The Revd Canon Keith James, Director of Ministry explains:
Our Diocesan Vision invites us to be transformed by Christ – and that happens in prayer. It’s the most important thing we do.
Sometimes in life, it feels like we are running on empty, for all sorts of reasons. But St Augustine wrote that prayer is like taking a cup to a fountain to be filled. God’s love and kindness is always flowing, and prayer is whatever we do to bring ourselves to receive that overflow.
This Advent we are invited to set out on a year of living more prayerfully. Of course, we will already be praying. It is the most natural thing – gratitude, wonder, longing – we all know what they look like.
Prayer is when those instincts are directed to God – that’s when transformation happens!
So if the most important thing we do is praying – where does prayer happen in our lives and our life together?
There are no right or wrong ways to pray – what does your way of praying look like? And what might it look like if it really was the most important thing we do as a church? “Lord, teach us to pray” the disciples asked Jesus (Lk 13.1), and Jesus began to do that by praying. We learn to pray by praying.
So, let’s make a start this Advent, to live more prayerfully and let it flow into the year ahead.
The Diocese of Norwich has produced new resources for prayer and worship to support us – including a sonnet, a new hymn, and creative prayer activities. You’ll find them on this website at the link below.
Don’t forget the digital Advent Calendar of prayer that will be coming soon. You can follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or subscribe by email here to get daily reflections straight to your inbox throughout Advent.
Additionally, there are logos, backgrounds and a social media badge designed especially for the Diocesan Vision. You can download them for online or print use as well as see the guidelines on how to use them. Find them here.
And let us know what you are doing to be more prayerful – so that we can all be encouraged in our praying, and so that our lives and our world might be transformed by Christ. Contact news@dioceseofnorwich.org so that we can share your stories.