When You Pray, Who’s There? – Feb 21st
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.
see Luke 11:1-13
When he finished, one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be your name…'”
YOU WERE HERE AND THERE this week. You were “there” – where you live, where you work, or somewhere in between. But you were also “here” – in my prayers and my thoughts. I experience us, this way, as church beyond Sunday.
How about God? Was God here and there? When we pray, who is there?
There are lots of ways people answer this question, including the most obvious for people of faith: God is here, God is there.
But at times such as these, it may not seem so simple. The pandemic, poverty, politics, and a host of personal circumstances, challenge our faith. When we wonder, “who’s there,” fear can distort the answer. Is there a monster there? Religious rage – loud these days – paints its own picture of God. Or do we worry, when we pray, our thoughts, hopes, and fears, exist alone, in a vast, empty, universe, where nobody is really there? And who has authority to speak of prayer, inserting themselves between you and the Divine?
I am grateful Jesus’s disciples asked a question about prayer, and that with a few words, Jesus said a great deal. The Lord began his answer with the beginning of prayer, namely, who’s there.
LENT: LAUNCHED
Are you doing anything special to cultivate sacred space this season, as we move toward Easter? This might be beneficial to share during a SPOTLIGHT segment during ZOOM Church. Contact Pastor Eric!
YOUNG CHURCH
- Godly Play: Make Room by Laura Alary or The Faces of Easter I
- Big Kids: ZOOM meeting at 11:20 am on Sunday
BEYOND SUNDAY
- Four separate Small Groups meet via ZOOM on a regular basis – “Guys Group”; “North End Moms”; “Crown Hill”; “POD-19”; email office@emmausroad.net for info
- New Horizons Dinner – served every first Wednesday; email office@emmausroad.net for info.