Prayer for the Day

by Revd Canon David White

30th August 2026 - 13th Sunday after Trinity

Lord God,
teach me the precious insignificance of prayer.

Teach me the value
of its hiddenness in my public life;
it’s wastefulness in the world’s eyes;
it’s disregard for eloquence
if my spirit can only groan.

Let my prayer be filled
with the enjoyment of you
for your name’s sake
and for none other.
Amen.

This prayer is by John Bell, a Church of Scotland Minister and member of the Iona Community (a worldwide community with its base on the isolated island of the same name off the west coast of Scotland). He is a musician and a writer, including of hymns, and has contributed to many publications of the Iona Community. His theology and approach to prayer, and that of the Iona Community, is reflected in this prayer. The opening two lines are striking and cause us to ponder from the outset, and then continue to do so. As Christians, we are taught that prayer is important and significant. But our over busy, impulsive and materialistic world largely sees prayer as insignificant – but paradoxically, that only adds to its preciousness and importance for us and the whole world.

John Bell and the Iona Community have a theology of the integration of work and worship, prayer and politics, the sacred and the secular. Prayer is a call to love as Jesus loved, to be inclusive and welcoming and to live out the mission of Jesus Christ. In doing this they look to find new ways of proclaiming the gospel along with its dedication to peace, justice and the building up of communities – all of which is, of course, our mission too in the East Trent Group of Churches.