You can pray by yourself any place at any time. You can also pray with other people.  It can be empowering to be a part of a group at prayer.

I have belonged to several very different prayer groups. One group gathered in the mornings to pray the Order for Morning Prayer. In another group we talked about various situations individuals and the community were facing and then each person took a turn praying. In one group we prayed primarily for each other. Sitting in a circle, a person prayed for the person on their right. In yet another group one person prayed aloud each week for the concerns of everyone in the whole group. Next week someone else prayed aloud. One group practiced lectio divina. Other groups practiced centering prayer together.

A weekly meeting has been the most common in my experience. Some groups met monthly and one met five times a week. Some groups were flexible allowing people to drop in or out at will. Some groups formed for a given period of time (a year say), with the expectation that everyone would be there every time and no one new could join.

There are a few cautions. First, prayer is not cumulative in the sense that God is more likely to answer a prayer if a lot of people pray rather than just one person. Second, prayer groups are not therapy or self-help groups. The purpose it to pray. Third, you have to guard against a prayer group become a gossip center.

However you organize it, it is worth being part of a prayer group.

Read Acts 2:42-47, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A42-47&version=NRSV