Thursday, June 09, 2011

Praying alongside each other

1 Timothy 2:8 "So I want the men a to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute".

It is a sad reality that we are divided by our prayers. Instead of "lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute" - we insult and denigrate those who do it differently from us.

And so my invitation for us to be respectful of those who pray at midday on Friday, and those who enter their Sabbath on Friday evening; those who worship on a Saturday and those who worship on a Sunday.

Let us protect the sacred space of those whose prayers are expressed in flags, and in raised hands, in silence, and in groans and cries. Let us encourage those who pray under trees, and those who turn wheels, and those who wash in a river.

God receives all our prayers - without exception!
Sent via my BlackBerry

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen! Well-spoken!

Anonymous said...

Hey Pete,

I'm trying to decode your post. Are you pleading the cause of universalism or ecumenicalism?

Pete Grassow said...

Hi Mark
I do not understand your terms so am not sure what category I am pleading!

I want to live in a world where all people can pray peacefully alongside one another. I believe that there is only one God/Creator/Divine Being. What ever the prayer, prayed in whatever way, by who-ever, can only be offered to our One Creator. I do not think God is too bothered by the name we humans use (- as Moses discovered at the burning bush we do not know the name of God anyway!) So my dream is for people to find unity in prayer - rather than using prayer as a weapon for human division.