School started this week in Skippack and we are transiting from Summer-mode into “regular-mode.” :) Even though I haven’t been in school for a long time, it seems like we are a little different in the summer – a little more relaxed, a little more patient. Once the school year resumes, activities and groups who take a summer break also resume. My calendar is suddenly filled with Ministerium meetings, and training sessions, and preparations for Advent and Lent.
We are resuming using the Narrative Lectionary readings this Fall and today is the last day of our summer focus on Faith Practices. Over the past weeks, we have explored different faith practices we can use to put our faith in to action – ways to involve our heads, our hearts and our hands in our faith. We have heard about sharing testimonies of our faith, healing prayer, praying the Psalms, fasting, tithing, silent meditation, and caring for creation.
Today, we are going to focus on Walking Prayers….Let us turn to the book of the Prophet Micah and read just a little reminder about our calling to live deliberate lives full of faith:
Scripture Micah 6: 6-8
With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly[a] with your God.
Amen.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray….
Message Walking with God
When Jesus lived on earth, there was one mode of transportation for common people…..Walking. Roman officials and wealthy people drove chariots, or rode on wagons, or were carried on litters. Everyone else walked. Jesus was recorded as riding on a donkey once – the only time was when he entered Jerusalem for his final Holy Week. The rest of the time, Jesus walked….the disciples walked….most people walked every where they went
Our lives here in the suburbs are different. If you live in Skippack, you possibly live close enough that you can walk to stores or restaurants. But, most of us need to ride in cars or school buses, or drive cars, to get to our schools, and workplaces, and doctors appointments, and grocery stores, and church. Most of our getting from here to there occurs in motorized vehicles, vehicles that our ancestors even a few generations back did not have access to.
As Americans have had more and more access to private cars, the way we live has changed. We live much more spread out. Many Americans live in places inaccessible unless we have cars.
The first congregation I served was in Berks County. After living most of my life until that point in Missouri, I was impressed with how many historical UCC churches there were right around where I lived. There were UCC churches along all the main roads, roughly placed about 4 miles apart from each other. I remember asking why there were so many churches….one of my members explained that when the churches were founded 200 years ago, or so, they were placed in a way that most people would only need to walk two miles to get to church. The churches were positioned to be convenient to their members who walked to church even when they lived out in the country.
We notice things when we walk places that we don’t usually see when we are driving or riding in cars. When we zip from place to place in our cars, we are often in a hurry. When we are walking, we are forced to slow down. We may notice that Elinor’s house has a new roof or Daniel’s roses are particularly splendid right now. We see when houses are for sale or when someone needs to mow their lawn or when an older neighbor may need help repainting their shutters. We notice things that we miss when we are encased in metal and plastic and glass and are traveling at a high rate of speed.
Prayer walking is a technique to incorporate walking with prayer. People have probably prayed as they walked for as long as people have existed. But, the technique of “prayer walking” is an intentional approach to prayer. The faithful person is invited to plan their walk in advance. Before they start their walk, they pray and ask God to reveal needs and situations in the place they are praying. And, then as the person begins their walk, they pray as they go. This is praying with your eyes open – you look at the sidewalk, you look at the buildings that surround you, you look at the natural world as you walk and pray. We invite God’s Holy Spirit to guide our walking and guide our prayers. As we pass by places where people live, we pray for those people. As we pass by places where people work, we pray for those people. As we pass by places where children gather or go to school, we pray for those children. Prayer walking is an opportunity to pray, to observe, to walk, and to listen to the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes, church congregations get really excited about prayer walking. They may invite their members to sign up to pray for a particular block, or neighborhood, or community. People sometimes commit to doing a prayer walk every week and praying for their community. We know that just as the weather outside is always changing, the lives of our neighbors are also always changing.
We believe prayer makes a difference in our lives as individuals. And, we also believe praying for others makes a difference in the lives of the people we pray for. Even when we don’t know everything that is happening behind closed doors in our communities, we know there are people behind those doors who are struggling – struggling with abuse, struggling with loneliness, struggling with depression, struggling with addiction, struggling with relationships. If we take the opportunity to slowly walk, and pray, for the people behind those doors, we believe God will make a difference in their lives, a positive change for the better.
And, it doesn’t hurt us to also get some exercise, and fresh air, and possibly meet a neighbor or two as we walk.
So, I pray that we will incorporate more walking, and praying, into our lives, and consider taking a prayer walk.
Amen.
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