Prayer

Psalms in Worship: God knows we need help praying

Discover why more congregations are following Christ's example of praying the Psalms in worship. A feature story exploring the use of the Psalms in Christian Worship.

July 24, 2009 | 11 min read
Praying the Psalms

In our worship we enter into a dialogue between God and God’s people—a dialogue that neither begins with our entrance nor ends with our exit. More accurately we are joining in a conversation that started long before we ever showed up. Indeed, worship is a cosmic gathering in which we are privileged to participate.

March 1, 2009 | 1 min read
Praying Around the Communion Table: Cultivating a Spirit of Thanksgiving

Discover ways that the prayer of thanksgiving at the Lord's Supper provides a shape and vocabulary to guide us in lives of gratitude as well as connect our practices in church with the actions in our daily lives.

January 1, 2009 | 61 min listen

Symposium 2009 - Jesus: Our Worship Leader

This seminar explored the wonderful truth that when we gather, our living Lord is present and active in our midst?empowering, perfecting and leading our worship. Behind all true worship, regardless of its form or style, is the present mediating ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.

January 1, 2009 | 56 min listen
Prayer in the Life of a Third Millennium Monastery: What We're Learning

This session featured stories, prayers, and insights from the first year of the Stockbridge Boiler Room, a simple Christian community that practices a daily rhythm of prayer, study, and celebration while caring actively for the poor and the lost.

January 1, 2009 | 61 min listen
The Long Prayer: Offering Prayers in Public Worship

Whether pre-written, extemporaneous, or a combination, the prayer offered in worship on Sunday morning is probably the longest single prayer most people hear all week. As pastors and worship leaders, our public prayers reveal much about our habits of mind even as those prayers have a shaping influence on how the congregation prays all week. This workshop looked at the place of prayer in public worship and will offer practical suggestions for offering prayers that are theologically imaginative and pastorally sensitive.

January 1, 2008 | 59 min listen

Christ's Priesthood and Our Praises

This workshop will explore the implications for liturgy and preaching which arrive from recognizing afresh 1-- the reality of Christ's priesthood and 2-- that we are, in George Herbert's phrase, "Secretaries of thy praise."

January 1, 2008 | 61 min listen
An Invitation to 'The Liturgy of the Hours'

From the age of the Apostles, to the Early Church Fathers, to the Middle Ages, to the present, we are invited to join that great cloud of witnesses who have worshiped God around the clock from hour to hour, from one time-zone to the next, in ceaseless prayer and praise. This session explored how to incorporate the rhythm of what some call 'The Liturgy of the Hours' into busy contemporary life.

January 1, 2008 | 56 min listen

Praying with the Early Church: Crucial Lessons about Intercessory Prayer

This session reviewed several prayer texts from the third to the fifth century, and then probed the very practical ways they might challenge us to pray more deeply in worship today.

January 1, 2008 | 58 min listen
Uncovering the Blessing of Fixed-Hour Prayer

Whether you call it the divine office, praying the hours, or common prayer, this ancient treasure of Christian heritage is hidden in plain sight. A feature story exploring the blessing of fixed-hour prayer.

April 17, 2006 | 7 min read