We want to experiment right now with a simple prayer exercise -- a chance to share some honest and personal thoughts with God about what’s going on in our lives. To help us do this, if you own a cell phone, you’ll want to grab that right now. And then using the regular apps on our phones, we’re going to allow ourselves to be guided in prayerful reflection by some of our most recent interactions and experiences.
PRAYER EXERCISE | Texting App
If you have a phone, start by opening your messaging or texting app. If you don’t have a phone that’s totally ok – just think about the last 2 or 3 conversations you’ve had today, either on the phone or in person, whether it was just small talk or a deeper conversation.
So who are the last few people you texted? What’s happening in their lives? We’re going to give you a minute to pray for them. If they are close friends, thank God for them. If they are going through something difficult, pray for comfort. Ask that the love of God would be revealed to them in many ways, including through their relationship with you.
God, we pray for our friends, family members, classmates, and coworkers. May we be the kind of friends who engage in meaningful conversation, meaningful relationship. Amen.
PRAYER EXERCISE | News App
Next, open the news app on your phone, wherever you tend check the headlines or latest current events. If you don't have a phone, try to remember the last news story you either read, watched, or heard talked about.
As you open the app, scroll through the top few headlines. Focus on 1 or 2 that catch your attention. It might be a natural disaster, human tragedy or political crisis, entertainment buzz. Without needing to read the whole story, take a moment and pray for whatever is being reported on. Pray for the people involved, that they would experience grace, comfort, wisdom. Pray for the circumstances, for healing, for rescue, for justice. Pray for God’s presence to be experienced in the midst of whatever is going on.
God, we pray for all the events and people in the news today. Help us to remember that these are more than just headlines; they are real people experiencing real challenges. God we ask that Your kingdom come and Your will be done, here in our world, as it is in Heaven.
PRAYER EXERCISE | Maps App
Now, open your maps app. If you don’t have a phone, you can simply picture in your mind the places you regularly go.
Looking at the map on your screen, consider the surrounding community in which we live and worship. Take a moment and pray for the people who live all around us, especially those who are suffering, struggling or living without a sense of God’s presence in their lives. As you consider where we live, pray for our city leaders, for the teachers, doctors, nurses and police who serve us. Pray for those who are unemployed and for the agencies that offer help. Pray for those in our hospitals, jails, rehab centres. Pray for all the churches in our area, that we would stand together in unity and grow strong in God’s love and grace. Pray that God’s kingdom would be revealed here, just as it is in Heaven.
God, we pray our community and for our country; its people and its leaders. We thank you for the many blessings we enjoy in these spaces, and we pray that Your church would be a bright light shining in the darkness here. May we be Your hands and feet in our communities.
PRAYER EXERCISE | Clock
Finally, open the clock app on your phone.
If you don’t have a second hand on your clock app, just look at the one on the screen behind me. As we wrap up this experience, I want you to simply look at the time on the clock and consider the moment you are literally in right now. This is where you are – who you are – the past is behind you and it’s not coming back. The future is uncertain and not guaranteed. This moment here and now is all we really have. As you watch the seconds tick by, consider the beating of your own heart. You are alive in this moment, not by chance. Take a moment and thanks God for this moment – for waking you up today, for the life you have, for the possibility and potential this day holds, for the community in which you find yourself, for the unexpected moments that might surprise you today. Be mindful that you are alive because God chose you. Express your deepest gratitude to God for the gift of this moment, and this day.
[SONG: Night Has Passed CHORUS ONLY – Acoustically]
