Canada Prays

by Laura Marie Piotrowicz

When the disciples asked, “Lord, teach us to pray,” they were not hoping to develop a new skill. Rather, they were working to enhance their ongoing and daily communication with God, with hopes to better align their lives with the will of the divine.

Jesus’ response, of course, was the perfect invitation for all of his followers, throughout the ages, to enter into that mystical dance with the Holy One, through the simple and poignant act of prayer.

This fall, the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer has joined with the Society of St. John the Evangelist in CANADA PRAYS, a project encouraging us all to delve deeper into the shared mystery of that prayerful experience. Using the seven models of prayer (thanksgiving, petition, penitence, oblation, intercession, praise and adoration), we are all being invited to participate in the daily exercise of prayer.

For the seven weeks starting at Thanksgiving and leading up to Advent, we will focus on one model of prayer each week, highlighted in a blog on The Community (thecommunity.anglican.ca) and in Advent return to one model per day. Prayers will be welcomed through social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) by use of a double-hashtag (i.e. #prayersof #thanksgiving).

These prayers are truly the prayers of the people, reflecting the truth of God active in our lives from the depths of our being. As more people participate, the richness will increase.

These prayers will remain on the prayersofthepeople.org website, and we encourage intercessors to consider including them for use in common worship.

Prayer: it’s what we do, all of us together, because Jesus has welcomed us into the conversation with God. Thanks be to God.

Pray with us at: prayersofthepeople.org
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/prayersof/

The Reverend Laura Marie Piotrowicz is Rector of St. John’s Port Dalhousie 
St. Catharines. stjohnsportdalhousie.ca