If I were to ask you 'what is prayer' the chances are that you might answer something like: 'talking to God'. This is indeed a form of prayer and probably the most widely used 'method' of communication with the Divine. We especially 'talk to' God about situations and people we want to pray for and ask God for God's help with our own needs and the needs of others. This intercessory form of prayer is essential to the flourishing of the life of faith and health of the world, and we are particularly grateful for all who help to lead our community in the ministry of intercession when we gather for worship*.

The Church also describes prayer in slightly broader terms as 'being attentive to God' which can of course happen with or without the use of words. I have friends who communicate predominantly in sign language who pray in colour and imagery too and many of us find it helpful to pray with our hands or minds creatively, or with our bodies as we walk, craft or make liturgical gesture or change our posture (e.g. some of us chose to make the sign of the Cross as a body prayer to remind us of our baptism and salvation or put our hands clasped together or apart lifted to heaven to pray in both formal and informal settings).  Some of us find it helpful to pray with Icons as 'windows' into communion with God or using Scripture in set forms (such as the Daily Office) or informally (as particular verses are prompted in our thoughts), and others find that praying in the presence of Christ in the Sacrament helps them to 'focus' their intentions too.

As we approach the Feast of the Ascension next Thursday, and awaiting the celebration of the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we will move into a time which the global Church has set aside specifically for dedicated prayer for the coming of God's Kingdom: https://www.thykingdomcome.global There are as many ways to pray as there are people - we each have our own relationship with God and will express this both publicly, when we gather as the body, and also intimately in the privacy of our own hearts in different ways. But being 'attentive' to God is the basis of all forms of prayer whether silent or spoken, enacted or petitioned; prayer is the directional offering of our attention to God and, as we become more consciously aware of God's presence in prayer, we discover more-fully the God who attends to us. And we can be assured that, even when we do not know how to pray, in the busyness of daily life or in a quiet moment set aside, we can simply give our attention to God whose Spirit 'intercedes within us with sighs too deep for words' (Romans 8.26).

*If you would like to find out more or consider joining the intercessors team, do speak to Hannah Cartwright or Alice Willington for an informal conversation.