As I was tidying up this weekend in preparation for friends coming over, I noticed my textbook* for a course in Reformed Worship sitting in the midst of all of my theology books (so many books, so little time!!) I took it off the shelf and sure enough, there is a whole chapter on prayer! How we pray as individuals and as a community was important to the reformers because their understanding of prayer helped shape how we worship today in the Protestant tradition.
This chapter outlined 4 demands that prayer requires of us, including:
1. We have to show up! (In other words, we need to make time to pray).
2. We have to pay attention.
3. We have to tell the truth.
4. We must look for the outcome.
The final point resonates with me this week as I prepare to preach on the challenge of maintaining a prayer relationship with God even when things aren't going the way you want them to.
Yours in Christ, Emma.
Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. Psalm 4:1
* Once a librarian, always a librarian! I couldn't post this without giving you the full citation for the book - Howard Rice and James Huffstutler. Reformed Worship. Louisville: Geneva Press, 2001.
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