During advent we had a clergy quiet day with the wonderful Jane Williams. One story that she told was of a fast growing underground church in China. She was in conversation with the leaders, and she asked them how they discipled the many people who were coming to faith. Did they have a particular course or programme of teaching? They looked a little confused, and said we just teach people to pray.
It’s quite a striking contrast to the cerebral and doctrinal faith that we value in the west. Those things are very good, but the heart of the life of faith is prayer, and that is often the thing we struggle the most with.
I’m struck that we need to learn to pray. Jesus’ disciples watched his remarkable life of prayer and asked him to teach them to pray like that. We need to be serious students of prayer throughout our life. So join us over the coming weeks for a series of sermons not just about the Lord’s Prayer, but seeking to put into practice Jesus teaching on prayer.
