The candidate slate has been released! How can we pray?
Some suggestions:
Ask God the Holy Spirit to guide each of us in our prayers that we might be led to pray in accordance with God’s will. See Romans 8:26-27- especially: “…the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
An excellent prayer in the Book of Common Prayer is Prayer 97 on page 675: Holy Spirit, breath of God and fire of love, I cannot pray without Your aid: Kindle in me the fire of Your love, and illumine me with Your light; that with a steadfast will and holy thoughts, I may approach the Father in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who reigns with You and the Father in eternal union. Amen.Pray for the candidates, their spouses, and their families. Pray that the Lord will bless and protect them throughout this process and that He will guide their minds into His paths of peace for each one of them.
Pray for the churches and ministries each candidate already serves, that the Lord will bless and preserve their effectiveness during this time of waiting and discernment. Pray that the Lord will grant patience to everyone else involved in their present ministries as our process runs its course.
Pray for the Walkabouts in September, that all the details will fall into place, that everyone will have safe travel to and from the meetings, and that the meetings themselves will proceed smoothly, with no issues. Pray especially that these meetings will be useful to the clergy and the delegates and for the candidates as we all get to know one another better.
Pray for our clergy and delegates that the Holy Spirit will grant them discernment as they decide on their voting. Pray that the Lord will guide them to have insight, clarity, understanding, and peaceableness.
Pray for the Electing Synod in October that the Lord’s will be done as we gather and vote for our new Bishop. Pray for those organizing and running the Synod that everything runs smoothly and all the details are covered.
Plan to attend our Diocesan Evening of Prayer on Friday, October 14, 7 pm, All Saints’, Woodbridge. This is open to everyone in the Diocese. We will be praying for the candidates, the diocese, our election the next day, and for the Lord to bless our new Bishop’s ministry amongst us. More details will be released about this service as we get closer to the date.