Prayers in Church: Just Some Thoughts from a Pastor's Perspective
Every Sunday, we have a time in the worship service where we lift up prayers of joy and concern. It’s usually after the sermon. In our tradition, we lift up the requests and then I (the pastor) lead the whole congregation in a time of prayer that ends with the Lord’s Prayer (we say “debts and debtors.” I sometimes tell people to pray the Lord’s Prayer in whatever tradition they know and we debtors will wait for the sinners and trespassers to keep up!). It’s a unique space in the service that calls for audience participation. Some Sundays, we have only a handful of requests. Other Sundays, we have a lot of requests. Sometimes people give very few details or just ask for specific names. Other times, we learn more about someone’s issues in two minutes than that person would probably appreciate us knowing. Because we are also a hybrid church right now, I try to repeat the highlights of the request so people in the back (and on the screen) can hear the request. Aft