A Service of Healing and Letting Go

Through Lent, we have added a time of prayer into our church calendar. Each Wednesday morning at 10am, we have gathered in the sanctuary for this time of sharing and communication with God. The most enduring piece has been our time in silent prayer. Minutes of actual silence before God, something that can make people nervous in a worshipful situation. We are a people who like background noise, a soundtrack.

As I finished writing this opening soundtrack, I realized the truth of that statement as I pause to find some background music on Spotify.

But on these Wednesdays, we have also added other considerations of prayer. This past Wednesday, we used a praise hymn as the language and focus on simply praising the Lords’ Name. Prayer where we are not actually asking for anything. That is not the usual approach. On an earlier Wednesday, we included a liturgy of healing, a more concentrated approach to the “Concerns” side of our Joys and Concerns.

This Wednesday, we are providing opportunities for people to come to the Lord with their big concerns, to release those concerns, to achieve healing or resolution or forgiveness. But it is not simply in words, but in a physical manner.

People will be asked to write down their concerns, those things they wish to offer to the Lord, to be offered up to our God. We will have a liturgy of healing and forgiveness as part of our prayer time. The conclusion will be people, on departing, putting those written prayers into a burn bowl (outside the sanctuary), in a symbolic manner of offering them to the Lord.

There is a recurring line in the Law of Moses about burnt sacrifices, that they offered an aroma pleasing to the Lord. While we believe that our Lord Jesus is the final and fulfilling sacrifice, the power of the sensations of offering these needs to the Lord in a deliberate, physical manner, is an opportunity to see our spirits moved.

Our Season of Prayer is not coming to an end with this Wednesday. We will continue to meet after Holy Week, Wednesday mornings at 10am, in the sanctuary.

I fully realize that 10am is not the most convenient time for some in regards to a prayer meeting. If there are those who are interested, but cannot make this time, please reach out and we will make other arrangements.

Pastor Peter