Prayer: So Often The Perfect Thing

Trinity Church, Southport, offers everything that one would expect a solid, energetic Episcopal church to offer. But what we don’t usually find in our churches is a separate day for Healing Liturgy.

At Trinity, this takes place in the pretty chapel on Wednesdays at 11:00 AM. There are never more than about eight of us there. We pray together, The Celebrant reads the Gospel and offers a brief homily after which, often, we parishioners are invited to comment. This is a high participation service. A lay person does the readings of the day and a lay person leads the Litany of Healing.

After Communion those who wish to are invited to come forward to pray together for each other. For me this is the best part of this informal, cozy and friendly service. We form a circle with our hands on each other’s shoulders or backs.

 Sometimes the priest offers all the prayers in response to requests; sometimes we share that opportunity with one another. One of us in our circle always prays aloud for the priest.

For me, there is nothing more moving, more spiritually rewarding than, with our arms around each other, praying together for each other’s needs and concerns of the moment.

Last Wednesday I was not in great shape: family bad health news. The priest wasn’t there, so no Communion, but we put the service together ourselves. Four of us stayed at the end and my situation was wonderfully prayed for by three women, with whom I have prayed for years.  I was deeply touched and utterly relieved. I felt their arms; I felt their support, their caring and their faith surrounding me. Doubt and fear slipped away and I became more confident that I would be able to meet the challenge that was ahead of me.

I am sharing the experience of the Trinity Church Wednesday Healing Service, because it occurs to me that some of you might wish that there were a safe, confidential and supportive place you could go, where the focus could be essentially on healing prayer, including time for very personal prayer for the ones you love and for yourself. You do not have to be a member of Trinity Church. Everyone is welcome.

We all need to pray: for peace, for greater understanding of our differences, for releasing fear and hatred. Everything! Even if you don’t quite believe in the power of prayer, somehow the habit of doing it with a small, trusted group each week is both inspiring and healing. Faith grows.

If you would rather not go to a church, my suggestion would be that you form a group of your own and meet once a week to pray for whatever comes up in the group. So often we think we are not “good at praying” and I am here to say that that is nonsense! We can all pray. God, Universal Wisdom, Allah, Yahweh, Atman—whatever your words might be through which you acknowledge a power greater than yourself—does not give a hoot about perfect  sentences.

Only about our hearts.
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On this Memorial Day we honor all those who over many years have given their lives for freedom. Too many wars. Too many promising young lives ended abruptly. We pray for peace and an end to to the world wide concept that war is a sensible solution.