March 2010

The strawberry season and the taste of them seems a long way off! (Strawberries from overseas never seem to me to have quite the same flavour.) It is not just a longing for spring and summer that makes me mention this: it is also my thinking about prayer and Lent. Let me explain.

As well as liking the taste of strawberries themselves, I also like the fact that there is a long aftertaste. Hence the connection with prayer. When you spend time in dedicated prayer, offered to God, then the flavour of that spills over afterwards, and lingers on, causing the rest of the day to "taste" different. The more we pray, the more the rest of the day becomes lived in an awareness of God as well. If you pray at the beginning of the day for the people you will be meeting, the things you will be doing, and ask God for the guidance of his Spirit to shape your thoughts and actions, then the consciousness of the whole day being lived in his presence will grow - the flavour will infuse the day.

If you were able to mark Ash Wednesday with a special sense of prayer, then the taste of that may well have lingered on, not only for the whole of that day but also for the beginning of Lent itself. Each day needs marking with prayer. Each day needs flavouring. Each day we can begin anew, building on what has gone before, deepening our prayer and our life in Christ. The Spirit himself is the Teacher, leading us into all truth. The fullness of truth is Christ himself, and the Spirit's task is to make Christ known.

Just as we can pray alone, so we can learn alone. But just as we also need to pray sometimes with others, so we may well learn better with others. Most of us benefit greatly from learning as part of a small group, whether it is a house/home group, Lent group, prayer group or some other kind of study group. There is, for example, a new diocesan group about to begin for those wanting to learn more about how to be "prayer guides" of others. Your parish or benefice will provide opportunities for you to study locally in a small group, just as there are other opportunities provided more widely within the diocese.

We are committed to growing in prayer and to learning how to pray better, but above all growing in holiness and discipleship. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher, but the development of most of us will be helped as well by our learning as part of a home/house group so that we have the opportunity to discuss the real issues affecting us in our daily Christian living.

Use the opportunities that this Lent provides, but above all be strengthened in your walk with Christ along his way of the cross, and yours.