Pray for one another

 James 5:13-20

James touches on all the facets of what it means to pray for one another. It is important to pray for one another. Prayer ushers us closer to one another. Prayer includes us in what Richard Rohr terms the divine dance of the Trinity as one, it makes us one with one another. In prayer barriers evaporate and the focus comes to the one prayed for and God. Today is the feast day of Lancelot Andrewes. He was an English man who wrote a book on private prayers and these have lasted into this day and age. They are lifted up as an example of the church. He wrote his prayers at a time when there was debate among the Anglican church on whether to become more Catholic in our offering or whether to become more protestant as the Puritans became. He instead stayed in between the two extremes and it is in the devotional prayers which we see this echoed. Anchored in scripture and not denying the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist which made many upset with him for not taking a clearer stance one way or another. Prayer at its best is for the bringing together and grace-filled healing of the body of Christ.

The first example is in healing prayers. Have you ever experienced healing prayers? It's a time of anointing, bringing forward the important, daring to stand up in front of God and everyone and ask for what your soul needs. This way the whole congregation prays and the person prayed for is lifted up. Laying on of hands is another way the whole congregation comes together to surround someone with the prayers needed for being healed. 

During Happening youth events in Maine the young people look forward to this time of intercession during the weekend. The youth goes and speaks with one of the priests or deacons about what they want prayer for, then the priest or deacon signals the youth its time to lay on hands and the whole cohort of teenager's come and lay hands on the person, or on one another as prayers are lifted up. It means the whole world that there are people who don't look at how cool they are to be able to be prayed for. It takes down all the barriers of who is most popular, who is an athlete, all these things which seem so important in the everyday is gone. The only thing which matters is supporting this young person in their petition to God. It's a very moving part of the weekend and makes all aware of the power in being together, united in prayer for the petitioner to God.

The next example is in joy, sing your songs. Lift up your praise. As I've been thinking of this an old song by Keith Green has been circling in my brain. "I make my life a prayer to you" is coming in and out of my head, at least the first verse. Maybe because its a pledge of our whole life. Joy is a wonderful thing. In our prayers for evening and in compline we ask for God to "shield the joyous" we need joyful ones to help raise our spirits. There are so many songs with which we can praise God and of course when we sing we pray twice. Maybe its because of the joy involved in giving these prayers. 

Music soothes our souls, helps us to move and dance, so then the whole body is joined in prayer in a good song. It takes us out of ourselves and moves us right into the holy, the sacred. It enjoins our heart into the dance of God making our spirit light and joy filled. Some of the best songs are simple so all can join into the praise of God and graft us into this Spirit of joy. It is not to be denied or hid, it just comes out because this joy is a healing balm to others and invites others to join in with the praise even when they aren't close to feeling or being this way. This is why it is so important for songs of praise to come from the joyful.

The last is in confession. Every week we make a general public confession before we receive Eucharist. When I do my Ignatian examen at night this asks me to make a confession of when I was spiritually unfree and sinned against another because of it. Confession is a healing if we allow it to be. The practice of naming aloud the ways in which we have hurt another is part of this. It helps us examine the wrong we have done and to try to not do this again. The most healing times I have had as a person is when someone has asked me to enter into this process with them. It helps to lift up the why of what was done and the harm it caused. It asks the person to examine why they might have done this and lastly it makes them accountable for the harm. It hopefully, makes it so the harm is not repeated. We all need this. To be forgiven once we have confessed. To know we are reconciled back with one another. It is one of the hardest and one of the most important types of prayer, not to condemn, but to lift the weight off our shoulders and forgive ourselves as well.

So a lift of communal prayer is important. All these prayers are not done in private, they are done communally. Our service takes these and puts all the facets into our weekly worship: healing, praise, and confession. Some of these we do well and others not quite. We will find the balance of these thought enriching to our life together and good news to us all as we heal from the way this world is into the ways it should be: our connection to God and one another. Amen.