Abstract
Much of our communal worship is word-based—praying and singing, reciting the liturgy and preaching. One worship resource that is often neglected, and seems counter-intuitive when we meet together for worship, is silence. This month I will offer some prayers that accord with the lectionary, and suggest that we also make use of silence, or silent prayer, within our worship services.
While it is not unusual for individual Christians to engage in contemplation, meditation or silent prayer in their own spiritual practices or in retreats, it is still unusual that a congregation would practise silence within a worship service. In worship, we turn our minds and hearts toward God, offering our praise and thanks, sorrow and laments, hopes and petitions. What we often neglect, amidst all this offering, is receiving—being receptive to what God has already done for us and may be saying to us now. Silence is a form of open receptivity where we listen and wait.
Just as there was no room at the inn when it was time for Jesus to be born among us, so there is often no room within our inner lives and those of our Christian communities for God to dwell with us, because we are so full of ourselves and our concerns. I only need to practise silence for a few minutes to learn how easy it is to be distracted by my little world, how fascinated I seem to be with my thoughts, plans and desires. The point of contemplation, meditation and silent prayer is to get ourselves out of the way so that God may live more fully in us. That is just as important for Christian communities as it is for individuals.
The other side of silent prayer is just being present to God’s presence, dwelling in God, resting in God’s abundant and generous life. This has a profound effect on us over time, making us less fearful and anxious, more generous, forgiving and hospitable. When a community practises this, a different way of being human together emerges, not from our own efforts but from making ourselves available for God’s Spirit to work in and among us.
The readings for this month speak of the relation of our hearts to God, and of God’s call upon us to ‘choose life’ (Deut 30:19). We see rebellion and disobedience, the worship of things that are mortal or sacred cows, rather than the living God, and the terrible consequences of such desires and actions. On the other hand, they show that when we dwell in God, like a tree planted by a stream of water (Ps 1), we bear fruit. When we pray for ‘wisdom in my secret heart’, and ‘a right spirit within me’ (Ps 51), we are choosing life with God. Dwelling in God grounds us, so that we are not like the chaff that blows in the wind (Ps 1), but are fed and nurtured by God’s life. Taking time to be silent, in God’s presence, is a form of worship.
In what follows, I will offer prayers for each week based on the lectionary readings, followed by an invitation to a period of silent prayer. I suggest ten minutes, though even five is good. I recommend that in this time, people are invited to sit with their feet flat on the floor, hands resting on their legs, back upright but relaxed, and eyes lightly closed, that they breathe normally and allow tensions to seep away as they settle into silence.
Further resources for the use of silence as a spiritual practice in Christian life and worship include:
The World Community for Christian Meditation: https://wccm.org/
Centering Prayer: https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/
Benedictus Contemplative Church: https://benedictus.com.au/
Sarah Bachelard, A Contemplative Christianity for our Time (A Meditatio Publication, WCCM, Singapore, 2020).
September 4, 2022
God of our flesh and bones,
You wonderfully formed us for yourself
and know all our thoughts and ways.
Forgive us when we forget that we belong to you.
We did not make ourselves and cannot remake ourselves.
Against all our rebellious ways, you call us to choose life,
to dwell in and with you, the living God,
and to drink deeply from your well.
Give us wisdom in our inner heart,
that we may love you above all else,
and all our other loves may find their rightful place.
[
By letting go all our thoughts and distractions, we bring ourselves wholeheartedly into the presence of God and of each other. We allow ourselves simply to be, without expectation or agenda, to settle into the silence and let God work in us as a potter works on clay. We will pray in this way for ten minutes.]
September 11, 2022
We come before you, God of truth, aware of lies and corruption
around us and within our own hearts. We have not loved you fully
or wholeheartedly, and we have loved you wrongly.
Forgive us when we have defended you repressively or violently.
As with Paul, we ask for your grace to work in us,
that we may know you as the source of goodness and peace.
Create in us clean hearts, that your compassion may live in us,
and your kindness may guide our ways.
[
In this time, we let go all our thoughts, plans and distractions, and allow ourselves to settle into stillness. In this space, we remain open and receptive, without trying to make anything happen, just allowing ourselves to be in God’s presence together. We will pray in this way for 10 minutes.]
September 18, 2022
God of the poor and needy,
you call us to be like you, to love with your heart,
to be grieved over those who suffer
and to attend to their need.
Enable our faithfulness to your Spirit,
that we may truly act with your justice and love.
May our desire for possessions and self-gain
fade into your delight in the well-being of all.
Teach us wholeheartedness, call forth our integrity,
that we may not live divided between faithfulness to you
and our self-interests. Restore our hearts into harmony with yours.
[
In this time, we let go all our thoughts, even thoughts about God, so that we become silent inwardly as well as outwardly. We set aside our agendas and concerns and just allow ourselves to be in God’s presence, letting God be God in us. We will pray in this way for 10 minutes.]
September 25, 2022
God, whose wings embrace us,
may we know your sheltering love
and your care for the weak and struggling.
You alone are worthy of our worship.
Your goodness is your glory.
Give us eyes to see your call upon us,
that we might seek the good in all we are
and all we do. Enable us by your Spirit
to let go whatever distracts us from you,
and to give ourselves to you with all our heart.
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