When we moved into our new house last Autumn, there was one thing we loved straight away:  the stairs.  They’re lit by a large window and have a relatively spacious landing (for a modestly sized house).  There is also a curious little cupboard half-way up.

This became our prayer stair and symbol for the way that we want to live but don’t always achieve.  The cupboard now holds some Bibles (children’s versions and various translations), a candle, a cross and some other things to hold, a ‘prayer dial’ to help children and parents pray together some photos of people we want to remember to pray for regularly, and the inside of the cupboard doors are covered in post-its (Bruce Almighty- style) of some current prayer needs.

Most of the time, though, we just walk up and down our stairs and forget to pause.  A lot like the rest of life.

The idea for this blog was to write about things that emerge from a life centred in prayer.  Instead it will have to be things that emerge from a life that wants to be centered in prayer, that wants to pause on the prayer stair more often and wants to find more time for listening.