Prayerful Rest

14 October 2021

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Prayerful Rest

Life today is lived at supersonic speed compared to when Jesus lived on earth. Everything is faster and busier. The picture of Jesus and his disciples travelling from place to place is at a walking pace. Plenty of time to talk, to observe the surroundings, to be together and to pause for a moment.

Life today does not have the same picture. We rush from appointment to appointment, travel by plane, bus, train or car often listening to or reading work while we travel. We fill each moment with activity. Important as it is for us, even our quiet time with God can be full of readings, music and words.

God rested – creating for six days and then resting on the seventh. Jesus rested many times. We read where he stopped and sat by a well, he slept in a boat, he sat on a hill.

One of my grand-daughter’s favourite things is to sit with me on the lounge and ‘do nothing’. She will often say – ‘come on grandma – let’s go and do nothing’. And I always do.

What an amazing invitation. God invites us to prayerfully rest. Just coming aside and ‘doing nothing’ with God. Is it actually doing nothing? It is actually being with God, being in the presence of God, immersing myself in God’s presence. That is prayerful rest.