Prayer

"Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathing is the beginning of prayer. Beneath every word, beneath every prayer, the breath of life moves in and out and through us. In the Hebrew language of the book of Psalms, the word for breath, ruach, also means spirit. Prayers are spirited words moving in and out and through us. Prayer is breathing deeply in the Spirit of Life."

These are the words found in the introduction to Together We Pray: A Prayer Book for Families, written by J. Bradley Wigger, one of my favorite professors at seminary. This wonderful book is a resource for parents who want/need help in teaching their children how to pray. It offers not only Memory prayer for the Table, but also devotional prayer of joy and care that are all based upon Psalms. One of my favorite table prayers from his book reads,

"God spreads a table
so we will be fed
with the water of life
and heavenly bread."

Brad's book reminds me of the importance of teaching our children to pray and how the prayers we are taught in childhood not only form how we pray as children, but stick with us in our prayer lives as adults. Whenever my mom asks me to pray at home, I use my old favorite,"Come Lord Jesus and Be our guest and let our food and souls be blessed."

She laughs at me asking why I didn't learn how to pray better in seminary; I always tell her that simple prayer says it all, so why should I add anything?

That leads to this weeks question/discussion: What are your favorite prayers from childhood? Is there a certain memory prayer or way you pray now as an adult? Please post your favorites, and any comments on your prayer life!

Welcome!

This is the place created for you, the members of Salem UMC to speak out! We want you to tell us what you need, what you want from our worship, from our ministries, and from our leaders. We want you to tell us your ideas so that together, we can make our ministry better, our witness to the community stronger, and our community healthier. We invite you to share with us.

In a few weeks, Pastor Tricia will start sending out e-mails and asking for a response to be posted here on the blog. We will start discussions about our faith and our lives and this is the place where that will happen.

We ask for responses to be thoughtful, respectful, and honest. We thank you for participating with us as we dream a vision of God's kingdom in our midst.