What Do You Pray For?

I am glowing right now from how wonderful worship was this morning.  I truly felt God's presence throughout the worship service.  The sermon today was based on the gospel Mark 1:29-39, and more specifically when Jesus went to a deserted place to pray.  During the sermon I asked the questions, "When & where do you pray?" and "What do you pray for?"  This lead to a wonderful conversation and people were very honest about what those questions mean to them and more especially what they pray for.  


I then gave them an opportunity to write prayers, either just a few words or full sentences and those were our prayers of the people today. Not only did I feel God's presence as we prayed but I also felt like people were actually listening more intently to the words I was saying.  I personally tend to zone during the prayers of intercession and just by rote say "hear our prayer,"  but these prayers seemed so much more full.


We also communed in a circle around the altar and font which always makes me smile as I watch children commune their parents (even if sometimes the children are in their 60s).  


So enjoy the sermon - I hope you feel God's presence as you reflect upon prayer. 

Jesus has had a busy first day.  On his first day of healing, he healed the man possessed by an unclean spirit that Ryan told us about last week, then he comes to Simon Peter’s home and heals his mother-in-law.  No wonder why word about him quickly spread. 

It spread so quickly that by sundown, when it was no longer the Sabbath, there was a line of people waiting to be healed.  People who were sick or demon possessed – the whole city was gathered around the door of Simon Peter’s home. 

And after this busy day, Jesus needed some time off, some time to reflect and pray.  He got up early in the morning and went to a deserted place by himself to pray.  Jesus was probably looking for answers, the way most of us look for answers when we pray.  Was his mission to stay in that town of Capernaum to heal the sick of the whole town? Or was his mission to continue to travel throughout Galilee to preach God’s message?  Did he really want to do this?  Already he was overrun with people and this is only the first day of his healing ministry – did he really want to live this life? 

Jesus needed time to be alone with God in prayer.  Just like we often need to turn to God in prayer.  Therefore – when and where to you pray?  What do you pray for?  What happens when your prayers are not answered? (at least not the way that you want them in the time frame that you want them to be). 

Many people find comfort in knowing that they are not alone in their prayers, that others are praying with them, whether it is for healing, or finding employment or relationship issues, or in thanksgiving for joys in our lives from beautiful days, to births, to love.  Yet we are often uncomfortable making those request – it can seem like begging.  So here is your opportunity to lift up prayers among the congregation, and still remain anonymous if you wish.  In your pews are some note cards, I’m going to give us a few minutes to write down those prayers, maybe just a word or two, maybe a full sentence.  And place them in this basket.  These will be our prayers of the people today – prayers that came from the people of Bethlehem. 

Having others pray our prayers doesn’t mean that they are any more likely to be answered in the way that we truly want, but often when we hear our prayers on the lips of others, we become more open to allowing God to answer those prayers in ways that are not just our own.