Monday night I was awoken at 2am by a cacophony of braying and squealing and barking and screeching. I looked out the window to see four young foxes chasing each other up and down the street. It was lovely to see them playing. Animals it seems, like children, know the intrinsic value of being playful, playing simply for fun, that wonderful mix of curiosity and imagination.
As adults, somewhere along the line, we seem to lose our sense of play.
Instead of play, everything suddenly needs a justification, a goal, a purpose, an outcome. This seeps in to all aspects of our lives, even our prayer life. When was the last time you prayed or spoke with God simply for fun, simply for joy, rather than needing an outcome from the process? Can we pray more playfully and find the joy in the act of prayer not just the hoped outcome?
Let us pray;
Lord, Creator, Heavenly Parent, today we come to you with a bounce in our step and joy in our heart and peace in our souls. You know all that is going on in our lives; all that is spoken and all that is unspoken; all that is open and all that is hidden. And so, in this moment we ask nothing of you. Even though all things are possible in your name, today our prayer isn’t a petition, it isn’t an expectation nor a hope for something different.
We come to you in prayer today simply to enjoy being in the moment, simply to enjoy the interaction with you. We simply come before you with playful stillness.
Almighty God, we are your people and we are a people with open hearts, open eyes, open ears and open minds. We let whatever arises from this moment with you sit playfully in our soul.
Holy Spirit, we relish this moment of connection with you. We don’t need to ask anything of you because you are already busy working in our lives, giving us the gifts we need. We simply play and explore and through our curiosity we see how best you can shape our lives.
Jesus, we give you thanks that you walk with us everyday. You are by our sides when we work and toil and we rejoice that you remain by us when we take time out to rest, to play, to enjoy the world the Heavenly Creator has made. You are with us when we need you, but it is awesome that you are with us when we need for nothing. In that is true power.
Amen.
The Unexpected Prayer 