It was my turn to pray for the Pastor.
In our protestant church, before we begin the service the two pastors kneel at the altar and those from the congregation who would, gather around them and pray for them, asking for God’s presence and our obedience. One person is handed a microphone to lead the prayer while the others silently assent.
It was my turn to pray.
I was on the schedule so I grabbed the microphone and led in prayer. I don’t remember the particulars of the prayer - I know I did ask for His Presence and our obedience - but one thing I do remember: In referencing the Holy Spirit I said, "He is everywhere present and fills all things." It would appear that my one year of private Orthodox devotions and my seven visits to an Orthodox Church are rubbing off on me! Orthodox prayers and hymnography are filled with such great content and meaty prose that it is hard not to reference them when you are offering a "free style" prayer. Why should I not call upon such great words to help me in my prayers? They say things better than I ever could.
Now, if I continue the way I am going, the next time I pray, I might accidently call upon the Theotokos to intercede on our behalf and, at that point, I will never be asked to pray again!
Oh, well, I’ll take my chances.
This is my first visit to your blog. My parents are both American converts, and I was baptized as an infant into Orthodoxy. The prayers are reverent, definitely full of substance, making me feel close to God. I attended a Catholic school and work in a school in a Presbyterian church and often wonder "is that it?" Orthodoxy has so much more!
ReplyDeleteThe more I study and attend services, the more I learn that what you say is true!
ReplyDeleteI grew up baptist,and I had a hard time praying from "a book", when I first converted to Orthodoxy. I felt like I was reading words to God and not praying. After receiving guidance from the priest, I added more "extemporaneous" prayers to my prayer rule. Wouldn't you know it....all of those beautiful prayers and phrases from the prayer book interjected themselves into "my" prayer. They said what I felt better than I could have expressed it.
ReplyDeleteC. Dominica,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a very wise priest to give you guidance! sounds like another example of how Orthodoxy is patient with people...
"They said what I felt better than I could have expressed it."
ReplyDeleteYep.
:)
ReplyDelete