Last November, I moved with my family into Epping to begin to serve the church communities as their team rector.
This means that it is my privilege and responsibility to lead the congregations of St John’s Epping, All Saints Epping Upland and St Alban’s Coopersale in Christian prayer and worship.
When those who were first called Christians found themselves in challenging times, those who wrote to them told them to be people of prayer.
When Jesus lived on the earth, prayer was his heartbeat, and those who followed Him asked him to teach them how to pray.
Recent weeks have been challenging times for the community of Epping, and it has certainly been the case that people of goodwill in churches across the area have been praying for the town.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ answer is a little longer than that recorded by Luke, and it is that text which forms the basis of the Lord’s Prayer, which most Christians say aloud at least every week.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.
The heart of this prayer is about reaching out to God and seeking to communicate with the Divine.
The solitary walker in the forest offering thanks to God for the wonder of creation is just as much a person of prayer as someone gathering with others in a religious gathering.
The beginning of any prayer, as Jesus taught, is remembering that each of us, whatever our origin story might be, may call to God for help from time to time.
Prayer is not about having lots of long words; it can be just lighting a candle and thinking of the things of God.
In these challenging summer days, if you are not sure about God, why not try saying a prayer – you never know what might happen.
- Rev John Fryer is the area dean of Epping and Ongar.
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