Thought and Prayer of the Day
by the Rev. Jennifer Schick
November 20, 2025
As Christians we are all called to pray. Prayer sometimes is seen as a simple thing – simply a conversation with Jesus. However, recently I’ve come to hear St. Teresa of Avila’s description of prayer and have been very moved by it.
St. Teresa was a Carmelite nun who lived in the 1500s. Tragedy and illness led her into a deeper relationship with God and into a call to reform the Carmelite order of which she was part But prayer didn’t necessarily come naturally for her. In her early years in the monastery she confessed that she would wait eagerly for the bell to toll, ending the required time of prayer.
Later, in her Spiritual Autobiography, she outlined some of her learnings about prayer. Using the image of a garden, she outlines four ways to experience prayer:
Way one: Water the Garden of prayer with a bucket: The first way of watering the garden is by means of a well by use of a bucket and manually drawing up water from a well to water the soil of our prayer life. This is the most laborious and requires hard work and discipline. Teresa invites the prayerful person to go to the well of his mind and heart to recall the moments of God in his life even when this includes tears and hardship and to bring them to God in prayer.
Way two: Water the garden of prayer using a water wheel – a tool to water making prayer easier and less laborious. In Theresa’s time water wheels were at the base of hills and mountains. Prayer in this way doesn’t focus on the ground – our own experiences – but on something higher. We lift our eyes up to God and travel to the source of grace to find spiritual nourishment. Yet it still requires work and dedication.
Way three: Water the garden of prayer by going to the river – This way represents prayer flowing more easily and thoroughly. The water from a stream saturates the ground more effectively, so the gardener’s labor is less frequent and the garden receives more consistent nourishment. Prayer in this way doesn’t focus on doing but on being in the presence of God.
Way four: Water the garden by the rains from the heavens: As one tends the garden of prayer, sometimes by no effort of our own, God’s grace rains down from heaven, causing growth, and bringing joy.
As we pray – we may find ourselves connecting to God in one of these four ways – sometimes prayer will be very personal and laborious, sometimes it will involve treks of faith as we seek to set our eyes upon the Lord, sometimes it will involve sitting quietly and letting grace absorb us, and sometimes we will feel the presence of God to no effort at all on our behalf. All four are ways of prayer – and most will cycle through all four ways of watering our prayer life multiple times over our lives.
Regardless if prayer is a work of labour, a trek, quiet meditation or a gift from above – all are valid and all are important. All ways connect us to God who yearns for our growth and for fruit to be born from our souls.
Prayer:
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
— St. Teresa of Avila
