Why?

The launch of Evensong.

Do we seriously need another journal?

There are a lot of websites. A lot of blogs, social media accounts, publications, newsletters, and other forms of media put out every second. Why am I adding to the overly-saturated, overwhelming storm of information, opinions, and voices that already exist? Why do we need another one?

We don’t. I’m doing this for one reason. If I can help one person, literally just one, by sharing my writing, then I’m going to. It’s really quite simple: I will post one prayer per week on Friday morning (with the one exception being the first week, when I will post one per day for the launch of the journal), and if you sign up for emails, I’ll send you one email per week on Friday morning with the newest post. That’s it. It’s not scripted and it’s not edited.

The beauty of communal prayer

I experienced a freedom in writing, and I’m hoping to share that freedom with anyone who decides to join me in reading it, praying it, and expressing it to the Lord. In sharing these words with honesty and vulnerability, I hope you are encouraged to do the same. I hope you hear yourself as you pray them, I hope you see yourself as you picture them, and I hope you begin refining your own voice as you express yourself to the Father with humility. Ultimately, I hope this journal can function as a place where we join together in common prayer, sharing our experiences and emotions with vulnerability.

Cathartic and Reverent

Prayer is power. Prayer is necessary. It is not filled with buzzwords and it is not a conversation that you have with your friend. Prayer is and must always remain fully cathartic and fully reverent. We cannot choose one and not the other. It is an interaction, an exchange, an act of submission and silence sometimes, most times. Prayer is often gasping through tears of grief, or through gritted teeth, simmering with rage. Don’t take my word for it. Read the Psalms, read the book of Job, read the Gospels and pay close attention to how our Savior prays to the Father.

This leads me to my final point, and my final charge to you, to us. Prayer is not about you, not about me, not about us. It is about, for, and unto God’s glory. We need not look further than Christ as He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:42-44. “‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Not my will, but yours be done.

Community + Prayer = Worship

Together, let’s link arms, get down on our hands and knees, and join Jesus in praying that the Father’s will be done. Let’s cry out, rejoice, sing, praise, lament, grieve, and pray earnestly, with expectation and boldness. And let’s do it together as brothers and sisters, the body of Christ coming together through our shared language.