"Prayer: What Words Should We Use?"

Pastor Laura Guy

January 21, 2007

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We tried something different in worship - looking for Scriptures that tell us what kinds of words we can use when we pray, and then using music to reflect those words.
We began by looking at Psalm 34:1-3 and we saw how words of praise are often used in prayer in the Bible. We stood and practiced lifting our hands in praise as we sang of God's indescribable goodness.
We then looked at Psalm 51:1-2 and saw the prayer of confession after David's descent into sin. We spent some time in silent prayer of confession, and then sang Kyrie - Lord, have mercy.
We read Psalm 77:1-9 and heard honest words of doubt in prayer. God desires an honest relationship with us, and honest words are allowed in our prayers. We heard a song written by Matt De Leon and set to music by Rhonda McMahon. Matt wrote the song about the murder of his sister Sarah in 1989. The honest words in the song were poured out and then Rhonda sang a prayer response.
We saw in Romans 8:26-27 how Paul says that we can even pray without words. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we cannot find the words to pray. We used our prayer journals to try to express a prayer without words - drawing pictures or symbols.
We sang Psalm 102:1-2 using the bold words of the psalm to call upon God to hear us and answer us. We prayed this song with our palms open, ready to receive what God would answer.
We ended with The Lord's Prayer - Jesus' answer to what words we should use when we pray. We saw how this prayer has moments of praise and confession and honesty and boldness. We sang it together.
We shared communion at Christ's table.
In Act(s) II, we looked at the Prayer of Saint Francis and discussed what it meant for our lives today.