Dear Caldwell,
In my sermon, this past Sunday, I had the honor of considering two passages with you, passages that serve as examples of how to pray. The story of the woman at the well includes a pointed moment when she tells Jesus the truth of how she felt about his offer of living water, the truth of her skepticism. She asked Jesus questions. Then we looked at Psalm 13 and the raw honesty of the psalmist who asks God how long the pain and suffering will last. How long, Lord? How long?
I invited the congregation to pray that psalm twice a day and promised to share a psalm a day, starting today, that we can all pray, no matter where we are, no matter what our circumstances. Make them personal. Instead of asking how long you must bear pain in your soul, as we read in Psalm 13, ask how long you must bear pain in your relationship with your partner or your parents or your neighbor. God hears our prayers, and if we sit still long enough and open our hearts and minds to hear from our Triune God, we will hear and see and experience God’s answers to our prayers. So keep on praying, friends and family. Keep on praying.
This pilgrim journey we are is a long one. The uphill climbs often feel harder and harder as we press forward. The flat places are plagued with either scorching heat or driving rain. Some nights seem interminable, but when the sun rises, our sorrows rise with it. We should not forget that our God is faithful. God is truly an ever-present help in time of trouble. During our times of trials, when we are feeling most exhausted and least inspired to pray,
Before I include the psalms for the rest of the week, I want to encourage you to plan to be in worship this coming Sunday as John will conclude the series – “What’s in your backpack?” by focusing on the spiritual practice of being community. Yes, it takes practice. Yes, it must be intentional.
Here are the Psalms for the rest of this week:
Today, Tuesday, September 25. Psalm 3.
Wednesday, September 26 – Psalm 42.
Thursday, September 27 – Psalm 8
Friday, September 28 – Psalm 138
Saturday, September 28 – Psalm 57
May God meet us in the reading and praying of these psalms.
May Christ encourage and strengthen us as we pray.
May the Holy Spirit teach and guide us into deeper connection with our Triune God.
Because we are committed to supporting you and encouraging you as you travel this spiritual pilgrimage that is your life, we want to know what practices you are interested in learning more about and which ones you already use. To that end, for the next two Sundays, we will be including a brief survey in the bulletin. It is a half-page survey that you can fill out as soon as you sit down in the sanctuary and then put into the offering plate. Or you can hand it to me as you leave worship either Sunday. Your responses will help us as we plan for the all-church retreat in November (please, please, please, sign up and plan to join us!), as we consider future class offerings, and as we plan future sermon series and other church activities. Thank you in advance for your response to the survey.
Grace and peace, Gail