Praying

It doesn’t have to be 
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

Mary Oliver

In so few words, Mary Oliver packs an entire sermon on prayer.

Our prayer doesn’t have to be perfect.  It doesn’t have to be framed in perfect words.  It must only be honest, be it beautiful flower or hard stone.

It doesn’t have to be expressed in perfect language; it doesn’t have to be expressed in any language at all.  Remember what the apostle Paul says: “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (Rom 8:26)

In other words, when we don’t know how or what to pray, just leave a space, thank Him, and God will pray in you.

Joe Neary
Pastoral Assistant
Brimpsfield with Birdlip