Start:Stop - Prayers on the Move

Bible reading

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” (Matthew 26. 36 – 39)

Meditation

Jesus prayed on the night before he died but his disciples struggled to pray with him. It might seem difficult to know how to pray, but it may easier than you think. After all, Jesus simply spoke to God about the anguish he was feeling. We could think of praying as being a bit like Facebook: wherever you are you can check in to share your status, you can show you ‘like’ something, and you can share information about causes close to your heart.

Prayers on the Move is a project, which you may have seen advertised on public transport networks around the country, that encourages people to give praying a go, or to try doing it more often, because praying helps develop our spirituality and enables us to connect with something bigger than ourselves.

Jesus prayed while he was ‘on the move’; here he prays after the Last Supper and just before his arrest. You could also try praying ‘on the move’: when you see a homeless teenager on the street, or as you walk to meet a friend who’s just found out that his dad’s got cancer. In these prayers you’re responding to real situations in real time, and asking God to be a part of them.

Once you’ve done this for a while, or if this approach doesn’t work for you, you may want to try to carve out a moment or two each day when you can take a deep breath and think and reflect on what’s going on, deep inside, at the edge of your consciousness. It doesn’t matter when this time is, but if it’s possible to make it roughly the same time each day, this will help you to get into a rhythm.

Like Jesus in Gethsemene, you may find it useful to reflect on:

· What has the past 24 hours been like – good or bad?
· Was there anything stressful or upsetting? Did you handle it well?
· Is there anyone you’ve let down? Did you let yourself down?
· Is there anyone who needs help, either people you know or people in the news?
· Is there anything, however small, to be grateful for?

This moment of prayer in a busy day may be just what you need to calm your mind and refresh your spirit, and it may also help you to focus on something beyond your own immediate needs and worries.

See http://prayersonthemove.com/ where you can find a prayer booklet and download a free ‘Prayers on the Move’ app, which includes one-minute audio files of prayers and allows you to set an alert to remind you to pray.

Prayers

O Lord, you know how busy I must be this day. If I forget you, do not forget me.

Father God, teach me to pray not what I want, but what you want.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Father God, teach me to pray not what I want, but what you want.

So many voices all around tell me what to do. Help me to listen to the still, small voice of truth.

Father God, teach me to pray not what I want, but what you want.

I’ll never earn enough if I measure my wealth in numbers. Make me rich in love.

Father God, teach me to pray not what I want, but what you want.

Give me a heart for simple things, friends and family, justice and love, food and wine. And make me thankful.

Father God, teach me to pray not what I want, but what you want.

Blessing

Being remembered by you, serenity to accept what cannot be changed, courage to change what can be changed, hearing the still, small voice of truth, becoming rich in love. May all these blessings of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you always. Amen.

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Prayers on the Move with Archbishop of Canterbury - How to Pray.

Prayers on the Move @ Stations of the Cross 2016

Station ​Two on the Stations of the Cross 2016 trail is Philip Jackson's statue of Mahatma Gandhi (2015) in Parliament Square.

"Jackson took inspiration from a 1931 photograph of Gandhi standing outside Downing Street, where he had come to argue the case for Indian self-governance. Befitting Gandhi’s radically egalitarian vision, the sculpture stands on a modest plinth, humbly approachable by passerby. As Gandhi himself recognized, his dedication to non-violence and the pursuit of truth resonate powerfully with Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels. Jesus was, Gandhi wrote, ‘the highest example of One who wished to give everything, asking nothing in return, and not caring what creed might happen to be professed by the recipient…I believe that He belongs not solely to Christianity, but to the entire world; to all races and people.’ Much as Jesus stood before Pilate, Jackson’s Gandhi looks toward the Houses of Parliament with gentle but steadfast resolve. Both were imprisoned and killed for the principles they espoused. Are we willing to take up the cross for our beliefs?"

Today, Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Speaker's Chaplain, spoke and prayed at this Station as part of the prayer walk organised by Prayers On The Move. The prayer walk started at Westminster Abbey and ended at Trafalgar Square. Along the way, those walking stopped off at some major landmarks and discussed prayer and spirituality in the modern world. Most importantly, they joined together in some prayer! Speakers included the Bishop of London and Seth Pinnock. A free #prayersonthemove Oyster Card Wallet was given to all participants and the walk involved multiple prayer exercises and discussions.

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Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer.

Start:Stop - A menu for Lent

Here is yesterday's Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook. Our next Start:Stop session will be on Tuesday 23rd February from 7.30 - 9.30am. All are welcome to drop in within that time period for 10 minutes of quiet reflection.

For more prayers and reflection that fits your working day, see also Prayers on the Move. You may have seen the Prayers on the Move project advertised on public transport networks around the country. The posters, booklet, website and app encourage us to give praying a go, or to try doing it more often. If you’ve ever wondered why people pray, or you’d like to know more about what prayer is, see ‘Why pray?’ You don’t need to be religious to pray, but praying may help you to develop your spirituality and to connect with something bigger than yourself.

Bible reading

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others …

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you

… when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6. 1-6, 16-18)

Meditation

I grew up in non-conformist churches where Lent was never a feature of their annual programmes. As a result, for a long time I never really understood the value of Lent. It seems to me now, still looking at Lent a little bit like an outsider, that there are three main ways of using Lent; all of which are ultimately to do with deepening our relationship with God.

The first is to give up something for Lent. This way of approaching Lent clearly derives from Biblical teachings on fasting, where fasting is either be a response to a particular circumstance or part of a regular pattern of abstinence. In the first instance, we have a strong and particular sense of our unworthiness and need for forgiveness and our fasting is a part of our repentance. When fasting is part of a regular pattern of abstinence then it is usually more to do with freeing up time in which to spend in prayer and study of the scriptures than it is about a specific need for forgiveness. The reason people in scripture abstained from food for certain periods was in order to use the time gained in prayer and study of the scriptures. So, if we do the former but not the latter then we are missing out on the real benefit and purpose of Lent which is to deepen our relationship with God by spending more time with him in prayer than is usually the case.

The second approach is to take something up for Lent. Traditionally, in Churches, this has meant attending a Lent study group or reading a Lent book; both of which are intended to take us deeper into an aspect of our faith and relationship with God. In more recent years however taking something up for Lent has developed beyond study and reading to encompass actions and, in particular, acts of kindness. You could, for example, try the ‘Love Life Live Lent’ initiative where a different act of kindness is suggested for each day of Lent.

The final approach to Lent is to view it as being a time of preparation for Easter by reflecting on all that Jesus went through for our sake and all he achieved for us through his Passion and Resurrection. Some traditional ways in which people have done so have included regularly praying the Stations of the Cross or meditating on the Seven Last Words that Jesus spoke from the Cross.

So these are some of the menu options before us as we begin this Lent. Which will we choose? They are not, of course, mutually exclusive and some might choose a gourmet Lent by taking up all the available options while others may pick ‘n’ mix by sampling a little of this and some of that. Whatever you decide the challenge is to make active use of the next forty days in order to deepen your relationship with God. I wish you a holy Lent.

Prayer

Let us pray for grace to keep Lent faithfully. Truly dust we are, and to dust we shall return; and truly yours we are,and to you we shall return. Help this to be a time of turning around and beginning again. Through the forty days of Lent, help us to follow you and to find you: in the discipline of praying and in the drudgery of caring – in whatever we deny ourselves, and whatever we set ourselves to learn or do. Help us to discover you in our loneliness and in community, in our emptiness and our fulfilment, in our sadness and our laughter. Help us to find you when we ourselves are lost. As we walk, God, be our way. As we learn, God, be our truth. As we grow, God, be our life.

Help us to follow you on the journey to Jerusalem to the waving palms of the people’s hope, to their rejection, to the cross and empty tomb. Help us to perceive new growth amid the ashes of the old. Help us, carrying your cross, to be signs of your Kingdom. As we walk, God, be our way. As we learn, God, be our truth. As we grow, God, be our life.

If we have grown soft, cushioning our lives with excuses, expose us to the toughness of your way. If we have grown lazy, cushioning our minds with easy, thin thoughts, expose us to the rigour of your truth. If we have grown comfortable, cushioning our living with satisfaction and success, expose us to the challenge of your life. As we walk, God, be our way. As we learn, God, be our truth. As we grow, God, be our life.

Blessing

Grace to keep Lent faithfully, discovering God in our sadness and our laughter, new growth amid the ashes of the old, becoming signs of God’s Kingdom. May those blessings of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with us and rest upon us, now and always. Amen.

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Stuart Townend - The Lord's My Shepherd.