At a meeting the other night, Stacy spoke up with concern for the people of the Epworth LeSourd neighborhood who are alienated from the love and grace of God, and from healthy family or community. She asked that we the committee members commit to praying daily for the neighborhood. We made that commitment.
I tend to forget things when not prompted. So now, in my calendar and Blackberry, a reminder comes once a day: “Pray for the Neighborhood!” I can postpone the prayer, but I won’t neglect it.
Each person’s prayer should be different. Some of us are formal and wordy, others informal and wordy, others contemplative — less with the words, more just being still in the Presence. I tend to move between these modes, usually starting off informal and wordy, then wanting some attentive stillness. If it feels fruitful, I may want to write things down, use the written word as a cue for prayer in another time (formal and wordy).
Jesus was once asked why he did what he did. His reply was, “I’m just doing what I see my Father doing.” I frequently ask spiritual leaders what they are doing that they see God doing. … The result of praying is to attenuate us to God’s will and God’s work going on around us. If we ask God to show us what he sees, he will! And it will change us. [p. 70]
God, help me to see what you see.
McNeal goes on to tell of a church staff, each member assigned to go out into the city — park bench, coffee shop, mall — and pray, “Help me to see what you see,” and then to stay there, and pay attention for one hour. On their regathering, the group was transformed. It became not simply the staff’s assignment, but the congregation’s, and it shifted the church’s focus from itself to God’s work beyond itself.
One day when my Blackberry called me to prayer, McNeal’s story must have been in my mind. The “wordy” part of praying became something like this:
God, you have planted your Spirit in the heart of each person and in all creation,
You have planted your church to embody your Spirit in the heart of this neighborhood
to engage each person and each home with
your love,
your peace,
your invitation to grow in your grace.
As I look to this neighborhood,
may I see what you see,
may I hear what you hear,
may I love as you love,
may I desire what you desire,
may I know the possibility of everything that is possible for you.
As a part of this neighborhood,
may I be fully present,
as you are fully present.
May I be a part of your work,
accomplishing your purposes.
In your peace I contemplate this your beloved neighborhood,
and this your beloved city.
And then … can I be still, and know that God is God for this neighborhood, for this place, in this time, for these people?
Oh yes!
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