Porter Taylor—9/25/24--- “Why Prayer Matters”

I have been thinking about prayer these days because the world is so confusing. I mean there is so much of what’s happening in this world that doesn’t feel right or even close to God’s will. My prayer list gets longer and longer and yet I can’t say I see the results I expected. When confused, connect with someone smarter than you (and there are plenty for me to choose from).

Rowan Willams, the retired Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Communion, wrote, Prayer is “that process by which our thoughts and ideals and hopes are gradually aligned with God’s eternal actions.” So, to pray is to widen and deepen the way we see the world and our calling in it. It’s why St. Francis prayed: “Lord make me an instrument of your peace.” It’s not our world. It’s God’s world. Prayer is where we align ourselves with God and let go of the small ways we have labelled the world and our calling in the world. That’s why Julian of Norwich in the middle of a plague, heard this prayer in her heart and mind: “All will be well, and all manner of things will be well.”

So, we must get clear that our calling is to align ourselves with the divine desire: “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth.” It’s why the Episcopal Catechism defines prayer as “responding to God, by thought and by deeds with or without words.”

For me prayer gets me out of my small way of labelling the world. Prayer reminds me that I am not in charge, but I am required to do my part by being “an instrument of [God’s] peace.” Prayer is to remember God’s grace as well as our calling. I have prayed for certain politicians for years, because I don’t believe their actions match God’s instructions, but I am also praying to see the face of Christ in them regardless of how deep our divisions are.

I once had a Spiritual Director tell me “The problem with people is that they can’t get enough of what they don’t need.” I don’t need any more labels. I don’t need any more smugness that I am right and those who disagree with me are wrong. No, I need to recapture God’s vison for me, for all God’s people, and for this world. I need more of St. Francis because, as G. K. Chesterton wrote, “St. Francis was a man who did not want to see the wood for the trees. He wanted to see each tree as a separate and almost sacred thing, being a child of God and therefore a brother or sister of man.” Therefore, as tempting as it is, I am trying not to label our politicians. Despite the fact that I disagree with almost everything some of them say, I intend to remember regardless of our differences and regardless of the consequences of their previsions and if elected future actions, they too are children of God.

So, my prayer is to be reminded of that every day and to pray that whoever sees me in a similar light might do the same.