Prayer Table Report

Christ Church Schenectady Prayer Table Report November 28, 9:15-10:30 AM Torre Bissell and Don Foust
+–indicates received wooden cross made by Dennis Adams of North Carolina.

The wind was so strong this morning that even the chairs were being blown about.

On this Saturday after Thanksgiving, so many came to the Prayer Table with lives full of misery–the homeless, the sick, the hungry, the lonely, the poor, and those released from prison–that it felt like the “Prayers of the People” come-to-life.

The Prayer Table has become a regular stop for a number of folks in the Neighborhood, and we have added their names to the bottom of the Prayer Table Report.

Donald–protection and provision

+Andrew– “Pray for me; my family and friends don’t care about me”. Please pray for the lonely.

+Joe– “Pray for the lost souls out there and you can pray for me also”. Please pray for the lost.

+Terry– “I just got out of jail”. Please pray for the prisoners.

+Willie– “I have faith in the Lord”. We prayed for Willie’s mother +Etta who has cancer and lives in the South. Willie was also just released from prison. Please pray for the sick.

Roxanne– Repeat visitor. “I always look forward to seeing the Prayer Table when I walk down State Street”. Pray for a good “Christmas for my kids”. Roxanne has children ranging in age from 37 to 8; the youngest are still living with her. Please pray for the poor.

Jim– regular– Jim thanked the Lord for all of his blessings. We thank God for Jim’s “heart of Thanksgiving”. Please pray for those who have been abused.

+Annette– We first spotted Annette as she approached the Prayer Table and she was picking up old cigarette butts from the sidewalk so she could have a smoke. When we ask her to join us at the Prayer Table, she began to uncontrollably weep. Annette is homeless. She spent last night in an abandoned building in the Neighborhood. “Last night, someone jumped me and took my cell phone”. We prayed for protection and provision for Annette, then escorted her into Christ Church where she took a bag full of bread. We told her of the Neighborhood Meal on Sunday at 1:30. Please pray for the homeless.

+Rohan– on his way to the bus to go to Queens. We prayed for protection on his journey.

+Al– looking for an apartment. Al has been living in the City Mission for the last 3 weeks. He wants to turn his life around. Al also took some of the bread from table in Christ Church. We also reminded him of the Neighborhood Meal on Sunday.

Mike– young man from Tunisia. We prayed for health, happiness, and the peace that only Jesus can bring. We also gave Mike an Arabic Bible. Please pray that Mike may come to know the Lord.

Victor– older Hispanic man who could not speak English– repeat visitor– We prayed for blessings in Victor’s life.

Man walking by, did not stop– “You can pray for me”. We prayed for his protection.

Jordan– young man waiting for bus– We prayed for blessings in his life.

+Karleen– mother of 5 children ranging in ages from 30 to 16. “God has answered so many of my prayers”. We prayed for financial provision for her children. Her daughter was just released from a mental hospital. Karleen was weeping as we prayed together. Please pray for the faithful.

+Greg– We prayed for a better year and that Greg may continue to help others. Please pray for those who assist those less fortunate than themselves.

Kayla– regular– missed bus for her job. Please pray for the victims of violence.

Unknown woman across State Street crying out in an unknown language– Near the end of the Prayer Table session, a woman across State Street was desperately crying out in an African language. Torre went to help, but could not communicate with her. He called 911, and the Police came to assist this woman. Please pray for those new to this country.

Prayer Table Regulars

Kayla– Pray for healing in her life after being raped. Pray for her mother Laura, her son Nassir, her brother Josh, and Josh’s son Deanthony.

Jim–Pray for healing in his life from abusive parents and for his personal peace after the death of his 31 year old son Robert.

Bill–Pray for his health and no more epileptic seizures. This middle-aged man has lived alone; please pray for companionship.

Lucinada and Eddiberto–Pray for protection for their family

Paulette and her children Monique and Taishawn–Pray for provision for this family

Clarence–Pray for direction as he seeks to change his life.

Linda–Pray for her family in Guyana

Albany Intercessor

Praise and reflection

Psalm 144
1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock,
We stand on You, dear Lord.
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
We pray to You, dear Lord.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress,
We claim Your shelter, dear Lord.
my stronghold and my deliverer,
We claim the power of Your name to rebuke demons.
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.
Our security is in You.

3 O LORD, what is man that you care for him,
the son of man that you think of him?
Save for the blood of Jesus, we are not worthy, dear Lord.
4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a fleeting shadow.
Oh, how we are fallen.
5 Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down;
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
6 Send forth lightning and scatter {the enemies};
shoot your arrows and rout them.
We thank You for coming down to Nigel, scattering all that caused him harm, shooting Your arrows and routing them. We thank You, dear Lord.

Reflection
For a while now, I’ve been harboring a spiritual impression. I haven’t publicly shared it before and don’t know if others are experiencing something comparable. Simply put, the playing field has changed.
Some portions of the charismatic wing of the church put great stock in the Hebraic calendar. September not only brought a new year but a new decade, which they deemed to be highly significant. I am a liturgical creature, but my time has always been ordered according to the Christian calendar in a more cyclical fashion. I found it interesting that different seasons in the Hebraic calendar were associated with different spiritual possibilities or anointings, but was unsure of what to make of it.
But I do perceive that we are in a new season. The battle remains. In the last season in the Episcopal Church, the battleground was ecclesiastical politics. It is not that all the players and facts have gone away, but, like a click in a kaleidoscope, the pieces have rearranged, and the battleground has changed. Or, so it seems in my spiritual impression.
I’m wondering if Nigel’s illness augurs a new season of healing ministry. Spiritual impressions can only be confirmed by subsequent developments. Time will tell.
However, I relate two recent events. My husband and I prayed for someone with a 13-year history of fibromyalgia, and, through God’s grace, he instantaneously improved. We had prayed for him in the past, to no avail. Also, we were part of an ecumenical prayer team for someone with inoperable pancreatic carcinoma. The patient has not yet had any follow up X-rays, but one thing is certain–that prayer session was filled with God’s glory.
I simply ask our readers to be open to the power of healing prayer, to be bolder in offering it, to be persistent in difficult cases, and to share testimonies of God’s goodness. Nigel’s continued recovery is an awesome testimony. Usually folks come off of a ventilator in a week or so; Nigel was on one over 40 days. Following his recovery is like reading the account of the valley of the dry bones–prayers from the four corners of the earth speaking breath into Nigel’s lungs. Nigel breathes. Nigel stands up on his feet. Nigel lives. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!

Psalm 137:1-6

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. (Psalm 137:1)
      LORD, we weep when we see how far the Episcopal Church has fallen.

We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it. (Psalm 137:2)
      Mirth and joy are vanishing from your people, Lord.

For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, and those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” (Psalm 137:3)
      Jesus, the leaders and teachers of the Episcopal Church expect us to pretend that everything is OK.

How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a foreign land? (Psalm 137:4)
      Holy Spirit, show us how to worship and praise God in our present circumstances.

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! (Psalm 137:5)
      Father, help us know the cost of forgetting the gospel. Help us repent of not being passionate for your truth.

If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth– if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy. (Psalm 137:6)
      Jesus, please help us make the restoration of your church our great joy. Thank you.

Saturday: 137:1-6(7-9), 144; Micah 7:11-20; 1 Peter 4:7-19; Matthew 20:29-34
Sunday: 111, 112, 113; Amos 1:1-5, 13-2:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Luke 21:5-19

      Notes from the Front Line

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Prayer vigil for Fr. Nigel and Lynn: During today (November 28 ) I would like each of us to commit to a half-hour of concentrated prayer and thanksgiving for Fr. Nigel and Lynn. Choose any half-hour of the day or night.
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Albany Intercessor

Into the depths of the sea

Micah 7:19 NIV
You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

O Lord, when I consider the anguish the Mumfords have undergone during this trial, I feel compassion. Have mercy upon them.
Take the spirit of fear and control, the anger and resentment, the exhaustion, the temptation to trust the natural rather than You. There are so many unanswered questions! You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Take their anxiety related to this illness, past, present, and future. Take it all, Lord, and cast it into the sea of forgetfulness. Remove the sting out of their memories and grant them peace. Amen.