Healing Prayer at the Cathedral

Prayer is our way of sharing fellowship with God. Our relationship with God can be through both thought and word. We can talk to God through worship and meditation. There is an old saying that when we sing we pray twice, once with lyrics and once with melody.

Our communication with God can take several different forms. We use words of adoration and praise. We express our thanksgiving. We ask for forgiveness for our shortcomings through confession and we pray for God’s help for ourselves and others. As Reverend Areeta has said, “God will abide with us in everything.”

At the Cathedral we have a number of individuals who serve together as prayer teams, helping those who ask to begin, renew and enrich their prayer fellowship with God. Matthew 18:20 says “When two or three are together in my name I am with them.” At the Cathedral, we observe the tradition of prayer and anointing as practised in Judaism and early Christianity. Oil, usually olive oil, was used for a variety of uses and meanings. At the Cathedral olive oil is used not in an action of healing by a lay person but rather as an offering from one serving as a channel of Christ’s healing presence. This service is one of lay ministry rather than pastoral care. The lay person has offered to serve as a witness and pathway of Christ’s healing presence. Pastoral care can be requested.

You are invited to come following Eucharist to pray as lay person to lay person. From your seat, you too may pray for the persons who come asking for prayer and anointing. You need not know their concern. Know only that they seek the power of God’s grace. This is an offering of the whole church as the Body of Christ. Those who come for prayer come with the awareness of God’s presence and seeking the healing love of Jesus Christ.

Hannah H. Stockwell
November 6, 2024