Invitation to Prayer: Wednesday

Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Our mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, we seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).

Experience God as Presence and Absence

““In prayer, God’s presence is never separated from God’s absence and God’s absence is never separated from God’s presence. The presence of God is so much beyond the human experience of being together that it quite easily is perceived as absence. The absence of God, on the other hand, is often so deeply felt that it leads to a new sense of God’s presence. This is powerfully expressed in Psalm 22. (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

This prayer not only is the expression of the experience of the people of Israel, but also the culmination of the Christian experience. When Jesus spoke these words on the cross, total aloneness and full acceptance touched each other. In that moment of complete emptiness, all was fulfilled. In that hour of darkness, new light was seen. While death was witnessed, life was affirmed.”

Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life by Henri J. M. Nouwen
 
God, God . . . my God! Why did you dump me miles from nowhere?
Doubled up with pain, I call to God all the day long. No answer. Nothing.
I keep at it all night, tossing and turning.

And you! Are you indifferent, above it all, leaning back on the cushions of Israel’s praise?
We know you were there for our parents: they cried for your help and you gave it; they trusted and lived a good life.

And here I am, a nothing—an earthworm, something to step on, to squash.
Everyone pokes fun at me; they make faces at me, they shake their heads:
“Let’s see how God handles this one; since God likes him so much, let God help him!”

I’m a bucket kicked over and spilled, every joint in my body has been pulled apart.
My heart is a blob of melted wax in my gut.
I’m dry as a bone, my tongue black and swollen.
They have laid me out for burial in the dirt.

Now packs of wild dogs come at me; thugs gang up on me.
They pin me down hand and foot, and lock me in a cage—a bag of bones in a cage, stared at by every passerby.
They take my wallet and the shirt off my back, and then throw dice for my clothes.

The Message by Eugene Peterson

"God of presence and absence, I know that no matter if I feel your nearness or remoteness, you have never forsaken me. I, however, have alienated you through sin. Somehow I hope that these sins will not be fruitless, but will be transformed through your forgiveness. Amen.”

Lent and Easter Wisdom by Henri J. M. Nouwen

A message from Chris Laufer, Coordinator, Faces of Children

Greetings, Faces of Children Prayer Partner,

The Faces prayer group will meet on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at 11:30 a.m. in our new regular spot, the Family Life Center conference room off of the gym (the old weight room) at First Presbyterian Church-Midland. Lunch ($5) and fellowship will follow our time of prayer.

If you have prayer concerns or celebrations about children, those who care for them, those who have authority over them, or those who harm them (the really hard prayers to say sometimes), please send them to me at at claufer@facesofchildren.net, or give me a call.

Blessings,

Chris