Sitting in God’s presence

So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. 

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:5-10

As part of the work of the City Centre Chaplaincy we have more recently taken to Prayer walking and prayer sitting. Such a ministry has surprising results where opportunities arise for conversation. This is what Jesus did as he sat at Jacob’s well. Several times, the Samaritan woman seems to resist; perhaps she has developed a defensive self-protecting habit. I ask God to help me to be open to receive good news from any source through which God may send it to me.

For me, the thought of Jesus sitting alone by the well is an invitation to be with him. As he looked at the woman, he looks at me: he longs to offer me life; he invites me to see the deeper meaning in what I do; he respects my dignity, asking me to do what I can for him.

When Jesus says, “If you knew…”, he reveals his desire to draw us into knowing God as he does. His open and generous heart is the heart of God, inviting us all to rest where we are known and loved, to find enduring life and lasting refreshment.

O God, we gather at your waters,

as a hot and bothered crowd gathers on the beach

on a sweltering, summer day.

O God, we drink at your fountain, 

as a parched dog laps at the fresh,

running water of a bush creek.

O God, we await your refreshment, 

as a tired worker watches for the change of shift.

Quench our thirst, satisfy our longings. 

May we be refreshed and restored in you;

and teach us where to find the bucket and how to carry it

so that we might draw that water for those who most need it. Amen