Preparing for Worship: Notes on Prayers of the People.

So consider prayer-especially the Prayers of the People.

There is a lot of content from our Worship Bulletins that we can move online.  One of the most obvious would seem to be the Prayer List.  It is from that list each week that we start in taking time (except on Communion Sunday) to lift our joys and concerns to the Lord.  It is for that reason I am not going to post it online.  That may seem counterintuitive, and you may disagree with my thinking, but here is why.

Prayer, especially intercessory prayer, is one of the highest forms of divine outreach that we have.  It can be so easy to offer to pray for someone.  And I hate to agree with it, but there is truth in the accusation that saying “our thoughts and prayers are with you” is offered all too often as a replacement when we could, to quote the hymn, our tongues and talents employ, to change someone’s circumstances. 

But when we have come to the limit of our capacity, when we are challenged by the things of life over which we have no control, we are not without options.  We have the privilege, we have the responsibility, we have the opportunity to take it to the Lord in prayer.  We have the privilege to come into God’s throne room of grace and lay our prayer request right there at Jesus’ feet.  If we took the time to sit down and realize that the Creator of the Universe is, essentially, at our beck and call-now that is mind blowing.

In the Order of Worship for Sunday, posted online and mailed afterward, there are a number of prayers.  Most are laid out for people to read and absorb as they choose.  There is one that is not.  It is the Prayers of the People.  In the sanctuary, this is the time we open up the floor and each request is taken and offered to God in the moment, with the response “Lord, hear our prayer”. 

This is the moment for you to make these prayers highly personal.  Who needs prayer?  Who can you recall, whose name do you need to write down?  This post is offered ahead of time to give time to consider the people you want to pray for well in time for Sunday, when, remembering on command, can be frustratingly difficult.

If you are worshipping as a family, this is the time to share these names in the family, taking turns to offer the names up to the Lord to ask for God’s intervention.  It is time to remember this most magnificent power that we have access to. 

So during this time, I will not be posting the prayer list.  It is time for each us to list our own prayers, to consider who in our lives is beyond our ability to help, to lift them up with their concerns to the healing power of the Almighty.  Use this time to cast your nets widely that we may lift up those in need in our lives to the power that gives us life and meaning.

Peace,

Pastor Peter