Week 3 Day 3: Intercession
Question: What is the “arrow prayer” in your heart right now?
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Transcript of Video:
In the Society’s Rule and its teaching on the practice of intercession, we’re reminded of the tradition throughout the monastic history of monastic and religious communities being called upon to pray and intercede; to take their pattern of daily stopping at the various hours or stopping in the midst of work to offer prayer, to raise up the lives of others or ourselves, for God’s care and power and love to be made known to us. I’ve often been asked to stop and pray on behalf of Brothers, Brothers coming to us, or to stop and pray when offering the ministry of healing, the laying on of hands. Or to stop in a spiritual direction interview, to allow the silence of God’s presence to envelop us. But these are all forms of prayer. The prayer of stopping does not have to be a formal thing at all. When we stop in the middle of the day to send what the Rule speaks of us as, kind of, “arrow prayers” – just small short prayers of gratitude, repetition for ourselves with intercession or adoration – we have stopped. We have stopped the grind of chronos, moment after moment, and have entered into kairos, the time which is God’s eternal now, God’s eternal love.
-Br. Jonathan Maury
We have stopped the grind of Chronos, moment after moment, and have entered into kairos, the time which is God’s eternal now, God’s eternal love. What is the “arrow prayer” in your heart right now?
“I am here. What’s next?”
Healing, emotional, spiritual and physical strength for my best friend during her cancer journey. For our nation’s core values to be restored. For the hungry in the US and worldwide, and for proper medical care – basic needs that should be first in our minds.
I use to pray every time I saw an emergency truck. I am part of the prayer team at church and receive prayer requests from congregation and some of them just break your heart and at times I do ask God why and then pray for their needs. Many years ago during Christian hippie phase I use to write in the back of my bible my letters to Jesus which were basically my own struggles today I journal not as much as I would like but much of it is prayer for others and asking why. I have a hard time praying for myself so it sounds more like an angry child than a prayer.
Guidance for a student making college decisions, the right job opportuity for G, healing for B
My most urgent arrow prayer is for my sister – that she knows my heart and soul love and support her always. The next step would be to extend that to those I love, those my thoughts drift towards, those whose lives are unsteady, those that let society dictate their lives. Lastly, may I be able to demonstrate my concerns appropriately to those I meet on a daily basis.
My arrow prayer right now is that two of my children might come to know God’s love for them.
Walker, young son of co-worker in the ICU, right now fighting for his life!! The physicians/nurses, etc. caring for him!!
My ‘arrow prayer’ is for God’s love and presence to be felt where I am: in my classroom, at home and on the road . I pray daily for family members with special prayers for those in poor health and for medical staff to be guided by God to make the right decisions. I also offer prayers of thanks for the same as I have grown in faith in my difficult times. My special wish is that my children find God’s love and grow in faith, trust and love.
My arrow prayer is for healing for Paula’s chronic, undiagnosed illness. She has been so faithful and so trusting in God’s healing power. Don’t let her give up hope.
I enter kairos many times each day. Throughout my teaching day, I send up small prayers for my students and for my ability to connect with them and help them—for the Spirit to speak through me, that I can be a blessing to them. The kinds of “arrow prayers” that I find the most difficult to be consistent about are the ones for those dear ones who are suffering from illnesses or other kinds of trouble. I find that I get into the flow of my day, so that I have to consciously stop and try to remember who I want to be praying for. I have a set of miniature flash cards that I go through in my morning prayer routine, but then I forget throughout the day to return to those intercessions. Maybe I should carry the cards or some other means—a prayer stone or finger rosary—with me as a reminder.
My arrow prayer is always peace. Inner peace, peace in the world, peace to all who suffer and who mourn. I am grateful for small moments of peace, mindful of the need for peace, hopeful for a future in which peace in the order of the day every day.
I pray ever day about my 90 year old mother, I pray that she has a personal relationship with our Lord and savior. I ask that she be without pain and suffering and in Gods care daily.
…the arrow off WHY?
I have many prayers throughout a day – but I think the “one arrow prayer” I have today and everyday, is “please help me not to feel the bitterness I do at times, when I reflect as I age that I am becoming less needed to those who are important in my life” I feel it is more of a vanity on my part and I need God’s help in removing that vanity and to enjoy my life as it is now.
Thanks – for my family, friends, church family, school family and this Lenten SSJE family. Help- healing for niamh, Laura, frank, burl, specific prayers from this group, our country, leaders and world. Amen
I pray to be able to pray throughout the day.
I pray that I will remember the arrow prayers throughout the day…..and I pray for all the people who are commenting on this website.
I give Thanks for this website and this program for Lent and the hope to get through this Desert experience I have been on for so long.
Arrow prayers are something I pray regularly throughout the day. As God brings people or situations to my mind, I make a quick prayer. Right now the prayer that comes to mind is for myself that I remember that life is not about me and my needs/wants, but about letting Christ’s love shine through me to others.
I am grateful for all the people who are praying for me, supporting me, and encouraging me; they lift me up, they are my “God with skin on”. When I remember to be grateful, my prayer for “something I want” – whether it be healing for someone or knowing the direction I should take – sits in a crucible of gratitude and connectedness that feels good and right to me.
Loving our neigbors as ourselves.
I work with people and find myself attempting to carry a lot of responsibility for them. I know that the truth is that they are in God’s hands, but I think it would benefit me to stop and pray (often!) to remember to let go and trust God to do the work. May I be an instrument for God’s love and healing. May I trust in You, my God, to care for each person. May I let go.
That God will soften my daughter’s heart and end the estrangement between us.
Health and Safety for Friends, Family, Loved Ones ..scattered far and wide … and just now .. Peace, Love and Joy for all the beautiful and thoughtful people participating in this SSJE Lenten program. All your comments are truly inspirational.
Just at the moment my arrow prayer is a prayer of gratitude that I/we have the good Brothers and can hear the helpful things they have to say to me/us each day.
My arrow prayer right now is to be able to do this thought the day. Prayer for Caden, Kristen, my family, those I will meet. My prayer is for our church as we seek an assistant minister. My prayer is for myself as I seek balance today and to stay in touch with God.
I have found myself stopping in an effort to enjoy wherever I am. It’s hectic, and the times that I really need to stop are often lost in a rush, but I’m getting better.
Each day I thank God for being with me, for allowing me to do the things I do. I thank him for the blessings he bestows on me and for my family. At present I am fervently petitioning God for 4 friends and their families as they struggle to fight cancer but God’s will be done and that each of them is given strength to deal with outcomes.
My arrow prayers are for all who struggle with doubt and depression; for peace and wisdom for everyone in this world; for more listening and less noise; for myself to live more fully in the moment and in closer communion with God and others.
I hold my family in prayer…..prayers for healing, prayers for family bonding, prayers for gratitude, prayers for spiritual growth.
The arrow prayer on my heart right now is one of gratitude. This afternoon I lost my car keys in a market where I had gone to buy flowers and fruit for a friend who has just moved. I was given the grace to stop, somewhat unlike me in previous similar situations. After thinking about how nothing of real consequence was lost, and after looking for the keys and leaving my contact information, I was able to walk to my friend’s home and then on to my own home – 7 kilometers in sunshine. How blessed I am.
The arrow prayer for me today is for those in my acquaintance that are suffering an ending of a long relationship.
Peace. Inner, and among people, peoples.
That I incorporate arrow prayers in my daily life
…never been able to use my 3 MA’s in theology, philosophy, and Jewish studies (2 officially)…graduate exams passed in five Biblical languages…everything now is about political ‘theology’ and I have passed from hurt to anger…THE ARROW IS WHY…in the morning, NOW, in my car on the way to work “…I have tried to be faithful…”
…in parish adult forum you have all these people who are very gifted in ‘their’ fields so good in 1 means they’re good in everything, while in reality they get angry when they’re political mission (whatever) is confronted with complimentary polar opposition.
Thank you, God, for helping me to concentrate and play slowly and deliberately [the organ] to learn accuracy in playing J.S. Bach’s “Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland.” Thank you for nurturing my developing musicianship.
Praise you Lord God, creator of the universe. Praise you in all things, at all times and places.
This prayer and variations on it refocuses my relationship with God and re-places God at the centre of all things, taking my eyes off myself and my own human attempts to interact with God’s world and people and returning them to the source of all strength, love, hope and power.
Yes praise you Lord God for today and whatever joys and challenges that await me. Keep my eyes on You throughout the day.
My prayer is that I may become more knowledgeable and articulate in my work. I pray for the ability to be more forthcoming with the knowledge I have; to be able to share it.
I am sending arrow prayers with the focus on my Heavenly Father. My prayers are for my dear husband of 63 years who is battling prostate cancer. I am asking God to heal him in body, mind and spirit, we are feeling a peace that passeth all understanding and I know the arrows have hit center of target…God’s ear…Amen!
Amen, praying with you.
I am praying that my shipmate Jerry will be made hole with God’s help.
For the past two years, I have been in a season of spiritual growth, joy, love and wonder, and in that time, I have so often prayed what Anne Lamott would call Thanks — “Lord, please accept my thanks and praise for all that you have done for me.” But 6 weeks ago I experienced a profound loss, and now I find myself repeating prayers for Help — “Lord please help me through this day, grant me patience, and help me to trust You.” and “Lord, I believe; please help my unbelief.”
My heart goes out to you Dee Dee.
That is often my prayer as well – and I have a lovely old engraving of St. Thomas by my bedside to remind me of it.
Also – Day by day 3 things I pray: to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly.
Thank you for the flock of wild turkeys that walked across the road in front of me as I drove home.
Please comfort and heal Becca and her unborn child.
Be with dear Betty, and release her from her anxiety and tension- so evident this afternoon.
Seasons of gratitude, seasons of loss, seasons of climbing back to gratitude, of finding gifts in the midst of pain — the key to remember is that all are seasons, and seasons change, moments pass. Right now you might feel like you are stuck in this seemingly never-ending winter, but spring will come again. It will. May God comfort your heart and hold you close to His own.
For children around the world living in areas of conflict or violence.
My prayer is for both myself and my daughter. That we both will find our ways as far as work and new paths.
I use meditation to ask God to grant Peace, Health, Safety and Happiness to my family, and then to people I know that are struggling. Then I think of someone who really bugged me that day and I pray for them.
My prayer is for my son, Daniel, that he may find his direction and start on his path.
Holy Father, I am a sinner. I prescribe for others things I don’t do well myself. Help my penance to be a willingness to change myself. Only others can change themselves when they are ready. Teach me not to become annoyed when others demand of me what I don’t think is right.
That my daughter’s health will return swiftly
I lift up my friend Joanne to God’s love and care, while she struggles with loneliness and a little despair. She is a brilliant, hard working person who is sad about not having a family of her own. I ask God to hold her to lighten her burden.
Yeshua, Lamb of God, have mercy on us.
Lord Jesus, please give me the gift of discernment to know the path I am called to walk.
It is hard to see it sometimes
I struggle with this one too. I vacillate between reminding myself to be patient and trust in God and wondering if I should be out there taking risks, trying things and taking more responsibility for my own journey.
Not sure if this counts, but all I thought of when I read the question was “Thanks”
It counts.
Thanks is a wonderful prayer. I believe that being thanked must make God’s heart as warmed by gratitude as it does our own.
Healing for a dear friend who is seriously ill and strength for his family.
Help me to be a holy woman dedicated to you.
This psalm keeps turning up for me. It showed up again today in an email from one of my sisters:
Psalm 27:14 — Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
I’ve been waiting for projects to come to fruition and recently have become frustrated with waiting. But I keep getting reminders, like this psalm, to stop, pray, and trust. My arrow prayer is for patience.
Prayers for healing for L
My arrow prayer at this moment –
Thank You Lord for this Lenten series! Please bless all Your creation today with whatever is for our greatest good. AMEN.
yes, Amen to that!
My arrow prayer right now is that I make good use of this day, a wonderful gift I’ve been given. I also hold in my heart everyone who has written today sharing both hopes and heartaches…
“Help me to be patient with myself.”
I am often praised for my patience with and tolerance of others. Unfortunately, This does not apply well to my relationship with myself.
I, too, find it far too easy to be hard on myself, though I am improving in this. By nature I am not a judgmental person — of others, but myself, well, that is another story. As if I don’t get to just be human along with the rest of the planet! 😉 But I am learning. It’s all a process. May God soon allow you to see something wonderful about yourself through another’s eyes.
I have been using arrow prayers for a while without knowing it! It started with praying as an ambulance passed me on the road. I prayed for healing for all, the injured, their loved ones and the people involved in the emergency- the EMT, driver, Doc at ER.
This habit then grew to praying for those on the road who are angry or distracted. Asking God to heal their hurts. Asking God to help them value themselves and others.
Then I just started silently sending little arrow prayers when I meet an unhappy or irritated person in public. Praying for God to give peace to the irrational customer and love to the salesperson who suffers due to another person’s lack of kindness.
Sometimes I felt shallow offering these prayers, wondering what they might really do? I’m not known to any of these people, would God hear this brief prayer? Would it matter, coming to Him so briefly, and from a stranger?
Today though, I now see these arrow prayers as an opportunity to be grateful for the opportunity and ability to pray, the ability to respond to worldly worries with prayer instead of reacting with worldly fear.
Thank you for your arrow prayers on the behalf of all you meet. Inviting God into each situation you mentioned is far from shallow–in fact it deeply roots each one in love.
Thank you for your final comment about worldly worries. I worry about the gradual destruction of our beautiful, God given planet, the conflicts, the terrorism, and the culture which encourages us to want ‘more’. You remind me I can respond to such worldly worries with prayer, rather than reacting with worldly fear.
I also thank you for this. For the past month, I have avoided reading or watching any news; I could not deal with the fear it induced any longer. You have now reminded me that what I CAN do is pray. Thank you.
…so often it is “come Lord Jesus com”
I like to do this practice, too, especially when I hear an ambulance or see an accident. Occasions needing grace abound, and this is one way to infuse grace into a world that seems addicted to negativity and strife. I’d never thought of it as “the ability to respond to worldly worries with prayer instead of reacting with worldly fear,” but what a lovely way to put it!
Thank you for bringing to my attention the recognition of thanking God for the ability to pray.
Help please. Thank you.
I love the prayer Help. Thanks. Wow.
Ah, another prayer I have found God always answers, though often not in the way I had laid out. Peace be to you in the waiting and may you have active awareness of the answer when, not if, it comes.
If I may offer up another prayer…of absolution to all of you who have written whose hearts are troubled and spirits are in pain; May our Lord Jesus hold you in his embrace and relieve you all from your torment. Blessings to you all…
I am praying for our frail elderly mothers and for the patience to be fully present to them with love, even when I get tired and frustrated. I pray for my friends on the front lines of dog rescue in the South, where only one out of 10 dogs ever gets a home. I pray that God will end the Holocaust of these beautiful creatures that are so soulful and loving. I pray for an end to violence against women, children and animals. I pray with and for my Leadership Development Initiative Team and Cohort. I pray for the Mom2Mom Project that we are developing in my parish to serve and be in relationship with struggling mothers with young children in our community. I am praying to be more loving and patient overall and for easing of stress and anxiety. I am praying for renewal of troubled and broken relationships. I am praying for a deepening of my faith as I make this Lenten journey. Each year I pray that God will show me something new each Christmas and God does. I am praying the same for this Lent and already many new things have been revealed to me. I am praying for all of you participating in this series, for those creating it and sharing their wisdom with us with love and for those of you who reading this. Peace +
Thank you, Deborah. Much appreciated — very good prayers, all. This series and the blog are a real blessing, aren’t they? 🙂
My ongoing intercession the past few days is for a family of 7 in my town who lost their house to a fire last week. They weren’t home at the time and thus escaped injury, they lost everything, even the family pet. The local agencies did their best, but they’re all woefully underfunded, so the task of finding a new home fell on me and a friend…both of us are volunteers. Thanks and Praise be to God, who gave us the tools we need…we hope to move the family into their new home this weekend.
May I be still and know my God
Dear God, help my son overcome his depression and negative ways of looking at life. Help him be a happy , productive person. Guide me, please.
Yes, Lord.
For today, safe surgery for my FIL. Everyday, prayers of gratitude and freedom from the bondage of self so that I may better carry out His will.
Yesterday I read a blessing (by John O’Donohue in To Bless the Space Between Us) that really spoke to me, and I offer it as my arrow prayer.
May all that is unforgiven in (me) be released.
May (my) fears yield their deepest tranquilities.
May all that is unlived in (me) blossom into a future graced with love.
To that I add:
Peace and comfort for Heidi whose mother just died.
Confidence for my husband as he is wrestling with this new world called retirement work, where he’s no longer in charge and is uncertain about his role.
Health for our daughter and 8 week-old granddaughter who have colds.
Health for our unborn grandchild and for our daughter who is carrying him/her.
Safety for our daughter who is a police officer.
Thanksgiving for our sons-in-law who love our girls.
Health and continued independence for my 88 year old father.
Thanksgiving for my brother who lives near our father and helps him maintain his independence.
Mental health for my brother who struggles with depression.
Strength and courage for my colleague whose wife has MS.
Thanksgiving for my dear girlfriends who live near and far, but are always in my heart.
And finally (for now), for me, I ask that You help me find peace in my heart to accept the human frailties around me and to not judge, or be offended; that I see the beauty of the tapestry, even when I have seen the knots and loose threads behind it.
I say these things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Amen. That is quite a prayer list, Lucia.
I’m making up for lost time!
Thanksgiving for this time to learn, grow and share in this study!
Blessings to you all!
I have several “arrow” prayers.
“Lord, please help me to be more like you”.
“Oh, Good Lord (or Oh, Dear God), please be with _____ and give them strength (comfort/peace/etc)…”.
God help me get on with the one work task I’ve been procrastinating to do. I like the image of the “arrow”.
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever. Amen.
Hoping for good health and healing for:
Donald; Randy; Elaine; Gail; Sandra; Ross
In Jesus name I pray for them all.
Be present
God be with my friend and his family as they face and fight cancer.
That I “succeed” in retirement.
That we all have the patience to allow God’s love to unfold in his time. It’s never been that easy for me and I suspect for many of us
Healing for Iris and Brad
Release for Phyllis Sortor, your daughter and servant.
I practice “arrow praying” whenever the Spirit puts something on my heart. I might be driving, grading English papers, walking the dogs, but I am always ready to pray when the Spirit leads me to. I think these types of prayers are important because they do cause me to stop in the middle of whatever I am doing and intercede for someone or something. I am happy anytime I am connecting back to my God.
…yes! and thank you Lord
Lord, hear our prayers …protection for travelers, Spirit-led decisions, relief from pain … Lord, hear our prayers.
Thank you!
I often find myself praying for guidance in the middle of talking to a client. And silence is very powerful too.
I pray for all the people who have posted today.
Thank you, Sarah! Much appreciated.
Lord make me an instrument of your peace.
Be with those whose lives are closely linked with mine and bless them with your presence.
Lord, heal my throat cancer, make me an instrement of your peace and love-grant me new beginnings!
Dear God, please surround Norm with your healing light and love. +
These bodies, these temples in the flesh, however wrought with disease and suffering, cannot prevent us from feeling love and joy. For God transcends all things.
Laura, I pray for healing.
Mom, I pray for your tolerance and acceptance of aging.
Cindy and Donna, I thank you for your gift of taking care of Mom.
Myself, I pray for my soul.
Lord, I lift these intercessions to you through your Son Jesus Christ. Amen
Heal Tony’s hurt
Help my students to “get it” and grow
Please, no more snow!
Br. Jonathan – thanks for that distinction between regular time and prayer (chronos and kairos).
Thanks be to God for a new day!
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Sometimes I imagine someone I love and what he/she might be doing right now and I shoot up a quick prayer, “God please help him/her to be aware of your presence right now.”
LJ- calm in the storm, housing, car… That all will come into being this week. Peace of mind and spirit. An end to living in chaos around money.
Stay with me.
A prayer of gratitude and awe:
“Holy God, we are one.”
Your comments reflect mine. At this moment such great, great thanksgiving for God in my life and, yes, the awe!
Thank you for the gift of this new day.
For the winter of my soul to be over.
May God give you the strength of the spring bulbs who push, push, push up through the hard soil and bloom.
Very nice
For family healing in the wake of my mother’s death, especially as my sister and I get my father’s affairs in order. For my sister and I to break out of patterns that no longer serve us and are counterproductive. For my sister to take care of herself. For myself, that my activity in this situation may be helpful.
May you feel the arms of the Good Shepherd surrounding all of you and carrying you lovingly on his shoulders when things get too hard.
I find myself frequently praying for strength and clarity to make the right decisions in my daily life when I’m faced with difficult challenges. I give more pause lately to consider my actions and the resulting outcomes and at the end of the day realize that was God answering my prayer.
courage to allow the healing to begin and not be afraid of being alone; to not feel a burden, but to ask for help; to question and be angry, if needed; to let the walls fall.
Thank you for the image of “let the walls fall”.
I again find myself borrowing from the Breastplate of St. Patrick for my arrow prayer, There are quite a few needs in my circle right now, but this covers them all well:
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
Amen.
Watch over Mark, my son, as he deals with the disease of alcoholism. Keep him close and help me to be helpful yet know Mark’s crelationship with drinking is out of my hands. For all who are in recovery, I ask your prayers, in Jesus name.
Amen. And may your own heart be comforted and supported while you walk with your son on this path.
Praying with you Amen
Miracles are possible even for the most hopeless. Don’t give up before the miracle happens. Praying the serenity prayer with you.
I pray the same prayer for my son who is also named Mark. He also suffers from depression and I pray for God’s supernatural healing of both diseases.
I pray with you and believe God works miracles .
Oh… to be conformed to the image of Christ…to exude His love and grace…
Heal my heart, Oh Lord. Have mercy upon me.
I have found that God loves to honor this sort of prayer. The answer doesn’t always come in the form you might envision, but it comes.
Let me be an instrument of healing.
Mine is similar, Deb. God, let me make a difference to at least one person today.
There are three people I am lifting up in prayer today. It can be as simple as saying their names or as detailed as relating what God already knows about them. I sometimes ask for help so I can be the best person I can be.
I don’t know if I have one. However this gives me pause for thought to come up with one and stop for a moment throughout the day to pray and reflect. It’s always in my heart to pray to have the strength to face whatever comes my way today.
Please let this new drug work.
Amen, Bob. And may peace flood your heart in the midst of all the challenges.
Thank you
And I pray with you that the drug will work and that you will receive the strength and comfort you need in the days ahead.
Thank you Jane; strength & comfort will be good.
Bruce, healing.
Kelly, clemency.
Jim and Chris, reconciliation.
Donna, forgiveness.
Thank you, Lord, for this good life.
Amen.
Yes, clemency for Kelly. Praise God for yet another reprieve. As long as there is life there is hope — even for a twisted, bureaucratic system.
Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner
Have mercy on yourself, too! Bask in God’s mercy & love…enough for our lives!
My arrow prayer that is in my heart is to love those who seem to hate us and to ask God to put love in their hearts and to listen to what God wants from them/us and not what man wants from them.
Love and pray for your enemies. It really turns things around.
For those whose main reason for their choices is short term profit.(news story I just read,)
To just get through this day and find peace.