First thoughts toward Sunday’s message:

James 5:13-20
“Are any of you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.”

In many ways, the letter of James is very different from the other letters of the New Testament. But like Paul, James knows the power of prayer. Here in these closing remarks, he reminds the congregation that whatever their troubles, whatever their joys, it is good and right to take it all to God.

It’s got me thinking about prayer – what it is, what it does, how we do it. I like the idea that our ordinary words become holy words when addressed to God in prayer. I suspect that each of us has a slightly different idea of just how prayer works. I like Kathleen Norris’s definition, from her book Amazing Grace: “I have learned that prayer is not asking for what you think you want but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine.” That makes sense to me. What do you think? Join us Sunday and we’ll talk more…