“I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full”  John 10:10

God delights to be with us and desires our company. He offers us His gifts through the different ways of prayer so we can deepen and grow in our relationship with Him.

God is always present to us and prayer is being present to Him.

When we decide to pray we become aware of a new reality in our lives.

We are in the presence of someone far greater than ourselves.

We start to be filled with a sense of reverence.

Prayer can be as diverse as the colours in nature. Each way of prayer has its own beauty and reflects a person’s way of expressing their love and worship of God as their creator.

Prayer is God’s gift to us so we can communicate with Him.

Each form of prayer is shaped and influenced by our cultural and social norms.

Prayer can be poetic thoughts, feelings, sighs, words, song, dance, liturgy, actions of love and even silence by just being still in mind, body and spirit.

Our personality, values and religious practises shape and mould the way we worship, praise and listen to God speaking to us.

There is a structure and form to prayer in the same way as there is to language. We can fall in love with words and their meaning but unless we place those words in a context for a specific message they remain just words. Isolated from their roots they lose their power, meaning or purpose to enrich our lives.

The same analogy applies to prayer.

All prayers are an expression of our love for God. Different ways of praying are like a patchwork of grace for us to receive God’s blessings. When we recognise the various forms of prayer, we can understand how the power of God is invited into our lives to guide, teach and bless us with all the promises of Christ.