[Hannah] was deeply distressed
and prayed to the Lord,
and wept bitterly.
Hannah was praying silently;
only her lips moved,
but her voice was not heard
1 Samuel 1:10, 13 NRSV
The chimes, barely audible, sound like a prayer today. What do you hear?
Prayer is
Prayer is, then, to speak more boldly, a conversation with God. Though whispering, consequently, and not opening the lips, we speak in silence, yet we cry inwardly. For God hears continually the whole inward conversation. Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215) Stromateis 7.7.
Cindy Crosby;Thomas C. Oden. Ancient Christian Devotional: Lectionary Cycle B (Search term: Proper 28). Kindle Edition.
Prayer is
Prayer is responding to God,
by thought and by deeds,
with or without words.
From the Book of Common Prayer, page 856
Take our tears, Lord
Take our tears, Lord: to water the seeds of prayer.
Psalm 6:6–9
I grow weary because of my groaning
every night I drench my bed and flood my couch with tears.
My eyes are wasted with grief
and worn away because of all my enemies.
Depart from me, all evildoers
for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
The LORD has heard my supplication
the LORD accepts my prayer.
Take our tears, Lord: to water the seeds of prayer.
Claiborne, Shane; Wilson-Hartgrove, Jonathan; Okoro, Enuma (2010-11-09). Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals (p. 168). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Photo: by epSos.de on Wikimedia Commons
Hear what the Spirit is saying 