and of the wider world. Study the theme and the readings for the particular week. These will usually start you off in the right direction. Keep it simple, to the point and prayerful.

I always like to write out my intercessions beforehand, in quiet and with prayer, so that I don't make any mistakes during the service. Sometimes this can be quite a strange experience, because I can feel that God is with me and the words flow out of my pen almost without my help. I find it a very moving experience.

Nerves can come into play as the time draws near and I find it very helpful to pray quietly. It calms me down and gives me confidence. When the times come in the service for the intercessions, walk calmly to the lectern and adopt a prayerful demeanor. It will show in the way you walk and in your voice.

Give the congregation a little time to settle and as you pray remember to pace your words carefully. Keep room for silences. Remember God is with us and speak to him directly, drawing the congregation in with you. Be aware that the prayers are on behalf of everyone. Intercessions done well will add their substance to all that has gone before.

How many times have you been into a church and just sat, perhaps in the evening, especially in the quiet, and experienced that peace, that timeless feeling of being one with all the people who have prayed there down the centuries? The presence of God seems to be contained in the very structure of the building. Here, the mystery of divine love seems closer and I know that if I can be still in my head, even for a few moments, He will enter my mind, bring light where there is darkness and peace where there is anxiety. In such moments as these I know that I am deep in prayer.

DAILY PRAYER PLAN FOR GUIDED PRAYER