From feedback received from the open letter of last week regarding how to pray against the virus it is clear that some of these reflections need to address the issue of how to pray in faith. First it may be important to reflect on the way we have traditionally been taught how to pray and presumably this is still the way still practice. Usually this amounts to saying our prayers, having a conversation with the Lord about our cares and concerns, letting him know our needs, and generally hoping that he will look after things and that all will be well. All of this is an important way of deepening our relationship with him. However, the word disciple carries the sense of being a learner and a listener. This is where we usually fall short. We don’t usually ask like the disciples, Lord, teach us to pray and let our prayer be then guided in a certain direction. The well-known verse from the Book of Samuel; 'Speak Lord your servant is listening' has been replaced with, 'listen Lord your servant is speaking'. This presupposes that what we have to say to the Lord is more important than what he has to say to us. To slowly move from words to simply being silent in the presence of the Lord is a huge step for so many and it is also coming into the place of listening.