A people of prayer is next Sunday’s sermon topic. The readings are:
Matthew 6:5-8
and 1Thessalonians 5:16-28.
Reading these two passages immediately brought me back to last Sunday’s scribble. Alone or together? Well of course it’s both. Jesus always went to the synagogue, but he went to pray alone.
I also realise that different people pray in different ways. In Soultypes, Sandra Krebs Hirsh and Jane AG Kise examine the different soulwork (their term) preferences of people with various personality types. Here’s a brief extract:
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“I attended a writers’ workshop at a retreat centre. One evening our leader dismissed the group to work on an assignment identifying our strengths as writers and our aspirations for the coming year.”
Introvert – “I couldn’t wait to get to my room – the evening session had covered so much and I was ready to organise my thoughts. The next ninety minutes flew by as my pen filled the paper. For me, this quiet time alone on the retreat was the most meaningful segment of the weekend.”
If this person was asked to participate in prolonged group discussions with no time for reflection, they might think they were struggling spiritually.
Extrovert – “They chose to use each other as sounding boards, tossing out ideas and dreams to allow those listening to give input on the patterns and strengths they saw. At breakfast they were still bubbling about the insights they had gained through their discussion.”
If this person attended a silent retreat with long periods for pondering a single idea, they might think they were struggling spiritually.
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I’ve got some starting ideas. I need two things now. One is time to ponder what I already have. This gives opportunity for God to speak, to inspire, to point me the right way.
The other is to give myself a better grounding in the Bible. So tomorrow I’ll start looking at what I find about prayer in the Good Book, starting by going back to the two set passages.
I use quite a few Bible translations and versions. Although I have a good library of proper paper books, I usually use Olive Tree Bible on a tablet. I have lots of Bibles available instantly, I can search and annotate, I can copy verses, and I have good commentaries instantly available too. I also use e-Sword, mainly because of the macros available to copy verses straight into MS Word.
Mentioning commentaries, I will be going to these after looking in the Bible itself. Primary source first.
