Post-It Note Prayers

Prayer can be hard.
Prayer can be scary.
Sometimes we don’t know how to pray or even what to pray for.
From time to time we need training wheels on our prayers to help us move in the direction of connection with God.

In our gathering on Sunday we spent time participating in prayer with the help of Post-It Notes. It was a great experience for us as a community. We placed tables around the room with instructions for specific ways to pray.

Local :: Write down your address and pray for your neighborhood

Global :: What countries + regions of the world could I pray for?

Renew :: who within our faith community can you pray for?

Finish the sentence :: God, I’m thankful for…

What elements of God’s character am I most aware of this morning?

Confession + Repentance :: What areas of my life do I need to ask God for forgiveness?

Needs, Concerns + Desires :: Five times in the NT Jesus asks people the question: “What do you want me to do for you?” How would I answer that? What do I want Jesus to do for me? for us?

We had pens and Post-It Note pads on the tables and encouraged people to write down their thoughts and then spend some time praying for the other Post-It Notes around the room.

This morning we went through the dozens and dozens of notes. Reading and praying for each one – and each person who wrote them, though we don’t know who – was powerful. It also gives us a ‘pulse’ as to who God is bringing to us and where people are at in their spiritual journey.

We can’t possibly list them all here, but here were a just a few of them:

Global ::
Thailand
China
Cuba
Hungary
Ukraine
Morocco

God’s character ::
Steadfastness
Mystery
Unbelievable faithfulness
Your patience with my lack of patience

Thankfulness ::
Forgiveness
My family
This community of believers of skeptics and dreamers

Confession + Repentance ::
Selfishness
Lust
My lies
Hatred
Forgive me for wasting my time this week
Not being thankful for the place where God has me in my journey
For my hurtful words and wicked tongue
My critical spirit
Falling into hopelessness
Forgiving those who hurt me
Fear, mistrust and ignorance
Please take my jealousy away
Not seeing those around me and loving them

Needs, Concerns + Desires ::
I do not know where to go for the help we need…
Give me a sense of worth and purpose that I may play an active role in seeing your kingdom come
I need to save me – mostly from myself
I’m just really, really lonely
Help me to follow through on what I know I have to do
Healthy baby
This dark pit inside me
I’m overwhelmed by the needs of the world, the needs of our community, the needs of Lansdale, the needs of my own selfish heart
Help me to hear you more clearly
Help me with my deep feelings of loneliness