Monday, December 2, 2024
We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
I can’t say enough about the importance of prayer, both on an individual level and as a community of faith.
One of the most encouraging experiences as a Christian is to be prayed for by someone else- and not only prayed for but prayed with. When someone prays for you in your presence, something special happens in your heart: you feel warmed and encouraged. There’s a sense of intimacy, both between you and the other person and between you and God.
When I visit with our shut-ins, or with parishioners in hospitals, I never fail to mention to them that we, as a community of faith, as their congregation, are praying for them.
These words are not just empty words. I tell that we are praying for them as an assurance that we care about them, we haven’t forgotten them, and to soothe whatever anxieties they may be feeling at the moment.
I recently underwent hip replacement surgery. Though I was anxious, one of the most comforting feelings I had when I walked into the surgery center was the thought that many were praying for me. That filled me with a confidence that was empowering and calming at the same time. It was almost as if God were singing to me, “Be Not Afraid.”
Knowing that someone is praying for us helps us to release that desire for control and puts it in someone else’s hands. We are so obviously not in control as we listen to people pray for us.
They, not we, are the ones doing the asking, and God, not we, is the one answering the prayer.
In a world where all too often it seems like everyone lives and dies for themselves alone, surely the Christian community must be the one place where all are brothers, all are sisters, and all are friends. It must be the place whee we live for each other, where we care as much about the lives of others as we do our own.
We ARE praying for them. And prayer makes a difference.
Let us pray.
Almighty and eternal God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully accept the prayers of your people, and strengthen us to do your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 394)