Prayer Column - July 2021

Hedge clipping time

I have hedges round my garden. They please the eye and suit the birds. In different places I planted beech, hawthorn and Lawson cypress (not Leyland) 40+ years ago, but other species have since crept in. Some are welcome, others tolerated but kept firmly in check, but a few I do my best to eradicate, though it’s almost impossible. And whereas with the passing of the years hedging has got a bit easier because I’ve learned how, it’s also got harder because the trees stubbornly want to revert to their native form and knottily resist my efforts to correct their natural
tendencies. Once or twice a year the shears and loppers have to come out, or I’d soon have rows of rather misshapen specimens struggling onwards and upwards – and also outwards, as our pavements testify.

Not infrequently the Bible likens us to trees: oaks of sturdy righteousness, the planting of the Lord (Is 61:3). What does God want of such trees in his garden? The metaphor varies a bit, but it’s quite clear that he does not want us to grow wild, untamed, and just anyhow, as our natural instincts urge. With his expert clippers he prunes, in order to make us more pleasing to his eye and a blessing to all (Jn 15:1-2). And unlike my stubborn trees, we are to work with him – curbing and even totally denying our selfishness as we seek to follow Jesus, cutting off our old
wayward passions of self – not just once or twice a year but every waking moment of our lives in Christ. And instead, growing a new selfhood of humble caring concern for others (Col 3:5-17) – praying, always praying, for the help we find we need.

Roy Lorrain-Smith

A prayer for each week

Gardening God, from Eden to heaven, always creating beauty and bounty,

please re-form me from within so that I may please you and bless others.

Amen.

Lavish Lord, filling our world with your blossom and promise, please help

me be generous rather than calculating, that others my benefit too.

Amen.

Fruitful Father, ever abundant in your provision, please forgive all my

harmful habits which limit what others enjoy, and help me be more open.

Amen.

Sovereign Son, whose ways are always right and in whose service full

freedom is to be found, please shape us to your liking and fill us with joy.

Amen.

Your own prayers