Prayer

The apostles... rendezvoused with Jesus and reported on all that they had done and taught. Jesus said, "Come off by yourselves; let's take a break and get a little rest." For there was constant coming and going. (Mark 6:31, The Message)

Sometimes prayer is sitting quietly in the Lord's Presence and finding our spirits renewed. Sometimes prayer is an outburst of thanksgiving for gifts given from on high. Sometimes prayer is intense petition, storming Heaven for loved ones and for our world. Sometimes prayer is making a clean breast of it, 'fessing up to our failures in love." Sometimes prayer is pure praise, not because of who we are or even what we've received, but because of Who God is. Martin Luther famously said, "As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray."

In Holy Baptism we were anointed and given a priestly identity, a priestly role to intercede for the world. Weekend and Wednesday a.m. worship services are our primary opportunities for community prayer. However, we also set aside dedicated time for virtual Intercessory Prayer every Tuesday at 11 a.m. Every Wednesday we pray together on-line: morning (7 a.m.), noontime (12 p.m.) and evening (7 p.m.). Our healing services focus particularly on the mending of bodies and souls; the lighting of candles, anointing with oil, laying on of hands are elements of that worship experience. More informal Prayer Around the Cross takes various forms over the course of the church year. Themes include Advent waiting in hope, Lenten longing for forgiveness, the healing of creation and the healing of the nations. We gather in Fellowship Hall around the cross or around the creche for this candlelit service, composed largely of silence and music.