Naomi's Notes - 3/2/08
Quick trivia question: How many prayers do we have during morning worship services (10:30 a.m.)? Quick answer: It all depends.
Several types of prayers are easily identifiable: The Invocation is usually first. In our church it is led by the Deacon of the Week. Its primary purpose is to invoke God's presence, blessing and participation. God is already present--"Where two or three are gathered, I am there"--so this prayer is mostly our acknowledgement of God's worthiness and Spirit working in our midst, prompting and assisting us in our worship.
The Pastoral Prayer is toward the middle of the service; sometimes we call this Prayers of the People. Usually it is led by our Senior Pastor and is the longest prayer of any worship service. An intercessory prayer, it addresses the needs and concerns of our congregation and the world around us. Often it's a time of petition and confession as well.
The Offertory Prayer recognizes God's blessings, offers thanks for our ministry gifts, and requests that God help us be faithful stewards as we use our offerings to support the church's ministries. The Doxology, sung as the offering plates are returned to the altar, dedicates these resources to God.
Sending Forth to Serve (Chuck's variation on most churches' Benediction) is a reminder of God's grace and love for us as well as a blessing on our ministries during the coming week. As the "gathered church becomes the scattered church" we are assured of God's presence and assistance as we "go forth."
Often, our worship includes litanies and unison prayers. Other prayer times are not always printed in our worship bulletin: at the end of the Children's Feature; at the end of Chuck's sermon; during communion or baptism; during dedication or commissioning. Preludes and offertories provide time for silent prayer.
Commonly, we think of prayer as spoken or silent, written or extemporaneous. But prayers can be musical, too - notice the texts of many solos, anthems and hymns.
Someone once said to me, "Whew! We sure do pray a lot during worship!" They had, as the late Robert Webber once said, failed to "grasp all of worship as a cosmic prayer... Worship as 'public prayer' refers to worship from its beginning to its end, as prayer in the world for the world. [It is] not a mere 'collection of prayers'..." (Worship Leader Magazine) Authentic worship IS prayer--connecting and communing with God.
See you in worship this Sunday -
Naomi