By: MARGARET BROWN
pointofview@portugalresident.com
JESUS SAID to him “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father except through me”. John 14:6
For Christians, to pray is to have a conversation with God through his son – our sole line of communication, according to the Gospel of John in the New Testament.
Some people may pray occasionally when in great need, others call out in extremis into an empty void. True believers perhaps pray at set times and in snatches throughout the day – much as one talks to a friend but silently. To receive an answer calls for patience as well as humility because sometimes we listen only to ourselves, hearing what we want to hear rather than the true voice of God.
We will be unable to have a personal relationship with him, in the way that a happy child has with its natural father, when only our minds are reaching out. If our hearts are not engaged, prayer remains an intellectual exercise of will that leads down sterile cul-de-sacs and paths to nowhere.
An intensely personal matter, private prayer is between the individual and his deity. A third party may offer guidance but that is all. It is a different thing altogether to be part of an intercessory team, members of which take their turn to lead a congregation in prayer. Although there are written guidelines in the Order of Service book, for a novice adrift on uncharted waters it is a test of body, mind and spirit. Instruction offered by a Priest can, with practice, direct the mind, free the spirit and inspire one to lead the Church in prayer: but in the presence of God a sense of inadequacy and awe remains.
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