Holy Club 10

Am I enjoying prayer?

This is another clever question. Not simply am I praying, I am enjoying prayer.

I can think of times when prayer has been borne out of deep desperation - out of the depths I cry to you as the Psalmist puts it.

I can think of times when prayer has been a duty to be done (or avoided!).

When I first became a Christian everything was new and exciting and prayer was mostly an enjoyable adventure(I can just remember that long ago).

As I've kept going as a Christian, prayer has changed - less frothy and bubbly, but there're still times when prayer is filled with the love of God in a way that makes it deeply enjoyable.

This brings me to the last of the regular practices of the Holy Club (If you can't remember what we've explored so far, or have missed some, I'll do a catch up summary tomorrow). They read the works of great Christians of former generations - particularly the mystics.

This gives us a real clue about the motivation of the Holy Club which may seem surprising. In his book Pursuing Social Holiness, Kevin Watson points out a difference between the Holy Club and the religious societies and Moravians from whom they copied many of their practices. The religious societies and Moravians had already experienced the presence and power  of God in a profound way. Their spiritual practices were designed to nurture that experience. The Holy Club were longing for an experience of salvation that they hadn't yet received - they were spiritual seekers wanting to know more of God.

I find that reassuring as I reach the stage of life where it's easy to take spiritual experience for granted, or worse to doubt the experiences that I had some years ago. The search for a fresh encounter with God that will take me deeper into his presence is still a high priority for me and motivates me to work at a spiritual discipline that will help that to happen.

In the afternoon before his heart was strangely warmed, John Wesley attended worship at St Paul's Cathedral where the Psalm that was read resonated with his longing for God:

Bible passage to meditate on Psalm 130:1-8