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jenkI threw in aside to praying for W in a previous post; ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
technoshaman picked it up and added other ideas; I wrote up a comment to explain how/why I pray for W, and thought I'd toss a variation on that in here too.
The issue of how to pray for someone is not one that I take lightly. (It's kind of telling that a term for this kind of prayer is intercession.) I am very aware that I don't have all the information about my own life sometimes, much less someone else's. Likerunnerwolf, I am a fan of praying for "the best outcome".
A useful image that I found in Madeleine L'Engle's superb A Ring of Endless Light is to take the person I'm praying for into my heart, and then place them in God's hand. For a general "best outcome" prayer for someone, this image can be helpful.
Are there people I do not want to take into my heart? Heck yeah. Do I beat myself up over it? Usually not. There's more important stuff on the beat-myself-up list to do first ;)
Asking for permission to pray is something that is newer to me. In the abstract it sounds nice. In the actual doing, I'm very uncomfortable with it. I'm fine with saying that I pray; but telling someone I'm praying for them sounds like I'm bragging and expect praise or thanks or something. (Group prayers are by definition public. I'm talking what I do by myself.) I generally only feel the need to ask when I feel I should pray for someone who I think won't want me to pray for them.
Re: praying for W. Episcopals aren't the only church to pray for world or local leaders. In our case, it's taken from the Church of England. For the CofE this can be a way of uniting the populace (or at least those who are members of the Official Church) to wish their leaders well in their work. I'm also sure it can and has been used to let the church exert its opinions of the government. If you'd like to see their variations, they're here.
As for the specific prayer used at my parish: The most common form we use is "We pray for our leaders in government, especially George, our President, Gary, our Governor, Greg, our Mayor, and Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the UN, that they may serve justice, and promote the dignity and freedom of every person" (It's based on the US Book of Common Prayer - if you're curious, the various options are here.) My take on it: our government officially maintains that the people in government are there to serve, to be just, and to promote freedom and respect the dignity of citizens. Essentially the prayer is a request that they do their jobs well, and I'm ok with that. I realize other folks might not be okay with that, and they could skip it if they wish.
For me, this prayer is useful in another way. It's easy to allow my dislike for the person and his actions to keep me from wanting to think or read anything about him. I find working on overcoming my antipathy so that I can wish him well, if only in his work, a useful & doable challenge and good practice.
Funny. I haven't updateddailyoffice in a while but I'm getting damn near to preachy here. Oh well.
technoshaman picked it up and added other ideas; I wrote up a comment to explain how/why I pray for W, and thought I'd toss a variation on that in here too. The issue of how to pray for someone is not one that I take lightly. (It's kind of telling that a term for this kind of prayer is intercession.) I am very aware that I don't have all the information about my own life sometimes, much less someone else's. Like
runnerwolf, I am a fan of praying for "the best outcome". A useful image that I found in Madeleine L'Engle's superb A Ring of Endless Light is to take the person I'm praying for into my heart, and then place them in God's hand. For a general "best outcome" prayer for someone, this image can be helpful.
Are there people I do not want to take into my heart? Heck yeah. Do I beat myself up over it? Usually not. There's more important stuff on the beat-myself-up list to do first ;)
Asking for permission to pray is something that is newer to me. In the abstract it sounds nice. In the actual doing, I'm very uncomfortable with it. I'm fine with saying that I pray; but telling someone I'm praying for them sounds like I'm bragging and expect praise or thanks or something. (Group prayers are by definition public. I'm talking what I do by myself.) I generally only feel the need to ask when I feel I should pray for someone who I think won't want me to pray for them.
Re: praying for W. Episcopals aren't the only church to pray for world or local leaders. In our case, it's taken from the Church of England. For the CofE this can be a way of uniting the populace (or at least those who are members of the Official Church) to wish their leaders well in their work. I'm also sure it can and has been used to let the church exert its opinions of the government. If you'd like to see their variations, they're here.
As for the specific prayer used at my parish: The most common form we use is "We pray for our leaders in government, especially George, our President, Gary, our Governor, Greg, our Mayor, and Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the UN, that they may serve justice, and promote the dignity and freedom of every person" (It's based on the US Book of Common Prayer - if you're curious, the various options are here.) My take on it: our government officially maintains that the people in government are there to serve, to be just, and to promote freedom and respect the dignity of citizens. Essentially the prayer is a request that they do their jobs well, and I'm ok with that. I realize other folks might not be okay with that, and they could skip it if they wish.
For me, this prayer is useful in another way. It's easy to allow my dislike for the person and his actions to keep me from wanting to think or read anything about him. I find working on overcoming my antipathy so that I can wish him well, if only in his work, a useful & doable challenge and good practice.
Funny. I haven't updated
dailyoffice in a while but I'm getting damn near to preachy here. Oh well.
