On Thanksgiving & Prayer

Greetings in the Name of the Lord!

During a deacons’ meeting this month I had an epiphany of sorts. As you know, we Presbyterians begin and end all meetings with prayer, it is an important part of our process. Typically, and not surprisingly, I pray at least one if not both of those prayers in a meeting. I always ask if anyone else wants to do it, and rarely get any responses. I pressed the deacons a little bit on it and in our conversation, I was reminded that I did in fact take classes in seminary that taught me how to pray publicly. The other realization, that I took that class 18 years ago, was another kind of epiphany, but that is not the point of this article. 

I had genuinely forgotten that I spent a good chunk of time working through a textbook on prayer, learned many different forms, editing other's prayers all while getting feedback on my own from the instructors of the course. How silly of me to be so surprised that others are intimidated by public prayer! 

Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow and there will be opportunities for public prayer at every table folks gather around, I thought why not share some tricks of the trade as it were regarding praying in public. I actually dug into my archives and pulled out some of my notes and resources from that worship class 18 years ago and along with a little internet digging for further inspiration want to offer up a simple prayer "formula" that you can try out tomorrow around thanksgiving dinner.  

There are actually quite a few prayer forms with acronyms dotting the internet, but I didn't think any of them were quite right, so I offer this formula, which does not make a fun acronym, but is an effective tool for thinking about prayer: 

·  Welcome

·  Remember

·  Petition (thank/ask)

·  Close

Welcome- This is about inviting the divine into the space and into our hearts. The simplest version of this is "Dear God," It names who we are praying to, and welcomes them. If you want to make this section a little flashier, include some creative descriptors of God, or refer to God by one of a myriad of names (in Islam there is something called the 99 names of God, this is a wonderful resource for welcoming and naming God).  As you pray you can say: Glorious Pathways of Love, or Ever-enduring Lovingkindness, or Heavenly Father, or Nurturing Mother, or Beloved Creator of All Things or whatever is on your heart.

Remember- In some prayer forms this is referred to as the "who" element or could be described as a kind of adoration of God, I like to think of it as an opportunity to remember something that God has done, whether in our lives or in history.  Traditional remembering lines are things like "Who led your people out of captivity and into the promised land" or "Who was sacrificed on the cross and returned to life" or "Who created heaven and earth and all that surrounds us this day" (do you notice how these all start with "who" hence the alternative name who for this element of the prayer). But it can also be remembering something in the here and now "who provides the resources we need to live" or "who sustains us through all things" or "who calls us past fear and into love".  The idea with this element of the formula is to get us in a place where we understand God's activity. This is also a place where you can remember multiple things, extending the length of the prayer. Again, whatever is on your heart, however you feel God moving within you.

Petition- Another title for this element of the prayer is "Do" but can also incorporate thanksgiving, supplication and/or intersession. Prayer textbooks get into specific differences between all these different sorts of prayers, but when we say petition, we include the action part of the prayer, what is the purpose of the prayer. Are we asking for something, or offering thanks, or seeking a blessing? Since tomorrow is thanksgiving, use the petition element to make a list of things to be thankful for. Depending on your family, this is where you can ask for interaction with those gathered.  Maybe while the meal is being prepared ask everyone to write down something they are particularly thankful for from the past year, or during the prayer, ask those gathered to say their thanks out loud, either popcorn style with spontaneity or going around the table in order. Either way, this petition can be as long as you'd like. This is also a time to add any specific prayer requests you might know about. This would also be a time when you could add a little silence to let those gathered meditate on what they are thankful for, or to think about what they might want to ask for from God. One important thing to keep in mind is that you should use "we" and "our", not you or me or I or they, keep it communal.

Closing- This is probably the simplest of the elements. Another possible title for this element could be "through" since it is about naming who we pray through. Traditional ways of offering this element are "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen" or "In Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Amen" or as I like to use "In Your Name, holy above all else, we pray. Amen". The simplest would be "In Christ, Amen" or if you have a table of mixed religious beliefs "In Love" or "In Peace".  Closing with Amen is important as it clearly indicates the end of the prayer. In Hebrew, Amen means "It is certain" so it is a great way to end a prayer, with confidence in God.

A few last hints before I send you off to pray over your thanksgiving meal, remember to keep the language communal, think We/Us not I/Me. Keep the elements general enough to allow each person to experience the prayer on their own terms and last, but maybe most important, be direct and use simple language.  Now you've got some tools to use for that prayer tomorrow.  If you do write a prayer and want some feedback on it, feel free to share it with me. Also, you now have a simple form to use for praying in meetings too! Enjoy your Thanksgiving meal. 

In Peace, Mike