The Archbishop of Canterbury’s website has a transcript of an interview with the Archbishop, Rowan Williams, about prayer. You can also listen to the interview by clicking on the link on the same page. As usual, the Archbishop is brilliant and inspiring.  The following is an extract:

Interviewer (Mark Tully): For his Lent reading this year, the Archbishop chose a book written by Timothy Radcliffe the former master of the worldwide Roman Catholic Dominican order. The book was called Why go to Church? And I wondered what answer the Archbishop would give to that question.

The Archbishop:

Organized, traditional church gives you a framework of understanding and it gives you a vocabulary. It tells you what kind of God you’re involved with; a God who is not distant and to be shouted, at but a God who has made himself utterly accessible. It tells you that you have the possibility of standing in God’s presence and addressing God as Jesus did – that is intimately and directly – from within God’s own life. And it also gives you this sort of repertoire of phrases and rhythms which, when things are difficult or dry in your prayer, you can turn to. Are you finding it hard to concentrate or focus? Well, find a phrase or form of words and ‘hang’ the silence on that peg. Because words that are familiar and don’t have to be thought about intensely help you settle down.

When I was a teenager I remember one of the little books of prayer I was given by my vicar had the words of the General Thanksgiving from the Prayer Book:

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men; We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life;

And I learnt that by heart as a boy, and it’s still there, and at moments it’s the peg to hang things on. And whether it’s hymns or words of a prayer it really helps to have those little formulae that sometimes just quiet your mind. So all of that is part of what you derive as an individual from going to church, but also (and this is rather bluntly put) as a Christian you are always praying with other Christians whether you realize it or not. You go to church in order to immerse yourself in something, to absorb something and be absorbed, to pray as the Body of Christ that community which together articulates Christ’s love and longing for the Father.