And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18
 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

“I will pray for you. . .I will keep you in my prayers.” These are words of comfort to a friend. Comforting as well are the words, “pray for me. . .keep me in your prayers.” Both speak of a faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. And what more intimate connection could we have with one another than to share the power of prayer? The Intercessory Prayer Group at Abiding Presence provides a blessed opportunity for group members to exercise and share our faith. For those requesting prayers, it is an opportunity to feel the Lord’s presence through the caring of others.

The group currently meets the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month following The (Mid) Way Connection. We welcome others to join us for just one week or as a regular. Or drop a prayer request in the box, to the right of the doors, as you leave the sanctuary. We didn’t invent intercessory prayer; we are merely continuing a Biblical tradition. As noted by Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

A Christian community either lives by the intercessory prayers of its members for one another, or the community will be destroyed. I can no longer condemn or hate other Christians for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble they cause me. In intercessory prayer the face that may have been strange and intolerable to me is transformed into the face of one for whom Christ died, the face of a pardoned sinner. That is a blessed discovery for the Christian who is beginning to offer intercessory prayer for others. As far as we are concerned, there is no dislike, no personal tension, no disunity or strife that cannot be overcome by intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the community must enter every day.

Dear Lord, Let us never forget the power of prayer or the power of Christians sharing a burden. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Contributed by Ginny R.
Monday January 6, 2014
Liturgical Year A Week 6
Liturgical Color: White
Sunday Gospel reading:
Epiphany of Our Lord