Category:

Top Ten Prayer List

9/13/2020

I put the following on my cottage-by-the-sea blog.

Silence, solitude and simplicity! I thought I had it under control.  After all, until nine months ago, that’s how I lived, free from stressful or anxious situations. Although silence solitude, and simplicity remains in my being, I have to keep working on them more intentionally than ever. I am reminded of this each morning as I write out my daily Top Ten Prayer List, which used to be comprised exclusively of individual names. Now, however, DEMOCRACY, COVID, TEACHERS AND STUDENTS, AND FIRE take up four of those slots.

If you have been following this blog for a while you may be surprised that I mention my Top Ten Prayer, because over the years I have intentionally stayed clear of mentioning my faith. But this morning as I started writing about the challenge it is to live into silence, solitude and simplicity during these extraordinary times, I felt compelled to share that prayer is one way I stay free of stress and anxiety.

      For you, my prayer diary friends, I’m noticing that my faith is growing and becoming more intertwined with my longing for silence, solitude, and simplicity. I’m wondering if you are noticing something similar?
      Because of the pandemic, and because of my age (80), there is less I can do actively and socially to help bring about love in the world. And yet the flip side is also true; I now have the time to be in prayer about democracy (for all), health (for all), learning (for all), and physical safety (for all).
    So, pray away. I believe it is the most important thing we can do. Ask yourself, “What if everyone in the world prayed for peace?”

My secret prayer list~

5/11/2015

I have a new, secret prayer list, one that I’ll probably refresh once a month. It lists the names of people who are having a hard time in life right now, and who in my humble opinion, need God with them. In my prayer, I hold them in God’s light; that’s all. They don’t know I’m doing this. In fact, I don’t even know some of the people.

What I do know is two things; that they are suffering; and that with prayer, God will lift that suffering. What I don’t know is how this mystery comes about, or what the shift will be. That is not in my hands, nor is it my business. Again, it is so apparent that the purity of my prayer and the emptiness of judgments on my part, go hand in hand.

God speaks through love~

10/22/2014

I believe that God is still speaking..., but I'm beginning to wonder if God only speaks through love, and thus we can only hear God when we are in a state of love. At least, I'm hearing that that is how God wants me to speak. Yes, there was the Crucifixion (the pain) but also the Resurrection (the love). That’s the Christian story: both, not just one.

As I was writing out my prayer list for today, I realized that I was only writing the names of people with whom I agree. Wrong way!, Everyone in a given situation needs to be on the list, for it is only then that I have the possibility of praying without judgment. It's one way for my heart and mind to open to Thy will be done. Perhaps it is only way for God to hear my prayer.

God will put us back together again~

4/15/2014

I been thinking about the people who have experienced heartfelt tragedy and sadness during this past year. Are they glad that Lent is coming to an end? Is this Holy Week and the anticipation of Good Friday too much for them to bear? Are they afraid that they will feel no Easter joy, that they won’t be able to sing Hallelujah?

These are the people that I will put on my prayer list. Their hearts feel broken and they may fear that, like Humpty Dumpty, they are powerless. I can’t fix them, but I can send the salve of God’s peace, which sooths. God will put them back together again. Don’t ask me how this works. I just know that, with faith, it does.

Every prayer is important~

3/19/2014

I’m in awe of the number of people on my prayer list. Friends, friends of friends, citizens of the world. Do our prayers turn the tide for them? Will my friend get an all clear report on her thyroid condition? My daily ‘top ten’ list is selective, but it doesn’t mean others aren’t on the list in my heart.

     I have to assume that those of you reading this blog have your own list of ten. Yesterday 882 different people click on here. That adds up to 8882 prayers offered from just this little sampling of praying diary people. And what about all of your friends who pray but who didn’t read this yesterday to get counted? One could get discouraged by the enormity of prayer needs.

      But God is bigger, more mysterious, more omnipotent, and more loving that anything we can even begin to imagine, which is a good thing. Then there is lent where suffering is held by God, which is another good thing. And then there is Easter where suffering is released. And that is a very good thing.

      Oh, one more good thing: 8882 prayers is better than none. Every prayer is important. Don’t give up.

Praying the news~

12/9/2013

I’ve book marked ‘Praying the News’, one of the blogs offered by Spirituality and Practice. The description is as follows:

“The daily news summons us to prayer. The people, situations, and events of our times call out for our compassion and God's healing presence. In this blog we will pray in a variety of forms as we lift up the needs of the world. We hope that by praying the news in this way we will also expand both our spirituality and our practice….”

Every other day a news item is brought to my attention, along with a short suggested prayer. Recent topics include: A Prayer in support of Immigration Reform, A Prayer for Mentally People, A Prayer for Syrian Refugees, A Prayer for Those Who Live Alone.

There’s much to love with this prayer practice; I love that with a click I can tap into praying for events beyond my little world; I love that I am praying with others; I love this God-way of tapping into the news. I love the way this changes me and the world.

http://blog.spiritualityandpractice.com/blog/praying-the-news

Prayer as empathy~

6/24/2013

'Thin space' on Iona

My prayer list is rather jammed today. Deaths, surgery, debilitating diseases, lack of purpose, new baby, studies, chronic pain, cancer—that pretty much sums it up. I’m sure your list looks similar. There’s nothing extraordinary about it, and yet there is everything extraordinary because behind the problem is a person hurting and longing for peace.

I’ve been wondering what enables me (or anyone) to have empathy for people in situations that are not part of my experience. I don’t have MS, pain or cancer; my worries as a new mother are only happy memories; I’ve had plenty to do in my life. So what is it that draws me in to pray for these people?

Perhaps empathy comes from a longing for God that dwells in all of us. Once in a while we get a glimpse of it; we float into the ‘thin space’; we feel the peace of God that passes all understanding. It is fleeting, but it is enough to connect us to others who are suffering and yet longing.

Suffering doesn't have the last word~

3/25/2013

Holy Week has begun. Yesterday at church there were palms and the music was serious. Being a life-long Protestant, well…, nothing too heavy about the Cross for me. We were into the Resurrection, skipping right into Easter. That Protestant upbringing, along with my optimistic disposition, has kept me from going very deeply into the theology and dogma around suffering and the Cross.

With that acknowledgment, where do I stand on the drama and events of this coming week? As I enjoy the evening sunlight on the water here at the cottage, I find it a challenge to even consider suffering, Jesus’ or anyone else’s. But I only have to glance at the names on my ‘top ten prayer list’ to be reminded: people involved in surgery and chemo; friends grieving for loved ones; individuals feeling alone, isolated and unloved; people agonizing over serious life decisions and relationship gone amiss. In suffering the humiliation, betrayal and pain of the Cross, Jesus experienced them all.

But of course his story didn’t end, not with the crucifixion, not even with Easter. With the continual coming of the Holy Spirit it is a story without an ending. Clearly suffering doesn’t have the last word.

Busy prayer list~

3/11/2013

I have four close friends on my prayer list this morning, who, as I type here on the deck of my cottage by the sea, are in the midst of crisis’s. Two are in surgery, one for breast cancer, another for a knee replacement; one just went to the ER with low blood pressure; a fourth friend called last night grieving over the sudden death of his wife of 53 years.

By the very nature of my call to pray for people, I get just that—people to pray for; by the very practice of keeping a daily prayer list, I get just that—a list of people to pray for. But four intense, immediate ones is more than usual. In fact usually I don’t personally know all the people on my list.

Until the right time to visit, thank God for the telephone and email as a way to keep up. Thank God for the time I have at the cottage to pray--time to empty my head of the chatter that gets in the way of prayer, and then I just need time to pray.

Prayer list revisited~

3/5/2013

My daily prayer list is getting longer and longer. In fact, I’ve stopped using the smallest Post-it and have graduated to the 2” size. Here’s how it works. Every morning I write out a new prayer list for the day. First I add anyone who is in an immediate, desperate situation (surgery, death and dying), and then I go from there to ‘lesser’ needs. Recently I’ve been adding people who are in tough long-term situations, and that is how the list has become too long to fit on the little Post-it. For the most part, these people haven’t asked for prayers, but have indicated that they are stuck about something major in the lives and thus not at peace. Thus they end up on the long-term list.

    Keeping my daily prayer list to ten people is extremely powerful. I can pray intensely and often for then. But when I have to attend to a long list, my prayer become more rote and diluted.

     So today I set out for my walk with my written list of ten and my long-term list in my head. I figure that if a church service can have many parts making up the whole, so can my prayers. In fact, intercessory prayer is just one of several prayer categories. Let’s not forget praise, gratitude, confession, and forgiveness.

    I hope this prayer chat has helped you. Writing it has certainly eased my dilemma. I’m very grateful.