As we waited to receive communion, a steady stream of hammer blows came from outside the chapel. Thud, thud, thud, thud. Repair work on the adjacent roof had resumed. It was not quite 7:00 am. The 6:30 am morning Thursday Eucharist, usually a haven of silence and peace, was now happening next to a building site.

We bore it stoically. The rector reassured us that it would soon be over. I mused on the thought of all that hammering being like someone knocking on a door. Then I remembered a parable from Jesus about someone knocking on their neighbor’s door. (Luke 11:5-13) They needed bread and only the neighbor could supply it. The neighbor doesn’t open the door straight away, so the knocking continues until he does.

I had two thoughts. The first of these was about God knocking at the door of our hearts. God wishes to enter but sometimes we are reluctant to open the door. If we do, something might happen over which we will have no control. Allowing God to enter your life means trusting God - not everyone is willing to do that. Safer to keep the door closed. 

But God is persistent and keeps on knocking. Sooner or later you will have to answer. When you do, you discover that God does not want to take anything from you. All he does is enquire after you. The knocking was God trying to prevent you from falling asleep. God is like a doctor or physician making house calls, and he has turned up at your place.

So, having opened the door, you must now respond. This is when you tell God what ails you and is there anything that God can do to help you? Simply opening your heart to God is a relief. Things that you have kept inside start coming out and then there is a realization that you wish you had opened the door sooner. No matter, God is here now, and listening, and wanting to help and heal.

My second thought was this: our prayers for the world are like knocking on the door of the world’s problems. When I think of all the prayers that have called for an end to the conflicts in the world - between Israelis and the Palestinians, Ukraine and Russia, and the other unreported ones, such as between Azerbaijan and Armenia, I give thanks that our prayers, or at least some them, have been answered.

The peace that was brokered last week between Israel and the Palestinians offers hope to the people of that troubled land. It is hope for peaceful co-existence, which will require further prayer, as enmity and distrust are so ingrained there it is hard to see how change can happen. 

I remember an earlier conflict in Northern Ireland. Conflict between the two sides had degenerated into tit-for-tat killings and bombings, usually with innocent bystanders murdered. I told an Irish friend at the time that only prayer could provide a way out of the killing. And so it proved, as the apparently intractable and unsolvable conflict yielded to the peace of the Good Friday agreement.

So let us keep knocking at that door. The hatred in the world needs the prayers of people of goodwill to bring about change. Prayer is like an invisible force for good, moving in the hearts and minds of those who can make change happen. In the meantime, God will keep knocking at the door of your heart, to turn the fear and unbelief hidden within you into the wisdom and compassion the world needs. 

Father David