Prayer does not come easily for me. I am easily distracted, and too often ill-disciplined – not setting aside the time to enjoy one of the most beautiful privileges I’m gifted with as a child of God, which is, time in God’s presence.
The Carmelite nun, Therese of Lisieux, says, ‘prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.’
It’s strange I find prayer ‘hard’, given how richly the act of prayer has blessed me and how central it has been in sustaining and guiding me in key seasons of my life. For example, it was a brief and almost faithless prayer that began my adventure of faith – an apologetic surrender to a God I wasn’t sure I believed in. In response to my prayer, a wave of astonishing divine love crashed over me.
Prayer has also been central to Wesley Mission’s story. Prayer undergirded our origins in The Rocks in 1812. It was critical in the 1880s, when our first Superintendent, WG Taylor, would lead all-night prayer meetings. And it remains so today, as Sue and I host weekly prayer meetings in our manse attended by Wesley Mission leaders.
Because prayer is so fundamental to our mission, it was a straightforward decision for Wesley Mission to support the annual, ecumenical Sydney Prayer Breakfast. On 11 June the breakfast will gather a capacity crowd of 1800 Christian leaders to pray for our city, nation and world. I serve on the organising committee, and Wesley Mission is a sponsor, providing backbone event management service to ensure the whole event is a success. What a privilege.
I would love to hear what prayer means for you, or what you would like us to pray for at the Prayer Breakfast or one of our Tuesday night manse prayer gatherings.
Every blessing,
Rev Stu Cameron
CEO and Superintendent, Wesley Mission
