Behind the Lines
One of the privileges of my role at St. Martin’s is to visit those who are in the hospital. (As a reminder, if you are going to be hospitalized, please inform our Pastoral Care Ministry! Email pastoralcare@stmartinsepiscopal.org. We can’t visit you if we don’t know you’re there!)
One of the frequent conversations I have when visiting Parishioners is their concern for others. Some of our most faithful intercessors are those who are in the hospital, praying for others. Amid the beeping machines, the constant interruptions and the questionable (at best) food, they are remembering our Church family and our community in their prayers. Some of them have been praying for you!
“[C]onfess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
James 5:16, NIV
It doesn’t matter where you are, whether at home in your kitchen, sitting in traffic on the way to work or behind the lines at the hospital — God loves to hear your prayers. Use whatever circumstance you are in to remind yourself of the Lord’s great love for His children. Find cues throughout your day to remember others in prayer. And find cues throughout the day to remember your own needs in prayer — it’s not selfish to pray for yourself!
A Collect for All Christians in their Vocation
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of thy faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all members of thy holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve thee; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
“The Book of Common Prayer,” p. 206.
