Waiting, Praying, Listening

I have to confess that I’m terrible at waiting!

Whether it’s a queue in a shop, being on hold on the phone or waiting to receive a text or email back from someone. As I’ve grown older, I’ve had to work hard to become more patient. Perhaps a little bit more patient anyway, it’s still a work in progress.

Today, we find ourselves in a time of waiting. An in-between period of nine days, between Ascension Day and Pentecost. Our reading from the Book of Acts describes how, after witnessing Christ’s Ascension, the Apostles, Mary and one or two others, have nothing else to do except to return to the upper room. And to wait, praying for the arrival of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus had promised them.

Seeing through modern eyes, in an age of Amazon Prime and internet streaming, it’s easy to wonder why the Holy Spirit couldn’t come to them straight away. We’ve become so used to a frantic pace of life, where there is often very little time to stop and pause.

Perhaps, then, it’s no wonder that we also live in a world in which prayer has become a forgotten discipline. One in which so many people struggle to know what or how to pray.

Today’s Gospel takes us to Jesus’ own great prayer. St John’s ‘high priestly prayer’, which he places at the end of the Last Supper. In this, Christ prepares for what is to come by consecrating himself, his disciples and his future Church. Setting himself, and us, apart from the world, and asking that we be made one with God the Father.

It’s incredibly significant that, in the midst of his telling of Christ’s final day, John chooses to emphasise that Jesus prayed.

We sometimes hear the argument, from various quarters, that the Church should spend less time praying and more time acting. And there is some wisdom in this. Sometimes, in the Church we can become lazy and complacent.

But at the same time, if Christ himself chose to put prayer at the heart of his final hours, then we too should realise that prayer is vital to the life of the Church.

It’s through prayer that we are drawn deeper into communion with God. Not just by throwing up an occasional quick-fire petition, but by shaping our lives into an ongoing pattern of prayer. One which makes space for silence. For waiting on God. For listening to the Spirit’s voice.

I’m always struck by one particular story about Mother Theresa, now St Theresa of Calcutta, in which she was asked by a, presumably quite cynical, journalist about prayer. Half jokingly, he asked her, ‘Mother Theresa, when you pray what do you say?’ She responded, ‘Nothing, I just listen.’

For a second he was stumped, but then a smirk came across his face, and he asked, ‘Well, then, what does God say?’ Mother Theresa thought for a moment and responded, ‘Nothing, he just listens.’

Being present to God, and God to us. The life of prayer is about mutual listening, mutual waiting, mutual abiding.

It’s this kind of prayerfulness that truly sustains the life of Christ’s Church.

Even with all the financial resources in the world. With as many priests as we could ever want. With the best events and activities programme we could ever imagine — without prayer we would still be at sea, lost in the tides and currents of an impulsive, rapidly-changing world.

Without prayer, we become anxious and frantic, or depressed and disillusioned. Which is why St Peter encourages us to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand. To cast our anxiety — our worries and burdens — onto God.

Enabling our restless hearts to find rest, trusting in God’s incredible, extravagant love.

I wonder, then, how God might be prompting you to grow in prayer in your own life?

It could begin by doing something as simple as remembering to pray when something is bothering you, rather than jumping straight into action or sounding off to others. ‘Casting your burden’ onto God. Firing up what is often called an ‘arrow prayer’ — a short, simple request for help.

But, more than this, if we are serious about becoming more like Jesus, we must also cultivate patterns of prayer and silence that permeate our whole lives. Our church tradition provides us with prayers to say throughout the day. The Daily Office, which brings together morning and evening, midday and night prayers.

We can also take occasional time out to pray, through retreats or quiet days. Retreats are not just for clergy. Taking intentional time with God can bring real spiritual renewal for all of us, away from the bustle of our daily lives.

The reward of even just a little time spent in prayer is significant — drawing us deeper into God’s love. And, as a result, helping us to feel less anxious, less fearful and more joyful.

‘What must one do in order to please God?’, Saint Anthony the Great, one of the fourth Century desert fathers, was once asked. ‘Whoever you may be,’ he answered, ‘always have God before your eyes.

In prayer and waiting, may we focus our eyes on God today. On Christ, our risen and ascended King. That, in the words of St Peter, the ‘God of all grace… may himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish us.’

Amen.

Sermon preached at St John the Baptist, Risca Road and St John the Baptist, Rogerstone, both in the Tredegar Park Ministry Area, on Sunday 17 May 2026.