Prayer

"Prayer is acknowledging that we are always in the presence of God."  --Desmond Tutu

We  began with a question:  What is prayer?
--Connecting with God
--Talking with God
--Asking for help, guidance, direction
--Sharing your feelings and thoughts with God
--"Something you do in church."
--"You can pray anywhere."
--Offering thanksgiving to God
--Something you do during hard times
--When you are worried for someone
--Prayers are said out loud; you speak your mind
--Done with folded hands and bowed head; reverence

There is a richness in these initial responses.  Prayer is an expression of relationship.  It is a time of sharing.  In prayer, we take the time to give language to our thoughts, our feelings, our hopes, and our needs.  Taking care to express ourselves clearly is something that can be very important for us.  C.S. Lewis used to say that he didn't pray because he thought the prayer would change God; he prayed because the expression, the relating, the sharing, the thoughtful articulation of his prayers to God changed him!  We pray for other people and for our world--this is called intercession.  We pray for ourselves and ask for help and guidance--this is a petition. Though we didn't mention it in this first discussion, another important part of prayer is talking to God about our mistakes, our struggles, the ways that we have hurt others,the times we have ignored what we have learned from Jesus or the difficulty we have doing the good things that deep down we really want to do.  This is called confession. Also thanksgiving, gratitude to God, is a good way of paying attention to the many blessings in our lives.
Listening is an important part of any relationship.  In prayer we take time to listen, to meditate on what Jesus has taught us, to be sensitive to the movement of God's Spirit.  As with any healthy relationship, communication must go both ways.  Respect for God is also an expression of respect for self.  And when we have a strong relationship with God or with someone else,we won't just go to God --or them--when we get into trouble!

Our second question: How often do you pray?
A couple people said one time a week; another 3 times a week.  Someone said every night before bed.
Someone else mentioned a moment of silence in school.  Sundays, at worship, and Wednesday evenings, at Confirmation, were identified as common times.  Each week at Confirmation we join hands and close in prayer, with each person offering a thanksgiving or petition.  On Sundays we are usually saying prayers that other people have composed.  On Wednesday each of us speaks for ourselves.  I wonder if there are other times when we can explore freer communication with God. If,as Bishop Tutu says, "Prayer is acknowledging that we are always in the presence of God," then we have opportunity all of the time!
It seems as though most of our experiences with prayer are "formal" times where prayer is expected. This leaves much territory for us to explore in our personal relationships with God and the relationship with he have as a people together.

We read together the story of Jesus in prayer in the first chapter of Mark's gospel (Mark 1:29-39).  Jesus has been healing many people in the town of Capernaum. He heals not only illness but great burdens that people are carrying, hurts and wounds to their spirits, labels that other people have placed on them, expectations that are crushing.  It seems as if everyone needs healing in one way or another.  Jesus sees people late into the night.  Early in the morning, while it is still dark, Jesus goes out by himself to a deserted place to pray to God without distractions.  He might have done all of the things on our list above. And there is one more thing:  He centers himself in God's will. He takes the time to reopen himself to God's will, which is very important in the midst of all the activity and demands.  So when Peter and the other disciples find him and complain, "Everyone is looking for you,"  Jesus is clear.  He says that they will not return to Capernaum until they have visited other towns, too.  Because Jesus' God-given mission is to proclaim the good news of God's love to everyone, not just one town or congregation (no matter how much he cares about them!).  Prayer helps Jesus to be clear and helps his spirit to be rested.  Maybe it can be that way for us too!

Before finishing, we took a quick journey into the Book of Psalms, where just about every kind of prayer imaginable is recorded.  More about that later.