Worship October 31, 2021
Let us worship!
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.
--from Psalm 25, verses 1 and 2; 4 and 5
A prayer to center you
We wait for you O God, our hope and our salvation
We draw near to you find our strength and our way.
Speak to us through this time
that we may grow stronger in our faith and more sure in our path.
We lean into you now.
Come Lord Jesus, Come
Amen
Holy Scripture
James, CHAPTER 5, VERSE 13 through verse 20
The Prayer of Faith
13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Reflection:
Are any among you suffering?
Yes, Lord, yes. This has been a time of suffering for all of us. Maybe all times are times of suffering in different ways. But for this generation, this feels like it has been a time of long, united suffering. It often feels that we live in a world so divided, so splintered, so stressed, so overwhelmed, that we cannot even breathe. It feels like we are suspended in this odd time—a time when we cannot go back to ‘before’ but the way forward to a time of ‘after’ seems out of reach. No one seems to be making it through these past few years unscathed, without some measure of suffering. There is financial suffering, emotional suffering, physical suffering. So, the answer to the question, are any among you suffering, is yes. Yes--there is suffering among us.
According to James, the answer to suffering (and all things) is prayer. Prayer is a powerful and effective tool. Prayer is not as easy as a genie in a bottle, like we often want it to be. In fact, the outcome of our praying cane sometimes make it feel like prayer is simple an empty act, that our efforts are often simply in vain. Praying might even feel futile at points. Prayer is not always answered in the ways we desire. Loved ones still pass away. Suffering persists longer than we desire. Pain, loss, grief all still occur. We do not always get our way because of prayer. But prayer is not just about getting our way. It is a gift God has given us to increase the quality of our relationships, our relationship with God and our relationship with one another.
Through prayer, we enter into a relationship with God. We share our burdens. We place our hope at the feet of a caring God. We open ourselves up to be vulnerable. Through prayer we allow God into our life and ask God to stand by us. We remember that we not alone in all that we face. Through prayer, we build our relationship with God.
Turning to God in prayer is not always easy. When we are hurt or disappointed it can be hard to place our trust in God and open ourselves up to God. In times of joy, it can be hard to remember to slow down and give thanks for the blessings we have received. In times when we have failed to live up to God’s calling, it can be hard to pray out of shame and we fail to receive the forgiveness that is awaiting us.
But when we do pray, when we do turn to God in hurt, disappointment, joy and even failure our relationship with God grows. Our faith is strengthened. Our burdens can be lightened--our joy can be increased. God wants to be in relationship with us and has given us the gift of prayer to do so. When we turn to God in prayer we make space for God to stand with us in whatever we are facing.
Pray bring us in better relationship with God but can also bring us in better relationship with the world around us. When we take time to pray for those in our community and those that we are in relationship with those relationships are strengthened.
I have friend who really struggled with a co-worker. They did not have to deal with each other often, but when they did it was stressful and full of tangible anger from both sides. My friend struggled with this. The friend decided that she was going to pray for the other person. She simply prayed that God would be with the other person and provide care and comfort for them. Through out this journey of praying for the other person their relationship got a little better. There was a little bit less anger, a little bit less frustration, and a lot less hate. When I asked her about it, she said, “it is hard to hate someone you pray for.”
Through the simple discipline of praying for someone they greatly disliked, my friend’s faith was strengthened, their relationship with both God and with the other party. Now, the two of them are never going to willingly go out to lunch together, but their interactions have improved. The level of tolerance had grown. The hatred has waned. My friend has found greater peace through the practice.
While prayer is not a genie in bottle that will solve our problems quickly, it is a gift from God that allows us find peace through the practice. In prayer we are moved closer to God and to one another. Prayer can heal, mend, and even save if we just enter into the act with an open heart.
Thinking it through…
What is your current prayer practice?
What effects of prayer have you experience?
What keeps you from a faithful prayer practice?
What could you do better in your prayer life?
Word in action…
This week, try a prayer journal.
Write down
your desires
your hurts
your struggles
Ask God to be with you this week
Ask God to mend relationships
Think of 5 things a day for which to give thanks to God
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Have no cares; but in everything with prayer and praise put your requests before God.
Philippians 4:6
Prayer of sending
God of peace and hope,
Open our hearts to you
Open our mouths, that we may speak to you in hope, in sorrow, in pain, in joy
Wherever we are
Help us to reach out to you
To build our relationships with
And with our community.
Come Holy Spirit Come
And guide us
Amen
Going out.
Go out into the world, renewed and revived by the word of God.
and in all that you do, may the love of Christ Jesus uphold you,
the peace of God sustain you and may the Holy Spirit guide you each step of the way
Let all God’s people say: AMEN
