Prayer
Prayer is spending intentional time in the presence of the Divine. Regular times of corporate and personal prayer build our relationship with the Living Christ. This enables deeper communion for us as individuals through each day and for the meeting when we gather in worship.
Prayer can take many forms, such as thanksgiving, praise, self-reflection, and asking God’s support for others.
Prayer in the setting of meeting for worship may lead to a “gathered” meeting, where Friends unite in a deep contemplative connection with each other and the Divine.
Quotations
We can bring ourselves again and again to the Light that reveals, confronts, and heals all that obscures the truth within us, and we can do this with a steady commitment that refuses to allow prayer to become merely a comforting retreat. The key is honesty, not piety, and a willingness not to get hung up on problems of belief. …Quakerism insists that belief finds its ground and substance in direct experience. To come to that experience one must bring one’s whole being, mind, heart, and body to an attitude of anticipation, intense listening, fierce engagement, and an insistent desire to be re-formed in the Creative Presence.
~Daniel Snyder, 2008
Advices & Queries – Prayer
In prayer, Friends find humility and courage, guidance and strength for our daily lives. Frequent and regular prayer leads us to become faithful in our lives.
- Do we set aside times of quiet for openness to the Spirit?
- Are we open to new Light, from whatever source it may come?
How does our personal prayer life enrich meeting for worship?
Faith and Practice, NPYM, Religious Society of Friends. P. 35-39.