Forgive us, O Lord, for our sometimes judgmental attitude that causes us to be overly critical of others and for our sometimes hypocrisy that causes us to hold others to a higher standard than that to which we hold ourselves.
Connections 05.21.2023: On Their Behalf
May 14, 2023 by
Many of us have probably had the experience of someone praying for us by name, in person, right in front of (or next to) us. Maybe they’re even holding our hands or laying hands on our heads or shoulders.
Formations 05.08.2022: Praying or Posturing?
May 1, 2022 by
Prayer is a funny thing. Ostensibly, prayer involves communication with God. We speak to God, expressing thanksgiving, praise, and of course petitions for God’s blessings.
Persecuted
March 1, 2022 by
There are people all over the world who are being persecuted—truly persecuted—for righteousness’ sake, for the sake of their faithful witness to their relationship with God and to the ways of God’s kingdom.
Opened Heavens
February 1, 2022 by
Jesus’ baptism somehow prompted an amazing representation of the thing that Jesus’ life in its entirety was about: the barrier between heaven and earth was penetrated and the way from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven was opened.
Praying About the Things You Don’t Want to Talk About
May 5, 2021 by
Prayer should never be an awkward conversation. No topic off limits. No taboos and no time limits. It shouldn’t require that I quote scripture to be heard or acknowledged.
What Can I Say?
October 7, 2020 by
I’m going down. Praying hands up, I am sinking into despair though you would never know. Hands up, I volunteer for this and that and this. “Sure.” “Of course.” “No problem.” “Absolutely.” “Got it!”
Praying with My Feet
June 3, 2020 by
On Memorial Day, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American resident, was arrested by Minneapolis police for allegedly attempting to use a fake $20 bill at Cup Foods, a local store.
Praying During a Pandemic: Out of Our Hands
May 13, 2020 by
My hands are clean. I promise that I didn’t do this. I prayed for a slower pace, for the closing down of my private warehouse that manufactures speed.
Prayer and Hand Sanitizer Go Together: Praying During a Pandemic
April 21, 2020 by
Rub your hands together with me. I don’t doubt the power of prayer or hand sanitizer. I use both and my health is better for it.
Praying Room
November 6, 2019 by
Excuse me. I am going to need some wiggle room, a place to twist and turn, space to squirm under the hands of life’s circumstances. It is a tight squeeze.
Formations 07.14.2019: Working and Praying for Change
July 7, 2019 by
Two weeks ago, Hong Kong marked twenty-two years of Chinese rule. The milestone comes after months of protests over a proposed law that, opponents say, could have been used to seize government critics and send them for trial to the mainland.
The Praying Type
April 10, 2019 by
“I’m not the praying type.” This is what it boils down to when I ask some people about talking to God. These persons talk about prayer as if it is not for them.
Praying with One Eye Open
August 14, 2018 by
These days, I am traveling on “a wing and prayer.” While the familiar adage speaks to poor travel conditions, it is all that I could find. The other options don’t fit in the overhead compartment and, of course, would be an additional fee.
When Words Catch Fire
February 21, 2018 by
When I remember the Saturday that my seven-year-old self spent in the church library while her father worked on his sermon down the hall, details are missing. I don’t know how long I was there, the name of the book that moved my imagination, or who its author was.
Praying with Your Pen
January 10, 2018 by
When I most need to pray, I grab a pen and a journal. Something about the physical act of writing to God opens my mind and heart in ways that surprise me. As the ink flows, so do the concerns I have carried that day, the questions I’ve pondered, and my longing to be centered again. In praying this way, I do what many writing teachers advise—keep the pen moving, never stopping it, until everything I need to say spills onto the page.
Praying Time
August 15, 2017 by
Though there are times for which it seems that prayer does not work, times when it seems like the power of God has hit a dry spell, we are encouraged to keep praying. But, if I am honest, sometimes it is hard to keep the conversation with God going.
Connections 10.16.2016: Suffering. Praying. And…
October 9, 2016 by
A parishioner had liver cancer. One day, as we sat talking in his den, he told me that he had recently attended a service conducted by an evangelist who claimed to be able to heal the sick.
Praying in the Dark
July 8, 2015 by
More often than not, we talk to God with the lights on. This is not to suggest that prayer is scary, that there are monsters under the pews or in our prayer closets.
Praying Hard
May 5, 2015 by
Praying is difficult but it is even more so trying when you don’t want to talk, when the words are stuck in your throat and it hurts to talk. And you know that the only way to make the pain go away is to let it out, to get it out.