Prayer for the Week 18 April
Read Luke 24:13-35 (The Road to Emmaus)
One of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had was reading this passage from Luke’s Gospel back in 2018 whilst on a visit to the Holy Land led by Bishop John Pritchard. Towards the end of our ‘slow retreat’, we held a short service in a church near to the believed site of Emmaus, approximately seven miles from Jerusalem.
The Spirit is more palpable on some occasions than others for reasons known only to God, but I sensed the Spirit during our worship that day and particularly as I read this account from Luke’s Gospel aloud.
On reading the road to Emmaus story, which only appears in Luke, we need to remember that Christ is walking alongside us every day, mostly unseen and unrecognised. However, the signs are there that God is indeed travelling with us and is being recognised and felt as a reality in people’s lives.
Prayer
Lord, we confess that we live our lives
distracted by so many things.
So often, this is when things
aren’t going the way we think they should,
like the pair who trod the Emmaus Road.
Our feet carry us forward,
but our thoughts go round in circles.
And at such times, when you come to us, Lord,
we often fail to recognise you.
We are sorry and ask you to reveal yourself to us afresh. Amen.
Hymn
Singing the Faith 597 Charles Wesley (1707-88)
O thou who this mysterious bread
Didst in Emmaus break,
Return, herewith our souls to feed,
And to thy followers speak.
Debs Coggrave – LP in the Darlington and Teesdale Circuit and Trustee for Cumbria, Darlington & Newcastle Districts
