During my sabbatical two years ago, I started a “project” that I hoped I would have continued on for a long while. Reality though is that I do better at sticking to bad habits than forming good ones. What I started was rewriting ancient prayers in a way to make them mine and thereby enrich my prayer life. I have often felt that we develop prayer habits and ways of communicating with God that reflect our circle of people we pray with as well as our limited understanding of God. Not wanting to get stuck in that mode, and especially not wanting to use the ultimate filler word “just” in every petition*, I thought it might help to expand my prayer vocabulary. So, while at the Northumbria Community, where I sat in a library full of celtic spirituality books, I began writing out celtic prayers in my own words. Not all the celtic prayers I found were theologically solid, so I had to reflect on each one before taking it on. That led me quickly to the prayers of the puritans. I had with me a collection titled “Valley of Vision” which I highly recommend. Reading these, reflecting on their meaning and then writing them in my own words enabled me to inwardly digest what the prayer was saying and make it my own.
Recently, I have returned to this project and found new resources for ancient prayers. I am finding not only that they help me express what I would not think to pray otherwise, they are so much richer and deeper than I tend to pray on my own. With puritan prayers the theology is deep and rich. Celtic prayers are more creative and need to be reflected on theologically first. The process of writing them out is helpful for my memory. I discovered in college that I recall more of what I write than what I simply read. As I write them, personalizing the content and wording helps me to own these ancient prayers and express what is deep inside me. The sources I am working from at the moment are found online here: Puritan Prayers & Celtic Prayers. If you find yourself with a similar desire to enhance your prayer life, give it a try (or “have a go” as my Brit friends would say).
*A few years back I put a question in a blog post which was “what is the most common word misused in prayer?” I noticed this way back in college and it has been an awareness ever since. Bugs me actually, but we all have our pet peeves.
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