Resurrection in Prayer

Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

If we are honest, we know that we all hold some prejudice against someone. Maybe it’s racial. Maybe it’s political. Maybe it’s socio-economic, or cultural, or even age-related or influenced by some difference that angers us or, more likely, makes us afraid. If you think you don’t harbor any prejudice at all, think a little harder. Have you ever referred to anyone as one of “those people?” Do you harbor a secret theory that the drivers of certain cars are jerks, or that people who fervently support a certain cause or lifestyle are unpleasant? Who makes you angry? Who makes you uncomfortable? This week, ask God to show you your secret prejudices, the ones you may even have hidden from yourself.

Then, when you have identified the person or people you have negative feelings about, pray for them. Put them right at the top of your prayer list. Ask God to bless them. Ask God to open your eyes so you can see them as Jesus does. Take a real risk and ask God to bring one single person who puts a face on your prejudice into your life so you can pray for them specifically and get to know them as a fellow child of God.

C.S. Lewis said, ““I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time—waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God—it changes me.” When we pray for the people we struggle to love, God changes our heart. God helps us to see our neighbors the way God sees them, as special and worthy of love and grace.
—Jennifer  Creagar, Resurrection Prayer Ministry

A couple of years ago, my husband Scott and I took a trip to a dude ranch in a very small town called French Broad River, Tennessee. First we had a lesson on how to ride inside a corral, then we went on an easy trail ride, then a more advanced trail ride, and then having proven our wrangler abilities, we were allowed to go on a cattle drive.

The cattle graze in a field until there is no more grass to eat. The goal of the cattle drive is to move the entire herd to another field so they can keep eating.  Scott and I, along with the cattle’s owner, boxed in the cattle with our horses and began to move them to the next pasture.

A few of the cattle would wander away when I wasn’t watching them, so I’d ride over as fast as I could, get behind the cow and try to coerce it to rejoin the herd. This kept happeniing with several of the cattle until they had me coming and going so much that I didn’t see a couple of them slip away into the woods. I thought I was doing a great job driving them on to the next field, yet I didn’t miss them when they became lost.
But not the owner! He was sincerely concerned for every last cow. I knew this was especially true because he told me that each and every cow was a pet to him. They were never to be sold to the butcher—he himself was a vegetarian.

This ranch owner cared so much for each animal’s well being that he instantly noticed which one was missing out of the large herd, and immediately called for help. Another wrangler arrived on horseback, and so did his wife in the pickup truck. They came with great speed and urgency until the lost cows were driven back down into the road, and then the pickup chased them until they were safely inside the gate out of harm’s way.

The rancher loves those cows because of who he is, not because of who the cows are. Did he love them because they repented and asked for forgiveness for continually trying to wander away? Of course not! He loves and protects them because it is part of his nature to do so.

And that is also God’s nature. God loves us, even when we are lost, because of who God is, not because of who we are. This week let us lift up prayers of gratitude for who God is: a loving, forgiving, grace-offering, no-strings-attached God.

– Pastor Nancy Pauls, Resurrection Prayer Ministry

It’s really, truly, finally Spring. As I write this, thunderstorms are approaching, and you can smell the rain in the air. This time of year, I love to take my prayer time out of doors to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation, and spend time praising God for it all. The change of scenery from indoor prayer spaces to outdoors can also bring a fresh perspective to your time and conversation with God.

Do you have outdoor spaces where you like to pray? If you have time, and like to create with plants and plantings, you might want to try and create a sacred space in your yard using things you find beautiful and that make you feel peaceful and prayerful. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Or take advantage of the wonderful parks, walking trails, gardens, fountains and other nature-filled spots we are so lucky to find in our community. If you walk regularly, designate a quiet place on your walk to stop and pray.

Another wonderful opportunity to combine prayer and nature is coming up on April 28 at Camp Timberlake in Stilwell. The Prayer Ministry is offering a day of Prayer in Nature. The retreat begins with continental breakfast and worship, followed by a guided, interactive prayer practice called Lectio Divina. This practice, which means divine reading, is a powerful way to pray the scriptures and listen to the voice of God. The retreat includes personal time to reflect on your prayer experience as you walk one of the many trails of Camp Timberlake, or choose to stay close by the lodge and experience the labyrinth walk. After enjoying a box lunch and fellowship, attend your choice of two breakout sessions. The day concludes with a Taize service, a worship experience of prayer and singing. Registration is limited, so please register ASAP at:  www.cor.org/prayerretreat.

Edward Hays, in Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim, gives us this Psalm for Spring:

Green is your color, O God
the green of new life
that lovingly transfigures earth’s dreariness,
long held prisoner
by the icy web of winter’s cold
Green up my heart with hope,
in your perpetual promise of life.
Send forth from my soul
new shoots, fresh buds
eager to grow in your divine image.

-Jennifer Creagar, Resurrection Prayer Ministry

Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen Indeed!

We wake up this morning to the empty tomb of Jesus. We wake up to the greatest lesson of the Christian faith: that God forces goodness, purpose and beauty out of evil, sin and death.

Last spring a violent hailstorm caused over $25,000.00 of damage to my home. The insurance adjustor assessed its value, and over the course of the summer the house was repaired little by little. The hailstorm also badly damaged my lilac bushes. There were no fragrant flowers last spring, no sweet smelling blossoms. The summer went by and early one September morning, I stepped outside and noticed small clusters of lilac blossoms covering the whole bush. In all my years, I had never seen a lilac bush bloom in the fall. To me it was a sign of resurrection, a lesson right outside my front door that God forces beauty out of death. The insurance adjustor placed no value on the lilacs, but God did.

Prayer can be much more than saying prayers at set times. Prayer is waking up to the presence of God and to the wonder of resurrection no matter where you are or what you are doing.

Happy Easter!

–Nancy Pauls,  Pastor of Prayer

This week, as a community of faith, we move into Holy Week together. We journey with one another through the ups and downs of the week and meet at the foot of the cross on Good Friday, as together we remember the suffering and passion of Jesus.

This journey reminds me that no one can avoid the grief and loss that happens in all of our lives at some point. As people of faith committed to healing and wholeness, sometimes we can just show up and be present, while at other times we may offer words of comfort or a listening ear.

The prophet Isaiah reminds us that it is God who helps us to know what to say in hard times, and when to simply be present and say nothing at all:

The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens me—wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. (Isaiah 50:4)

Below is a prayer by Jan Richardson for you to reflect on, so that you might be Christ’s listening presence for someone this week. I’d also invite you to join me at the foot of the cross this week at the Good Friday prayer vigil, prayer walk, and Tenebrae service. Click here for information about times and location.

–Nancy Pauls, Pastor of Prayer

Blessing to Open the Ear
That as we wake
we will listen.
That as we rise
we will listen.
That before our first words
of the day
we will listen.
That when we meet
we will listen.

That at noontime
we will listen.
That at dusk
we will listen.
That at the gathering of night
we will listen.
That entering sleep
we will listen still.

If prayer is conversation with God, where does silence fit in? Is silence in prayer a gap in the conversation, or a time to listen and connect? How comfortable are you with silence?

In Isaiah 30:15, God says, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” In his great book on prayer “Following the Prayer Paths of Jesus,” John Indermark says, “We ignore returning and rest at our own risk: the risk of running on empty, of assuming everything depends on us, of exhausting energies and spirit, of failing to discern God’s presence through the fog of activity.” Later on, he points out that “Jesus’ prayers in solitude create the context from which his activist ministry proceeds.”

Silence in prayer takes some practice, and some getting used to. Our lives are full of noise. We are so uncomfortable with silence that we work with music playing, turn on the music or the television the minute we walk in the door of our house, drive with the radio on, and even buy machines to make “white noise” to help us sleep. In our “connected” world, we are constantly communicating, on the phone, on the computer, in conversation and collaboration. There is very little silence, and sitting in actual quiet, with no artificial sound whatsoever can be disconcerting. It makes us feel a little un-anchored, set adrift.

It’s important to remember that in prayer, we should not be doing all the talking. We can sometimes hear best when we do feel a bit set adrift, without our usual props and supports. Periods of silence are important, both for listening for God speaking to us in the quiet, and for rest and healing.

This year my Lenten fast is noise. I am setting aside scheduled periods of time in my day and my week to turn everything off and experience the peace and presence of God in the quiet. I included visual “noise,” and removed everything from my prayer space at home so that it is plain and empty for the next 40 days. I am looking forward to finding strength in the quietness and trust, as God promised in Isaiah. I invite you to try this, too, and see what you find in the silence.

Jennifer Creagar
Resurrection Prayer Ministry

We all know that it is those closest to us who can make us crazy, frustrate or hurt us. If only they would…listen when we talk, not nag, do more around the house, leave the seat down, close the garage door, talk more, talk less, be more romantic, not have unrealistic romantic expections…

Sometimes that spills into our prayers for those we love. Instead of praying for God’s grace in the lives of our loved ones, or for God’s guidance and presence in our relationship, we find ourselves praying, “God, please fix him(her)”, followed by a list of ways we hope God will improve this person who is dear to us.

When we pray the “God fix ____” prayers, we are focusing on just one side of our relationship, and on top of that, we are focusing on negative thoughts and feelings. We are asking for our own way, asking God to be a referee, not the healer of all and the center of our lives and relationships. We are not asking God to fix what he wants to fix, which is our relationship with him, both separately and together.

I love this modern psalm, written by Ruth St. Denis in An Unfinished Life:

THE ULTIMATE ANSWER
Oh, you lovers everywhere
who are parted and troubled,
or near and discordant,
go quickly to Him who waits
on the hilltops of your souls,
for there you will find peace, and your hidden love.

Let Christ always be
the third person at the feast,
the white passion at the bridal,
the constant companion on the road.

He is the ultimate answer
and even now
is nearer than breath
or as far away
as your stubborn will.

I think that is how we should pray for each other.

We can turn many passages in Scripture into prayers. I find it a neat thing to pray the Bible’s words back to God. If we struggle to come up with our own words, we can use the vocabulary of the Scriptures as the basis of our prayers. All it takes is to change some of the pronouns, and put an opening and closing on the prayer.

For example, John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Now let’s make it into a personal prayer: “Holy and Loving God, for You so loved me that You gave Your only son, so that I who believe in him may not perish but have eternal life. This I pray in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen.”

With so many of the passages of Scripture you may read in Bible study, this is a perfect way to make the words your own.

Here are some other examples of Scriptures you might try praying:

Psalm 18: 1-3 ¹I love you, O Lord, my strength. ² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so I shall be saved from my enemies.

Philippians 4:4-6 ⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Matthew 11: 28-30 ²⁸Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I hope this is a meaningful and enriching practice for you this week.
–Nancy Pauls, Pastor of Prayer