Manna interview: Encouraged by prayer

Manna interview: Encouraged by prayer

Malcolm Critchley, who is undertaking the Lay Ministry Foundation Course, explains how it has broadened his perspective on prayer.

 

Is prayer a big part of your everyday life?

Yes. It helps me to connect with God and it encourages me. I would say I get spiritual feedback from it, so I’m always left encouraged by prayer.

What do you value most about prayer?

It helps me with direction. That’s what I value the most.

Do you think prayer sustains you in your faith?

The discipline of prayer helps to sustain me. The structure of the liturgy and the prayers help give me direction and order. Organising myself in prayer helps my understanding of what God wants me to do.

What prayer inspires you?

The repetition of the Apostles Creed has been one of the most helpful prayers for me. When I came back to the church after COVID I needed to be recentred and reset and the repetition of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit put me right.

How do you think the Lay Ministry Foundation Course inspired you?

It’s opened my eyes and widened the horizon. I’ve spent most of my Christian life in loosely structured church. It’s not until I came into the Anglican church that I really examined different aspects of prayer and what prayer means. Broadening the parameters of prayer has been one of the main things I’ve got from the course.

Do you have any advice for anyone looking to refresh their prayer life?

If you have the opportunity to enrol in the foundation course, do it, you will learn so much. I’m learning so much and I never expected that. It’s good for us to move out of our comfort zone and to explore different possibilities and aspects of prayer life because there is so much more to it than shutting your eyes and bowing your head.