Anglican Mainstream

Garth Hunt, Essentials Canada

One of the wonderful by-products of these difficult and painful days in the Anglican Church has been the increased commitment to intercessory prayer by hundreds of people from coast to coast. Given the focus of these monthly emails, it is with great joy that we hear of this growing tide of prayer for the Church. For instance, during the three weeks in November prior to the Anglican Network in Canada’s recent conference, there were daily prayers shared by many people both individually and in small groups. Some churches had special prayer gatherings, early in the morning, with people rising much earlier than their norm to participate. Other have shared with us over recent months of their increased sense of begin “called” to pray for specific leaders or important meetings.

Last month, we began a reflection on what St. Paul meant when he exhorted the church at Thessalonica to “pray continually” or “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess.5:17). During the weeks since then, my experience may have run something similar to yours. I found myself praying, “Lord, I have my ‘quiet time’ in the morning where I read the Word and pray, but I have a growing sense that You’re asking more of me than that. But my life is so crazy busy, and I wear so many different ‘hats’, I can’t find the time to pray more. You know, Lord, that I believe this is vital… really critical… but there still are only 24 hours in the day. Help me, Lord, to redeem the time to pray.”

I was reminded of Jesus’ disappointment with the disciples in Gethsemane when they kept falling asleep while He anguished in prayer. “Could you not keep watch with me one hour?” He asked them.

“Yes, Lord, I can”, I want to reply, “but You’ll have to help me find that hour”.

For the next few days, it was almost as if the Lord was walking at my side, with a stopwatch in His hands, and together we began to find some time each day that otherwise was either squandered or spent with my mind and spirit in “neutral”. Let me share some of these “redeemed” moments: -

• ten minutes in the shower and shaving (I’m normally really in neutral here) spent in quiet, conscious worship
• twenty minutes in the car driving to work (I really don’t need to hear the weather forecast 3 times) spent praying for our Rector, Curate and wardens
• six minutes standing in line at TD Bank waiting to make a deposit (they now have large LCD TV screens for you to watch) spent again in worship and expressing my love to Jesus. In fact, I felt drawn to commit myself to worship every time I’m in a queue, whether it’s at the grocery store, the post office, the airport (lot’s of them there!) or even waiting in line for a movie.
• a fifteen minute “prayer walk” on my lunch hour, exercising both my body and my spirit, spent in interceding for the leadership of Essentials and the Anglican Communion world-wide.
• a five minute prayer “break” during my afternoon at work spent in the gentle recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and the simple prayer of gratitude, “Thank You, Father”.
• twenty minutes driving home from work (frequently in the past consumed by listening to some mindless dissection of the Maple Leafs’ most recent losing streak) spent in bringing before our Father the needs of our parish family, whether it be financial provision, physical healing, employment issues or comfort in the times of bereavement.
• momentary bursts of joyful, silent prayer during the commercials of a TV show I watch with my wife and family. Rather than being offended by such “casual” prayer, I believe that the Lord delights in our learning to focus on Him, whatever we are doing.
• five minutes in brushing my teeth (and the dreaded flossing) spent in thanksgiving for the day, and His loving care and provision for my family and me

If you do the math, you’ll see that the Lord found me much more than an hour each day. Although it was difficult at first to not let my mind wander in these less structured, “redeemed” moments, I am finding it easier to bring my attention back to the Lord, without guilt or recrimination, and simply begin again. It’s not strenuous or hard work. It’s about becoming more comfortable in God’s presence, and capturing every available moment for Him.

St. Paul, in writing to the Ephesian church, gave them, and us, the following imperative:

Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.                                                                    Ephesians 5: 15,16 NIV

“Making the most of every opportunity” in the King James Version is rendered, “Redeeming the time”. Surely that’s what we want to do in these difficult days. In this Advent season, as the Church year begins anew, let’s allow the Lord to redeem lost moments in our day that we can use to worship and pray, indeed making the most of every opportunity.  Amen.

                                                                                                                             

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