Sherry Sterling

“O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed…” —Collect of the day

Dear friends,

While recently traveling around Sri Lanka, I was awakened in pre-dawn darkness, morning after morning, in city after city, by the deep vibrations of a voice singing in a language and musical scale unfamiliar to my ears.

I learned that this beautiful thread of tone arising out of the darkness was the morning call to prayer, over loud speaker, from the local mosques. I learned that people were gathering to pray while I still slept. It felt as if they, with God, were praying the day into being, and then I woke up into it.

This call to prayer became a daily reminder that sometimes others are praying for us when we can’t. And the flip side, too, that we at times may be holding prayer for others when they can’t pray for themselves.

A few weeks ago, during Bishop Reddall’s visit to Saint Philips, she said,

“The person of the bishop is here, partly, to remind you of your connection to the wider church. Every Sunday I’m in a different church in the Diocese of Arizona, and I remind those congregations that there are 63 other congregations who are praying for you, today, just as you are praying for them.

(So) when it feels that your own prayers are inadequate or you’re alone, remember, that you are not.”

Your prayers are not inadequate. And you are not alone.

Indeed, we’re told that at times God’s Spirit prays through us, on our behalf. I’m reminded of the verse in Romans 8:26, “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

Even when we don’t have the words, our effort to pray is met by God.

I wonder, when we’re offering our own prayers or being prayed for or through, if together with God we’re praying the day into being. I know we need each other, and are needed. Our prayers are not inadequate. And we are not alone.

Peace and love,

—Sherry