Ancient traditions inspire new rhythms of prayer at Waverley Abbey

'The heartbeat of an Abbey is prayer, right? It keeps pumping life through the rest of the body.' Jill Weber, from Waverley Abbey’s prayer community, invites everyone to be part of Waverley Abbey’s daily rhythms of prayer. 

'Here at Waverley we’re praying three times a day. We’re doing monastic-light.' Jill jokes as she explains the history – Abbey’s were monasteries that could have up to seven times of corporate daily prayer.

Praying three times a day – morning, noon and night 

Jill leads the Waverley Abbey Community who begin every day by orienting themselves at the very start of it to God. 'He is our chief orienting reality,' says Jill. 

It’s about more than starting the day ‘right’, says Jill, 'it’s creating opportunities to join in with God as He is at work during our days.' And at noon, they stop again to pray, 'We stop and put tools down in the middle of the day and reorient ourselves to God’s presence and do the work of prayer. Prayer is work you know, we’re building things here, birthing things through prayer,' explains Jill. 

And then at the end of the day, they pray again, 'We actually stop. And reflect on our day in the light of God's presence and where we've seen Him at work within us.'

'We like the word prayer rhythms because it speaks to that heartbeat. There's a rhythm. Prayer is pulsing through our day,' reflects Jill.

At Waverley Abbey, Jill and the Waverley Abbey Community are modeling what a prayer filled life can look like. And then, they resource others to be able to pray too. 'We have so many people who come and see and then go and do.' 

The Bible talks about many types of prayer, Waverly Abbey is a place for people to get exposed to ways of prayer that are maybe new for them. 

'We do lots of different ways of praying,' says Jill, 'we do liturgical prayer, we do silent prayer, we do singing prayer, we do Pentecostal prayer. We do all kinds of prayer, and we do that on purpose. So that people can either pray in a way that's comfortable for them or dip their toe in a different prayer stream to try something new.'

And so we try and model, and then we try to resource people to go and pray by themselves: 

• Young adults are learning how to pray at the 24-7 Academy – a residential leadership development programme for 18-30 year olds 

• Members of the public, church groups, leaders and individuals are learning different ways to pray on retreats and during reset days

Creating spaces for prayer 

Jill is super passionate about creating more places for prayer at Waverley Abbey. 

'I think what's really beautiful is that people visit the Remembering Garden (a prayer garden in the grounds of Waverley Abbey House) and then they come back and bring their non Christian friends and family. The garden is a tool that people are using to introduce people to Jesus, which is just so beautiful.'

The 24-7 Academy are developing a new prayer trail in the grounds – an alpha prayer garden. A space where people can ponder life’s big questions. Deliberately designed for those who have maybe never been exposed to faith before. 

Talking with Jill you get the impression that they are only just getting started with prayer spaces, 'Waverley Abbey has 112 acres that we can turn into a massive prayer room and create spaces for seekers to maybe find the one they're seeking.'

Prayer should be accessible, every day and normal 

'Some people love the word ‘intercessor’ or ‘prayer warrior’.' Jill explains how these grand names can intimidate some people. But, that’s not how it should be. 'Prayer is just a conversation with God. I want everyone to know that prayer is for everybody.' 

Jill and her team's invitation is to ‘pray as you can not how you can’t.’ 

So, how do you embrace that can and make prayer open to everyone? 

'That's the beauty of 24-7 Prayer as an organisation,' says Jill.  'We teach people who don't think they can pray how to pray.' With simple frameworks everybody gets a chance to pray and play. 'Pete Greig from 24-7 Prayer says: "Keep it simple. Keep it real. Keep it up.”'  

God is speaking to people and answering prayers at Waverley Abbey 

Jill shares some testimonies from Waverley Abbey visitors… 

'One woman, who was not a churchgoer, walked into the house and said "I feel like I’ve walked into a big hug." That was her experiencing the tangible presence of God.' 

'Another, a senior leader of an organisation, was walking up the stairs in the house and God apprehended him. God just stopped him on the stairs, spoke to him and reoriented his whole next season of ministry.' 

Waverley Abbey College students regularly say that their time at Waverley Abbey is transformational. 'Many of them articulate that it's the culture and the prayer rhythms. The prayerful environment is part of the transformation that they experience as students.' Says Jill.

Jill invites everyone to join in with prayer at Waverley Abbey, 'I think the session that's most readily available to the public is the midday prayer, Monday to Friday. And our refresh days.' 

Join in with prayer online, or visit in person. Come and walk in the garden, sit in the prayer room or even just walk up the stairs and spend some time in prayer at Waverley Abbey.