PRESENTATION ON FAMILY PRAYER
By Nancy Phillips
Given at the Annual Meeting of the
ANGLICAN FELLOWSHIP OF PRAYER, May 21, 2002
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Godparents can play a very important role in family prayer. Grandparents can reinforce the parent's modeling of prayer and assist in developing a habit and understanding of prayer in the child.
Family life has become so fragmented and hectic, that parents may find it difficult to fit prayer into the schedule, seeing it as one more demand in an already overwhelming day. Of course, we know that prayer can be a centering and calming force in the midst of the family whirlwind but there are times when, for some reason, the parents are unwilling or unable to model prayer for their children or to pray with them regularly. Grandparents can carry their grandchildren in prayer. As a child, growing up, I was always aware that my grandmother prayed for me- that she was a woman of prayer, that it was important to her and that she loved me enough to pray for me. There were many times as I grew up that the knowledge of her prayers had a sustaining effect on me.
Faithful godparents can play a similar role. Parenting is such a daunting task. It has been a source of comfort for me to know that the godparents we chose for our sons have prayed for them and have encouraged their development in the Christian faith.
While our children's understanding of prayer begins in the home, it realizes its fullest meaning in the midst of the community of believers: in our church gatherings. It is in our children's experience of public worship that they begin to externalize what they believe internally. Our Sunday Schools provide opportunities for our children to develop an understanding of their faith appropriate to their developmental level. Children can begin to become involved in worship service in simple ways. Their contributions to the common worship of the gathered community should be authentic expressions of their understanding of faith. Finding ways of involving in contributing to worship can challenge both our accepted notions of roles that children ought to play and our sense of creativity in finding opportunities for authentic expression that is appropriate to their developmental level. Every congregation has to find their own level of comfort and acceptance of the ministry that children have to offer.
Recently, at the church I attend, St. Margaret's, the Youth group was asked to do the Intercessions for the church service. It was not a special youth service, but the Youth Group took their place in the regular rotation of Sunday morning Intercessors. Their prayers were heartfelt, touching and relevant. In discussing the role of teens in intercessory prayer, the youth group leader offered that, in her experience, it was important to find wording that would be relevant to the experience of the teens. The prayer book may not always provide an authentic voice or form for teen prayer. In this case, the youth group had found some poems that they felt expressed what needed to be said in prayer, and with some guidance, they shaped the poetry into an intercessory form with congregational responses.
There are so many ways that members of a church congregation of all ages can become involved in the prayer life of the community. I've talked about some of the tangible ways that children and teens can become involved. But prayer needs to undergird and support all that we do as a faith community, and everyone can feel involved in intercessory ministry.
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