The Mosaic

Silken Threads of Prayer - I’m not really sure how prayer works. Then again, is anyone? I watched an interview recently with Nadia Bolz-Weber who described prayer as a relay race, as opposed to an individual sport. Prayer, she said, is holding up those we love to God and then passing it on to the next person to do the same. As we each take our turn holding each other up in the presence of God, prayer becomes like gossamer strands, connecting us all to God and each other. These silken threads of prayer, she believes, are part of how God is stitching our broken humanity back together again.

I've been thinking a lot about that in my own prayer life. How my prayers are like gossamer strands connecting me to God and the ones I pray for. I really don't know how prayer “works.” I've heard it said that prayer changes us, not God. Then again, I don’t believe we pray to an immutable God who can’t be changed. According to our scriptures, God is often persuaded by the cries of God's people. And yet, I don't know why some prayers get answered and others don’t. Once again, who does?

This image, though, of a web of prayers is impactful, and it has given me hope. It reminds me of all the prayers shoved into the Western Wall in Jerusalem. If you’ve been, you can see the gossamer strands that connect all these people to each other. Each person who has journeyed to the wall to place their prayer in one of the cracks is connected in some way to every other person who has made the same journey.

So, this morning, as I offer my prayers for you, for me, for the people of Turkey and Syria, I'm imagining my own silken thread intertwined with yours and trusting that somehow this strengthens us and provides support to those in need of a web to hold them.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Victoria