Tomorrow’s Prayer

August 1, 2018

Tomorrow morning will be the highlight of my week. Last Thursday I was in Lancaster, PA, at the tail end of a short family vacation, and so missed our weekly gathering with my faithful brothers in Christ. We’re a small group, and understandably so, since we meet at 6:00 am for prayer. Simply prayer. The coffee is waiting, courtesy of Harry’s early arrival, the chitchat is minimal, the prayer is powerful. We begin with a Psalm, close with the Lord’s Prayer and a hymn, then fix breakfast for the kids gathering for the Wrap, our church’s summer children’s program.

Most prayer circles I’ve attended spend a lot of time talking about all sorts of innocuous things, followed by energetic prayers that are punctuated by loud “Amens” and “Yes, Lord’s.” Often someone brings “a word from the Lord,” that frequently seems to have less foundation in Scripture than in the presenter’s own dreams and desires. It’s not that they’re bad; but I’ve listened to a lot of “prophecy” to the effect that some sort of spiritual breakthrough was about to occur. That life goes on pretty much as before doesn’t seem to bother anyone. 

I don’t mean to sound cynical; after all, I keep attending these prayer meetings in hopes that I will receive a word from God, and in the conviction that corporate prayer does matter, even if it doesn’t pass my personal litmus test.

But tomorrow, there will be PRAYER! We will listen to the Psalm being read, allow it to shape our prayers and give boundaries to our petitions. The conversation with God will move back and forth across and around the room till with one voice we pray for the Father’s will to be done, for our needs to be met before we ask and extend forgiveness, and bow before him in worship and song. Any clouds that have gathered in my skies will dissolve before the breath of the Holy Spirit, and the rest of the week I will bask in the sunshine of grace.