Praying through the year
Welcome to a new year. What will it hold for us? We’ve certainly been reminded in these last two years that life really is one day at a time. For us as Christians, prayer is a part of daily life, be it out loud in family devotion time or in solitude. Maybe for some, as we live with this pandemic, we’ve prayed more, and not just for family and ourselves, but for those who care generally for the welfare of all – the doctors, medical researchers, and our countries’ governments.
Then, prayer may be “foreign” to many. Do you often wonder what a non-believer thinks if seeing or hearing a person pray?
The Lord’s Prayer is known throughout churches in the Christian world and, also, a prayer many people learned as a child in Sunday School. But it is more than just a passage to be memorised. It has real power, teaching us the main aspects of Christian faith, summarised in several short lines – it is God’s gift of the perfect prayer for us to start a conversation with him (Matthew 6:9–13).
A funeral is often a time when many people are again reminded of this prayer, learnt as a child, maybe not used for an extended period in their lives, but shared at this time of farewell.
How special it is to share worship time in church with my small grandchildren, to hear them pray the Lord’s Prayer, and sit at their bedside and share their evening prayer. Let’s pray that this will always be a part of their daily life.
Praying through the Year is the theme of this year’s magazine, and we look forward to this journey.
The Lutheran Women magazine committee have been working tirelessly in the last five to six months, in resuming the business management which has been attended to by personnel at LLL and LCA subscriptions for the last eight years, and we thank them for doing this.
Many thanks to Felicity, Grace and Maureen who have negotiated the new administration and print of our magazine, which will now come direct to your letterbox and in full colour. And I’m encouraging you to invite new subscribers, either in the print version or on-line.
In conclusion, let’s recall some lines from LHS 424, penned by James Montgomery – Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed; … Prayer is the simplest form of speech … Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice, … O Thou, by whom we come to God, The life, the truth, the way, The path of prayer Thyself hast trod: Lord, teach us how to pray.
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