Prayer, for
me, is an important part of faith and an interesting part. There are many ways to pray. Each of us, I imagine, have a different way
of praying and connecting to God. I have
found myself praying in a variety of ways.
There are times when I need to be alone with God, a time where I can
connect with God in a deeply personal way with no one else around. And other times I am praying with a group
where we gather to pray for one another and lift up to God the things that are
important at that moment. Both have
value. In fact, any way you pray has
value. It is not how you pray that is
important, the important part is that you are praying. It is in prayer that we connect with
God.
In the
gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus teaches us how to pray with the Lord’s
Prayer. In 1 Thessalonians
15:1 we are told to pray without ceasing.
In Hebrews 4:16 we are told to pray with confidence, “to approach the
throne of grace with boldness.” In James
5:16 we hear the power of prayer when we pray for one another.
Asking for
prayers can be hard. When we ask for
prayer we are not showing a sign of weakness.
Instead, we are showing trust in those who we worship with, and
confidence in the power of communal prayer.
When my 3rd son was born we quickly learned he has a complex
vascular system in his neck and head. He
had his first of many MRI/MRA at six weeks old.
We had no idea how his body would handle the twisted vessels in his neck
and head. The first thing I did was
reach out to the prayer chain at church.
And as friends in the community learned about his condition, their
church began praying for him. He was on
the St. Mark prayer chain for several weeks.
I can’t tell you how important that was for me and my family knowing so
many people were praying for my son and our family. Thankfully his body has compensated for the
twisted vessels and they have not been an issue.
As you pray,
I encourage you to pray for one another.
I encourage you to pray in a way that works for you. If you are at a loss for words, remember you
can pray as Jesus taught with the Lord’s prayer. Don’t hesitate to ask for prayers, there is
power in prayer when we pray for one another.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Katrina Steingraeber
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