Prayer is firstly an invitation to rest and listen. The Prologue to St Benedict’s Rule, practiced by the Benedictine monks of Brecon monastery, begins with an invitation to ‘listen… and incline the ear of your heart’.

In a world of alluring noise and words, the prayers on the Cathedral website are word prayers. But that isn’t the only way to pray. There are many ways of praying. Benedict’s Rule helps us with the invite first to ‘listen’. Rest a while in God’s presence. Come to the Cathedral and sit a while if you have faith or no faith.   

The modern world has a toxic relationship with being busy, words in abundance, being in a hurry, not having time. God hasn’t created us for this. The French philosopher, Paul Virilio, wrote that the dominant form of violence of the modern life is ‘speed’ and busyness. If he’s right, then try praying. Start with silence and listening and being present with God. 

Many people go to God with a list, a one-sided affair that means talking at God, presenting problems, asking for guidance, only to be met with silence when our monologue has ended.  Amid individual and collective intense daily struggles, the great work of prayer is best begun with silence. ‘Listen….and incline the ear of your heart’. This will be a time of being attentive to God, and with God. Come and rest a while in the silence. Pray for the grace and gift of silence and listening, that you may refrain from hasty speech and rest a while. Breathe in the silence and stillness. Use words if you must…. but only sometimes.

 The Very Revd Dr Paul Shackerley

Dean of Brecon

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