www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Prayer Forum

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

I know that this forum brings many for various reasons and interests to these sections and threads. One section that seems to be passed over many times is the Prayer Section. Many are posting not only for your prayers, but also for your Christian support at time of their life where they are looking for prayer and Christian encouragement. Please if you can find it in your hearts to visit this section and support our brothers and sister that asking for our prayers. Your prayers and encouragement will help them in their time of need and help build the heavenly kingdom at the same time.

May God bless you all in your Christian labors!

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Father bless; I confess that I have too often neglected this part of the forum [except, of course, when I have urgent needs] and will try to be more attentive to the needs of others, and my own need to intercede.
-Daniel

Dear Father, I suspect I'm not the only one who visits the Prayer Forum often. However, not being one who can express themselves quite as easily as others, please know that many many prayers are offered in response to all the prayer requests even though we don't post often. I'm sure God hears our prayers in secret.

Thank you for bringing up this topic.

The Prayer area is the heart of the Byzantine Forum.
We may have different opinions on different matters, but in the the prayers for other people we meet. In our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Saviour of our souls. We are like some pilgrims under the Heavens.
May God have much mercy upon us and all of us, on this entire world. The Lord's mercy be our bread. Amen.

Marian

Just wanted you to know friends I do check out the prayer forum and though I dont often post replies to save time I do keep your intentions in my prayers...

I visit the prayer forum and often offer a general prayer for all the prayer intentions listed there. The *&#& flood protection makes it too time consuming to post individual replies when there are several posters asking for prayers.

Fr. Anthony thanks for the reminder.

Pani Rose

Marian,
Yes, and amen!
I had been skipping over the prayer forum because, to be really honest, I didn't want to read the requests unless I was going to actually pray for them, and sometimes I do just that when I am on prayer lists. Not a very comfortable thing to admit, but true. Recently, however, I have been visiting the prayer forum because I myself have been wanting prayer, and I am realizing how sweet it is both to prayer for my brothers and sisters in Christ and to have their prayers on my behalf.
Blessings
Michele

Dear Friends
I have been meaning to post this for several days to get your reactions, and now seems like an appropriate time.
It is a passage from the book "Beginning to Pray" by Anthony Bloom.

"Let us think of our prayers, yours and mine; think of the warmth, the depth and intensity of your prayer when it concerns someone you love or something which matters to your life. Then your heart is open, all your inner self is recollected in the prayer. Does it mean that God matters to you? No, it does not. It simply means that the subject matter of your prayer matters to you. For when you have made your passionate, deep,intense prayer concerning the person you love or the situation that worries you, and you turn to the next item, which does not matter so much-if you suddenly grow cold, what has changed? Has God grown cold? Has He gone? No, it means that all the elation, all the intensity in our prayer was not born of God's presence, of your faith in Him, of your longing for Him, of your awareness of Him. it was born of nothing but your concern for him or her or it, not for God. How can we feel surprised, then, that this absence of God affects us? It is we who make ourselves absent, it is we who grow cold the moment we are no longer concerned with God. Why? Because He does not matter so much."

So Michelle,

That is what the prayer forum is for, to lift each other up to the Lord in time of need. Just as I pray for others, and my list grows constantly, I hope that someone prays for me. This is our call as a family in Christ, to enocurage one another and to build them up.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

That is wonderful Michelle and so true. It is so important that we spend as much time in thanksgiving, praise, and adoration of our Lord as we do in supplication. I fail so miserably at it, and need to do better. God is love and compassion, and he asks nothing less of us. His word says he inhabits the praises of his people, so if we desire to see God move then praise him. It frees him to move for us, we are giving him permission, and loving and blessing him back. HE doesn't need us in anyway, he exists perfectly without us, but we are here because HE is love. We fail so often at loving him back.

Fr. Anthony I do pray for you and all the clergy here on the forum especially at Divine Liturgy. The fact that you take time to give to us when your lives are so hectic - I thank you so much. For it is truly the love of Christ that you share with us. You are a light set upon a hill that shall not burn out.

Pani Rose

The prayer forum has always been an important part of the Byzantine Forum to me. Some days even when I have not entered into discussions I always try to pray for at least a few. And often others have prayed for me and my loved ones for which I am most grateful.

Prayers of petition, thanksgiving, intercession as well as special prayers on feasts day have blessed me very much. And I delight in the little concerns we share and receive prayer for like for our pets and projects as well as all our petitions for others.

However, I believe the prayer threads should be a safe haven to come to ask for prayer--not a place for discussions without prayer, corrections of one another, or giving quick solutions to someone's problem. In an eagerness to be helpful we sometimes forget we are simply being asked to pray.

Just my two cents,


Porter