Prayer is an important part of our spiritual lives. Many people pray before meals, sport’s teams pray before their games, moments of silence start the day in many schools, and church services often have multiple prayers as part of their liturgy. Truly, prayer is everywhere.
I know there are efforts on the part of some to keep prayer out of certain places (like schools), but it sure seems like those efforts are not very effective. Just think of all the prayers that precede taking the SAT for high school students or the prayers prayed by the new parents dropping their kids off in Kindergarten for the first time or by the students headed to the principal’s office! Despite their best efforts, prayer keeps finding its way BACK into school.
Prayer is all around us . . . it is one of the most recognizable aspects of the spiritual life. But what is prayer? What should we do as we pray? What should we NOT do as we pray? And what about fasting? Should I fast? These are just some of the questions we may have about the topic of prayer.
Jesus does not leave us empty handed on this topic. He taught about prayer often. In fact, a major section of the Sermon on the Mount focuses on prayer. The next couple of Sundays at Wildwood we will be looking at what Jesus said about prayer and fasting in the Sermon on the Mount. Join us as we investigate Matthew 6:5-8, 16-18 this Sunday in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 worship services. Hope to see you there!