“Prayer, more and more, is not something we do, but what we are letting God do in us.”
Rowan Williams in Being Christian
I am often surprised at how prayer unfolds in my life. Yes, unfolds, because it seems that often prayer happens, appears, or comes visiting. It seems like God places me on the calendar and makes sure that the appointment is kept!
For a time in my life it would happen at two in the morning. I would just wake up, fully awake, would look at the clock and sigh at the early hour. I would make my way to the living room and bring my journal and before I knew it, there was God! This happened on and off for years. To this day if I wake up in the middle of the night and it’s two in the morning I know, God wants to meet with me.
Now I am not suggesting that this is the only way that God meets us. It just happens to be a primary way in my life of faith. What I am suggesting is that we must pay attention and know that God goes ahead of us, prepares the way, and looks forward to meeting us. Yet again and again we find ourselves busy, distracted, and in a hurry. No wonder we often miss our appointment with God.
The appointments are important because God wants to “pray” us. The more we are prayed the more like Christ we become. The more we are prayed the more that we walk away from sin and death. The more we are prayed the more that love’s fruit begins to come from us. The more we are prayed the more that we are able to see a hopeful future, a reconciled community, and a just world.
God wants to pray us but I wonder if we are open to it? What would it be like in our lives if we paid attention and opened the lines of communication with God? What would it look like if we allowed God to “do” something in us? To “pray” us?
God does not force us into being prayed. The invitation is there, God prepares the way but it is up to us to allow God’s movement in our lives and hearts. It is my prayer that this week we hear the invitation, we sense God’s presence and we allow God’s Spirit to pray us into the renewal of God’s image in us!