“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are…’”
— Matthew 5:1-12
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name… The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.”
— Psalm 103:1-18
If you read the full readings here you will read a lot of blessings and hopefully recognize the blessings in your life and feel God’s call to share this sense of blessing with the world. This week in worship we talked about Heart Prayers and how they connect us heart to heart. Heart prayers are prayers for the the community around us – for the world.
It can seem pretty daunting to try to put into words our prayers for the world right now… there is just so much! Pandemic, racism, violence, hate… it’s hard to put into words our feelings about all this and to really recognize and understand it all! So how do we pray when we have no words?
Well, I don’t think all prayers have to be words and I’m not talking about meditation right now, though that is also a really great way to pray. I’m talking about action. Putting our prayers into action. We hear of those who have lost jobs, who are about to lose their homes, those who are struggling to make ends meet. Maybe, if we are able, we can buy some extra food and supplies for a little pantry, blessing box or food pantry nearby. Maybe we can make a donation to an organization that helps with this. We hear of those who are sick and hurting – maybe we can send cards, make prayer shawls and such to offer some comfort. We can speak up for those who go unheard. We can speak out when we see injustice and in the United States, we can make sure we VOTE.
Again, Heart prayers connect us heart to heart. Heart prayers speak love. Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to do to others what you’d have them do to you. It’s that easy. Really it is. LOVE.
Bless, O Lord, each person reading this.
May they feel your love in this devotion.
May it fill them to overflowing.
May they share it wholeheartedly.
Amen.
If you’d like to watch/listen/read the message this devotional is based on you can do so here.
Simply Sherri 
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