it’s about prayer
As I prepared to return home from traveling at the end of my three-month sabbatical, I was looking for an answer from God. I was asking whether The Abbey should open a 24/7 prayer space in the basement, near the boiler room. As I waited, I got an additional response:
"It's about prayer"
As I consider the next and perhaps last 7-year phase of ministry here in its present form, I'm looking to finish well. These words offered a roadmap. The Abbey and I are about prayer, a decades-long drawing of my heart, mind, and will into the Presence of God, and a decade-long shaping of the key purpose of this house.
As I thought and prayed about this, I thought about three kinds of prayer to be focused here:
Abiding Prayer, the kind which Jesus spoke of when He said, Abide in Me, and I in you (John 15:4-7) and which John exhibited when he laid back upon Jesus' breast (John 13:23-25). The Abbey backyard with its gardens, stations of the cross, labyrinth, and Hermitage prayer cabin invites us to remain, to abide, to rest in the everlasting Love of God.
Attending Prayer, the kind which the prophet Habakkuk showed when he stood at watch to see what God might say to him (Hab 2:1) and demonstrated by the disciples in their waiting after Jesus' Ascension for the coming of Power from on High. The Abbey's third floor, with its Upper Room and Cell, encourages those who pray to wait upon and listen for God.
Travailing Prayer, that which Paul spoke of when he said he was in the pains of childbirth until Christ be formed in the Galatians (Gal 4:19) and which Jesus showed in the Garden of Gethsemane. And yes, The Abbey's new 24/7 Boiler Room in the basement will provide a suitable setting for the work of prayer by individuals and groups.
I beseech your prayer for The Abbey as we pray, and I pray for you, that we all might pray deeply in these and many other ways in these heady days.
With gratitude for your prayers,