Freedom To Pray

Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Psalm 27 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

One thing I ask of the LORD, that will I seek after;

To live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life’ Psalm 27:4

As we are now a week and a half into Lent and almost a quarter of the way through the Diocesan Year of Prayer. I have a question for you; how is your prayer life? As I muse on the wealth of resources provided for the Year of Prayer, I am reminded of the old saying, ‘you can take a horse to water, but can’t make it drink!’

In Psalm 27 King David is focused on two parallel themes, that of God’s protection and of abiding in the LORD. David sees them as two sides of the same coin, He puts his trust in God for protection and in response he desires to spend his days in worship and prayer (verse 4).

Today in our country we have the ultimate freedom to worship, pray, and read our bibles. Being a Christian is not illegal, or punishable by imprisonment, and Christians are not persecuted for their faith. The Church of England is part of the establishment, therefore when our Diocese designates 2025 as a year of prayer, we are free to read and receive the resources to help us pray. Sadly, this is not the case in other countries.

So, back to my initial question; ‘how is your prayer life?’ Bearing in mind the freedoms we enjoy, do we take it for granted, or are we aware of how precious our religious freedom is? David understood the need to spend time in the LORD’s presence, he was desperate to meet with the LORD in prayer, and as a result, he had no doubt that LORD would uphold him in times of difficulty.

This unwavering conviction of the LORD’s desire to protect David was born out of a life devoted to God in prayer. And David’s desire to spend time in the LORD’s presence came from periods in his life when he was not able to worship the LORD freely, he knew and understood personally the pain of not having the freedom we have today.

So, how is your prayer life?

Let us pray: Father God, thank you for the religious freedoms I enjoy, help me never to take it for granted, but give me the desire to worship you all the days of my life. Amen.

The Revd Canon Anne Beverley, Director of Ministry.