One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father...'" (Luke 11.1-2)
A very short reflection to begin with.
God created us for relationship with him: Jesus came to restore that relationship, broken by human sin. The first thing he teaches his disciples and friends to do when they pray is to remember and celebrate that relationship: "say, 'Father...' ".
In all of our praying about the Open Church Project it will be very tempting to start somewhere else - possibly with a list of requests or worries, maybe even with an agenda of things to pray through. Now I believe that God is interested in all of that - we can talk to him about anything and everything. But his primary focus is not to finish a building project: rather, it is for our relationship with him to deepen and for that relationship to impact the world.
So how about we begin each time and always with this prayer: Father, please reveal to us more of yourself, show us more of who you are, and grow our trust in you.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Beginning
Over the coming weeks and months you will find a new bible reflection and suggestions for prayer, usually every week. The aim of this is to encourage us all through the Open Church Project to grow closer to God and understand more of who he is and his good purposes for us and for his world. Most of the reflections will be written by me (Mark - the vicar) but a few guests may appear from time to time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)