Dear Star-Illumined-Jesus Followers,
One of the things I love about serving this congregation is that you
know how to pray; and one of the things I’ve heard a lot from the recipients of
those prayers is that the prayers are FELT by those who are the focus of your
prayers! It’s awesome!
Yet one of the conversations behind the scenes has been how our
prayers can be best directed, so as to be felt, so as to help realize God’s
work …because we have a Prayer Tree, a Prayer Group using Facebook, there can
be announcements from the pulpit, there’s a newsletter, a Facebook page, word
of mouth, a Sunday School Class, a Choir Group—all of whom can be prayerful! Or not—because we also have folks who think
that prayers are like religion and politics—not to be spoken in public! Or shared!
Praying for one another is a gift of the heart, the Spirit, a sign of
the love of Christ among us, that regardless of one’s circumstances, can have a
powerfully-felt impact—both for the prayer and the one(s) being prayed
for. But it’s also true that to be
prayed for, one shouldn’t have to give up their privacy. Sometimes we need to be prayed for, but it’s
a situation or circumstance that should not be revealed!
I’d like it if one of the ministries of this congregation can be that we pray for one another—in times of great need, or just ordinary plenty. We can do this by being mindful to pray for each other by just perusing through the directory along with remembering our families and neighbors. But when it comes to praying in special circumstances, we should apply some additional guidance.
- Asking to be prayed for isn’t a press release; it needs to be treated as privileged information.
- Being added to the prayers list doesn’t mean “everyone has to know about it” from the pulpit.
- Being asked to pray for someone, isn’t an invitation to share their news.
- Praying for one another is a sacred holding of them before God, and it’s an act between you and God. It can also be an act of the whole congregation, with the right permission.
When someone asks to be put on our prayer tree, that’s a group of
dedicated, faithful people who do the praying.
If you have prayer requests or would like to be added to the prayer
tree, please contact Janice Vail, she can add you to the list of people who are
called on the telephone and asked to pray.
Persons can also be added to our Facebook Prayer group—a private
group of dedicated pray-ers. Only
members of this group will see prayer requests, each request is confidential,
it is definitely not public. If you have
prayer requests, or you’d like to be added to this group, please contact Ashley
in the Church Office—every person who requests to be a part of this group is vetted
ahead of time.
In addition to prayers, our Witness and Service committee is charged
with care for members and others, because sometimes we need a little prayer and
a cup of soup! All of us can help can
help by helping to ask one another when we think someone might need to be
prayed for or if we need to be asking about fulfilling other needs. If you know someone is or may need our
prayers, asking them if they want to be prayed for is a good start; then
sharing that with the appropriate persons.
If someone has a desire to keep a request completely private, you can
contact me directly—I’ll then know to be praying for you, especially; and, we
can also determine how best to employ our prayer networks on your behalf.
Again, part of the ministry of this congregation has been and should
be to seek to minister to one another in the form of prayer. Not as a source of sharing information, but
directing divine initiative.
We should be able to do prayer better than politics as a part of keeping up with the story and work of God’s amazing love! Jesus shone God’s light on those who were in need, not to make it public, but to reflect the rays of God’s action. Jesus was the light of the world. And we reflect that light, too.
