You are going to pray? For me?

I was really excited for yesterday's sermon, which is probably not a typical comment for a sermon preached on John 17 (verses 6-19 to be exact), as it is a twisting, turning, repeating, circular prayer from Jesus.  And while our first reading, Acts 1:15-17, 21-26, while an important part to the narrative of Acts, doesn't give the preacher much meat.  But then in a text study conversation we were talking about prayer and stopping to pray for one another and I thought "what if we took the time to pray specifically for one another during worship? What would that be like?"  And a sermon was born.


Enjoy! And pray for someone else.

Have you ever had someone pray for you?  What was it like to have someone be in the same room with you and pray for you – out loud.  To hear someone talking to God in your name.  Whether they are giving thanks for you or asking for God to heal you or bless you or be with you? How about when you name is said during the prayers here as it is your birthday or anniversary week? 

For me at least, there is something so wonderful about having someone else pray for you.  And while it is great when someone says “I’ll be praying for you,” it almost brings tears to my eyes as that person prays with me there in front of them. It is humbling.  And yet it is honoring.  It is makes me feel like I cannot solve any problems on my own or fully celebrate any joys without others partaking. And I go through a series of emotions, almost like a rollercoaster that you have been on many times before, you know what is coming, the ups and the downs and yet you have to go through each before arriving at the next emotion.

My first thought is to shy away, to be embarrassed that someone else is praying for me. I then relax and realized that the words the other is speaking, even if they may not be grammatically correct or pass any public speaking course with all the umms and ahhs, they are the perfect words for that situation. And then I feel privilege to be in the presence of these words.  They are not spoken to me, but to God and I’m just the lucky one to get to overhear an intimate conversation between a believer and their God. And finally, when the prayer ends, there is almost a sadness that the prayer is over, as I long to continue to hear those words. It is not a longing in a prideful way, that the praise for me is over, but a longing that that moment, when all I hear are these words to God that are so powerful I can almost see them, touch them, is over. And often the prayer ends with silence and then a sigh, a sigh that is filled with both appreciation for the words that were offered and hope that I will be able to experience such a moment again. 

And I get the feeling this emotional rollercoaster, but a good roller coaster, is not just my own.  Twice in today’s reading people are being prayed for who get to overhear the prayer.  In our first reading from Acts a decision needed to be made of who would take Judas’ place as an apostle.  The vote came down between Joseph Barsabbas and Matthais. But before a single ballot was cast, the apostles and the 120 people gathered prayed. “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” I doubt that was the whole prayer, probably just the Reader’s Digest version.  But I wonder if during the prayer Joseph Barsabbas realized that this was not his calling. Or if Matthais felt the Holy Spirit wrapped around him.  And those who voted, did some of them changed their minds as they prayed? 

Then in our gospel today Jesus is praying for his disciples while they are with him.  Our reading is just part of this prayer which makes up the entire 17^th chapter of John.  It is the night before Jesus died and he is not praying to make his death not happen or at least less painful.  He is not praying even for his own well-being, that his life wasn’t lived in vain.  Instead he is praying for his disciples, that they may be God’s, that they may have his joy, that they may be protected from the devil and not too condemned by the world, that they may know the truth in God.  And I wonder if it wasn’t until this prayer that some of the disciples fully realized that Jesus was going to die, and he was going to die really soon. I wonder if it was during this prayer that some of the anxieties they felt were relieved. I wonder if it was during this prayer that some of the disciple found peace and strength to continue Jesus’ ministry after his death, and the same words just spoken to them, instead of God, could not have brought such comfort. 

I wonder that because prayer is a powerful thing.  And when you know someone else is praying for you, especially when you hear them praying for you, you feel power and peace that you might not otherwise feel.

So we are going to do something a little different in our prayers today, and I know it will bring a few of you out of your comfort zones and you will feel awkward about this, but hopefully the power in prayer will overcome that awkwardness.  Earlier I asked you to write your name on a note card and any prayer request you may have.  If you haven’t done that yet, please do it now.  I’m then going to collect them and redistribute them so each person gets someone else’s card.  Then during our prayers today, we are going to pray for each other.  I’ll start a petition and then invite you to pray out loud for the person whose name is on the card you receive.  You can say a long dissertation of a prayer, or you can just say the person’s name.  But if they also wrote a prayer request, please include that in your prayer. You may not know this person, or they may be your best friend. I then want you to continue to pray for that person throughout the week.  Again, it can just be the person’s name, or it can be a longer prayer.  And hopefully in a week when we gather again, we will be able to share stories about how both being prayed for and praying for others is opening our minds to how God is working in this world and through us.