Prayer


In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he tells them to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16b-18) In one short sentence, he invites the Church into a closer relationship with God through prayer and practice of seeking the good, the positive in life. Part of the human condition (for some of us!) is to see only the negative, the difficulties, the failures.  That is not helpful because it diminishes our ability to imagine, be creative and hope. 

Even (or maybe especially) in the more difficult circumstances, we need to pray to seek God’s presence and peace – the peace that passes all understanding.  If we let the chaos around us overtake us, we loose part of ourselves.  Rather, we need to take a moment to breathe and seek God’s wisdom, and we may even be surprised by finding an opportunity to be thankful in the midst of difficulty.

As Father Hubbard reminded us this weekend, faith is a team sport, and so is prayer.  It is an important part of our faith and life in Christ to pray for each other and multiply our prayers in time of difficulty.  We do this on a weekly basis during worship with the Prayers of the People. We have a list of people that members have asked us to pray for (using only first names as we know God knows what each person needs).  It also keeps up connected with those who cannot be with us to worship.  IF you would like to have someone added to that list (or take someone off!), please let me know or email the Church Office (office@stbarnabas-sbnj.org).

We also have the PRAYER CHAIN that is an email sent to a list of people who have signed up to offer prayers.  If you would like to sign up to participate in the PRAYER CHAIN, please send an email to Bryan Botsch (bbotsch3@gmail.com).  If you have a request for prayer, simply send an email to prayer@stbarnabas-sbnj.org, and that prayer request will be sent to the list of people mentioned above.  And you can always contact me for prayer at any time by email, text or phone.

You can also ask for healing prayers after ANY Sunday service.  I am happy to offer prayers at the altar for anyone who would like to have laying-on-of-hands.  I will meet you at the altar as soon as I am done greeting people at the door.

Prayer is a foundational part of our spiritual practice. It is an elemental part of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Way of Love (www.episcopalchurch.org/explore-way-love) that I mentioned in my sermon on Sunday.  If you would like more ideas and resources of how to deepen your prayer life, please let me know!

In Christ,
Rev. Valerie+

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