Prayers for the People

It’s not an understatement to say that prayer, especially spoken prayer, can be awkward. What do I say? How do I say it? Which things should we pray for, and which things should we keep to ourselves?

One of the things we try to do at Sardis is to make prayer feel comfortable. But admittedly, it may feel awkward before it feels comfortable.

We aren’t a huge congregation. That means you don’t have to call the church office 48 hours in advance of the next worship service to ensure a deacon or staff member gets your request. And we don’t have a word count for how long a request should be. And our requests don’t expire because two weeks on a list seems too long, and we’ve got to save room for others.

Our size allows us to share our prayer requests in the same way we share announcements in our welcome. During our time of prayer, we call on the congregation to voice their joys and concerns. Some people voice lots of concerns or celebrations. Some rarely speak. Some never. And some Sundays the list is long, and the length of our prayer may push our schedule’s threshold. Other Sundays, the morning prayer is quick.

In the past few weeks we’ve celebrated immigrants-turned-surgeons who offer healing; daddies that teach us how to fish and go to the races; mothering beings who shower us with love; and pets who have offered companionship, and modeled love.

And we’ve asked for God’s help: that our leaders may find empathy to enact just laws and policies; that those who grieve may find tangible signs of peace; that those who need healing may find it; that our empathy for others may turn into tangible action.

For the guest who may feel detached from these requests, or who may be anxious for us to get on with it, here’s why this ritual matters to Sardis. We believe that God is a source of help and strength. And we believe in a conversational God, one who listens to us in the places we can meet Her, both formal and informal. And when people can gather in community, and give voice to their deepest concerns and joys, it means they feel safe enough to be vulnerable around one another, and safe enough to believe they are among those who value them just as they are. And when we break down such barriers, we begin to better understand our common connection as God’s beloved. And we think, God’s kingdom comes a little closer.

But awkward to comfortable doesn’t happen overnight. And even when we’re comfortable, we don’t always want to, or sometimes we just can’t share our deepest concerns. Our morning prayer always includes a request for all those we’ve failed to mention, as well as all those who hold requests they feel are either too great or too insignificant to mention.

Please know your prayer requests matter God, and She wants to hear them, no matter how seemingly big or small, no matter whether they are voiced with comfort or awkwardness.