Power of Community Prayer

“Where two or more gather in my name there I am with them…”  God made us for community, to share our joys and to help carry our woes to the cross.  On Sunday, I was a little under the weather, there are many troubles ailing my family – big problems that I can’t do anything about.  During my formation small group one of the discussion questions on prayer brought tears to my eyes and the leader of the group noticed that I was not my usually cheerful self.  So, she stopped the discussion and asked everyone to lay hands on me and my small group all prayed over me.  During the prayer I heard God say, “let go.”  Since I have been feeling quite at peace.

Sometimes when our loved ones are struggling, we want to help them and we take on their burden and feel utterly overwhelmed because we weren’t designed to be the ones carrying another’s burden.  That is God’s job.  Our job is to be there, to help in anyway we can and if the situation is beyond our scope of help then we pray so that God will act.  Though carrying the burden of my brother might feel like solidarity- the reality is that I am taking the place of God.  Jesus said, “come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble.” He tells us that when we are having a problem, we need to seek God and to let go of our trouble because he doesn’t want us to carry that load.  When we turn to Him and entrust him with the situation causing us woe, we are free to do His will.  To love and serve our neighbor always repeating, “Jesus, I trust in you.”

I love a story of a father watching his little girl get pinched with a needle trying to pull thread through it. He was tempted to go and thread the needle for her, but he knew that if he allowed the temporary pain his little girl would learn to do it and her self-esteem would grow knowing she had finally done it.  It’s hard to watch our love ones suffer and to think of the good that can come from it, many times I want to act - to help… But I am learning to discern what matters I can help and which I need to entrust the Lord with.  I think in many cases I need to learn to let go and not be an enabler through my desire to help, but rather give it to God.

I leaned this prayer on Sunday, a day that time in community filled me with the peace I was lacking:

“Jesus, right now I place my life in your hands.  In sickness, in financial difficulty, and in the midst of wounded relationships, I offer myself to you. Come and lift me up from stormy waters, and place my feet on the rock of faith in you.”