Description
LENT MEDITATION 1 Based on a Hymn by Charles Wesley -' Pray, without ceasing pray,'
From the book 'Inextinguishable Blaze' also by Andrew Pratt - Click Here
Extract:
One of my favourite times of year is Lent. Don't get me wrong. I'm not one who gives up a lot in Lent. I was taken to task once by a Muslim for this. It was during Ramadan. He was fasting from sunrise to sunset. 'You do the same in Lent don't you?' I had to admit that fasting was not one of my strong points. What he was getting at made me think. Traditionally Lent was the time for remembering Jesus time in the wilderness, a time of temptation. The custom of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday began as the feast before the fast, eating up eggs, clearing the larder, a mirroring of our clearing of ourselves in preparation to share something of that wilderness experience with Jesus. The church began to use the time for the preparation of people for baptism which would take place on Easter Sunday. For some, don't tell the children this, the identification with Jesus went as far as not having a bath through all of Lent!
Whatever the custom you keep, underlying this period of the church year is the intention to spend more time in prayer, more time with God alone. So whatever your diet - make time for God. When we would be eating we can be praying. ...
Charles Wesley recognised the importance of the command to pray. He linked it with Luke 18, 1-8 where Jesus tells a story about a widow who pesters an unjust judge until she gets justice.
Continues ...
Also available in the same series by Andrew Pratt:
Lent Meditation 2 - Click Here
Lent Meditation 3 - Click Here
Lent Meditation 4 - Click Here
Andrew Pratt (born 1948)
Words © Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.co.uk.
Please include any reproduction for local church and school use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.