Many years ago, I learned a valuable lesson - the world around you can help you pray.
I remember Rosemary Green, wife of Anglican theologian Michael Green, asking those of us attending a prayer seminar to pick an object - any object - and use it to stimulate our prayers. I remember choosing my watch and being surprised by how it caused me to think about God.
I often indulge in this prayer aid when I go for a walk. For instance, yesterday I noted the white snow and thought of Christ's death to cleanse me from sin. I thanked him for that. A little further on, I saw a tree that was bare of leaves and reflected that sometimes God has to strip me of wrong things in order to encourage new growth spiritually.
Often, that leads me into other prayer paths. And God will use these things to speak to me, giving me answers to problems that have been troubling me.
When you think of it, this is a very old practice.
The psalmist David's imagination was filled with pictures of the world around him. It poured out into his songs to God.
Take the famous twenty-third psalm.
David was a shepherd before he was a king. Clearly, the simple everyday image of a shepherd with his sheep caused him to think of God as he wrote this psalm.
As a shepherd, he had taken his sheep to water and good pasture. He had defended them against marauding beasts.
Recalling this, he burst into a song of praise to God. God was his shepherd. He protected David. He provided David with all he needed. He took him through dark valleys where his life was threatened just as David's sheep had been stalked by wild beasts.
It is a delightful - and refreshing - way to pray.
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