Prayer & Praise
Practitioners of Memos
Here we are, practitioners of memos:
We send e-mail and we receive it,
We copy it and forward it and save it and delete it.
We write to move the data, and
organize the program,
and keep people informed –
and know how to control and manage.
We write and receive one-dimensional memos,
that are, at best, clear and unambiguous.
And then – in breathtaking ways –
you summon us to song.
You, by your very presence, call us to lyrical voice;
You, by your book, give us cadences of praise
that we sing and say, “allelu, allelu.”
You, by your hymnal, give us many voices
toward thanks and gratitude and amazement.
You, by your betraying absence,
call us to lament and protest and complaint.
All our songs are toward you
in praise, in thanks and in need.
We sing figure and image and parallel and metaphor.
We sing thickness according to our coded community.
We sing and draw close to each other, and to you.
We sing.
Things become fresh.
But then the moment breaks
and we sing back into memos:
“How many pages?”
“When it is due?”
“Do you need footnotes?”
We are hopelessly memo kinds of people.
So we pray, by the power of your spirit,
give us some song-infused days,
deliver us from memo-dominated nights.
Give us different rhythm,
of dismay and promise,
of candor and hope,
of trusting and obeying.
Give us courage to withstand the world of memo
and to draw near to your craft of life
given in the wind.
We pray back to you the Word made flesh;
We pray, “Come soon.”
We say, “Amen.”
I don’t think Michael has used this prayer, and I thought I’d get the prayer thread up so he can rest. Will post the prayer requests as soon as the muffins come out of the oven!
Prayer Requests
Michael His lung collapsed last week and he had surgery to repair the lung. He is recovering in the hospital now. Please pray for swift recovery and for all the things in his life that are impacted by this.
Nonnie: Her grandson Bennet, born Aug 24th, has a rare disease called hyperplastic left heart syndrome. Basically the left side of his heart is not functioning and never will. He had surgery last week that went well and is recovering. Be praying for Bennet, his parents Joseph and Christie and his older siblings (5 and 3) who are having a tough time as well.
J2theperson: Her husband is 6’1″and has dropped to below 150 lbs. He is having a colonoscopy on 8/27. Pray for wisdom, for a diagnosis and treatment. Pray as well for Jessica and her husband with the stress of what is happening with him while still adjusting to baby Calice. Update: “He’s still not doing well. He doesn’t have Crohns, though, which I guess is a good thing. He also didn’t have any polyps so it’s a relief to have the fear of cancer removed. But, he does have a pretty severe case of colitis. The doctor did some biopsies and he didn’t want to prescribe anything until he got the results back from those. So, we’ll see.”
Captain Kevin: Continue to pray for him as he deals with ongoing pain and insomnia. Pray for wisdom of doctors and the help of medication.
London: Pray for a job for her, and also for her efforts to provide school supplies for kids that cannot get them any other way.
Papias Last week: We plan on traveling to Spokane later this week to spend some time with family and friends, and maybe some time at the lake. We need to keep our composure around some of the family members. We can tell that the enemy wants to get our eyes off the Lord during this time. Got a feeling that there may be some surprises during this trip, some of them not good.
jlo just posted an add for roommates on craigs list, pray no crazies respond…
Oh my goodness…that prayer!!!
It reminds me of the days when we would “linger” in prayer, when no one was in a hurry for the song to end, when we would “wait on the Lord.”
At the first church I ever attended, our Sunday night gatherings would often last for 2 hours or more. Little kids would fall asleep on the carpet under the chairs, folks would gather at the altar to pray, young people would break out their guitars and sit in a circle and play and sing, some of the older saints would just stay in their seats, watching and quietly praying, often with tears in their eyes.
When it seemed that it was time to go home, nobody was in a hurry. Occasionally, everyone would meet at Bob’s Big Boy or Denny’s. If someone said, “We’ll have to pass tonight, my hours at work have been cut,” people practically tripped over themselves to offer, “Oh, please join us, we’ll take care of it; it wouldn’t be the same without you.” Most of the time though, we would just all end up down the street at one of the elder’s homes, and the worship, prayer, fellowship and laughter would continue, often well past midnight.
When I grow up, I want to pastor a church like that!
Epiphany Anglican Fellowship prayed for Michael this morning.
Ruby, does your church have a website?
http://www.epiphanyanglican.org/boulder.html
Kevin…I love those moments when there is a relaxed sense and people are free to take their time in worship or prayer or just fellowship. I love the description you gave!
praying with
Praying for Baby Bennet tonight…and for Michael…and for John Duncan as well.
Learning a new what corporate Worship is all about.
A couple of Sundays ago the Spirit was moving so deeply that the Pastors just continued with Worship and skipped the planed message and gave more of a devotional instead.
I don’t know about you all, but this morning i am having a tough time getting everything pulled together. The amazing Maddie is still struggling with a cold and teething and she is crying more than usual (which is still not much)…but she is feeling needy and that distracts from the things that need to be done with school. Bible study went late again last night, so we’re a little bleary eyed.
I’m thankful that it’s okay to have these type of mornings and to not stress over them…to just let them be what they are. Praying for the community here…thinking especially of Baby Bennet and all Nonnie’s family as they walk through this season. Praying for direction and wisdom and strength and hope and peace…for God’s presence to be in our midst and in our thoughts and in our spirit. Praying for grace as we enter farther into the stress of an election year…grace for ourselves and for one another.
Praying for God to capture our imagination today and our minds. Praying for grace for each today….
Amen to what Sarah just said, Lord and may her prayers redound in blessings from Your grace and mercy