There is a hymn, The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended which contains the verse below:
As o’er each continent and island
The dawn leads on another day
The voice in prayer is never silent
Nor dies the strain of praise away.
Prayer is relationship. Jesus illustrates this with his exemplary relationship with his father. His disciples asked him how to pray, he taught them to pray the Lord’s Prayer. Beginning Our Father who art in heaven.
Acknowledging the holiness of God, then God’s authority, asking for our daily needs, forgiveness of our sins as we forgive those who have harmed us, finally protecting us from temptation.
Each day I follow the website Lectio 365, and during Lent it has been following the lives of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, who in the 3rd century began to leave their sophisticated lifestyles and move from the cities of Cairo and Alexandria to the Egyptian desert in order to pray and draw closer to Jesus Christ.
However, thousands of people started going out into the Egyptian and Syrian deserts to find them, they wanted to change from the dominance of the Roman Church. Many settled there and the early form of monasticism began. About 700 monasteries were started. The Desert Fathers and Mothers were known for their radical discipleship and powerful prayers. One of the desert Fathers, Nilas of Sinai, describes prayer as the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger.
Throughout the ages we have had people whose desire is draw closer to God in prayer. Some of the well-known to us are Augustine of Hippo, Ignatius Loyola, Heidi Baker, Brother Lawrence, Julian of Norwich, and George Washington, who got up early to spend two hours in prayer before beginning his day. He said, “To pray well is to work well.”
There are different forms of prayer, adoration and worship, contemplative, and petitionary prayer asking God to intervene and help.
If you want to know more about the Desert Fathers and Mothers visit Lectio 365.
Jenni Evans
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