I want you to take a minute right now to look away from this screen, to whatever is around you. Inside, outside, alone or with other people doesn’t matter. Where are you right now, and what do you notice about the physical space around you? 

Right now of course (in that place) you’re taking in a ‘church service’ there – but this what we’re doing right now isn’t typically the thing that happens in that place, for the other 168 hours of the week. Right? So, what does? 

Take another minute, and look around again. And this time, think about what more typically happens there, throughout the rest of the week. What part of life happens in that place? How does life get lived in there? What goes on; who comes, who goes, do people interact, what do they do when they’re there, how does time get spent in that space?

It’s funny, you know, we really can pray anywhere, anytime, about anything. I’m a huge proponent of that. God is not limited by space (or time) and our prayer life doesn’t need to be either. And yet – there can also sometimes be something especially poignant or powerful, about praying for specific things in specific places. I can pray for my kids anytime anywhere, and yet… if I go into their actual rooms to pray, it does get a little different. It hits a different depth, for me. You can pray for the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized from your own backyard, or your desk at lunch, anywhere. But if you actually go into a neighbourhood where oppression and injustice are the daily lived experience, and you let yourself see and feel that, as you pray… it can do something, in us. 

So right now, since you are in whatever place you’re in, let’s all spend a minute praying for whatever the pocket of life is, that typically goes on in that space. If you’re in your bedroom, maybe you want to pray about rest. If you’re in the kitchen, maybe the nourishment and gathering of your family. Are you in a room where arguments tend to happen? How can you pray about that? Are there things that have happened in that place, over the course of this past week, that could use some prayer? Are there moments or events upcoming – maybe things you want to happen in that place – in the week ahead, that it would be good to consciously bring into God right now? Let’s take a bit of time to just pray personally right now, but experiment with letting the space you’re in mean something, as you enter into that conversation with God.