By Heather A. M. Sinclair
tepping back from the marquee sign on the front lawn, I thought, “How clever, I am! First UMC is ‘Air and Prayer Conditioned.’” My second thought was, “What in the world do I mean by that?”
Few, if any of us, are strangers to air-conditioning these days. It cools our homes, offices, cars, stores, churches and just about everywhere we go. We’ve come to expect it. When it functions correctly—not too cold and not hot—we hardly notice it. When it is blasting like an arctic storm or not functioning to the point of feeling like a hot and humid rainforest, we notice. If the AC is not functioning, we’re not functioning.
“To condition” means bring something into the desired state for use. We condition our rooms for maximum comfort; our hair for softness and shine; our bodies to reach a desired state of health and fitness. Prayer conditions our hearts and spirits to be a more desirable relationship with God.
Prayer is conversation with God. If we believe that God is all-powerful and all-knowing, then we might believe that God doesn’t need to hear from us. But God, from the beginning, has desired relationship with creation. God knows what we are thinking and doing. God knows what we need, and don’t need. God knows the joys, celebrations, struggles and heartbreaks of our lives and of the world. God knows, but God invites us to prayerful conversation, so that we might listen to God and take part in God’s conditioning of our hearts and spirits.
C.S. Lewis, as portrayed in the biographical movie “Shadowlands,” says, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God, it changes me.”
Air conditioning and prayer conditioning change the atmosphere in and around us. When we are more in tune with God through prayer, we are more in tune to God’s desire for our lives. Prayer is not a passive practice. Prayer inspires action. Pope Francis is quoted as saying, “You pray for the hungry, then you feed them. That is how prayer works.” When we listen to God’s call on our lives, we recognize how God is conditioning us to change the world around us.
First UMC is conditioned to pray for you, our neighbors, friends and the entire Greenwich community. For over a year, we have placed Prayer Boxes in strategic locations around Greenwich, including the busy corner of Church St. and East Putnam Ave., right in front of the sanctuary. The boxes invite you to enter a prayer request and as much, or as little, contact information as you desire. Once a week, the prayers are collected and organized in our prayer list. The names and situations are prayed over daily by faithful members of the congregation, weekly in our Sunday morning worship, and monthly at the third Wednesday Evening Prayer Service.
We, the members of First UMC, have been amazed and humbled at the depth of prayers you have entrusted to us. We pray for you and your loved ones, who are ill or fighting addictions. We pray for relationships—for those seeking love and peace and a closer walk with God. We pray for broken and grieving hearts. We pray for your children, your spouses, your pets. We pray that you pass your English test or find a better job. We pray with and for you, when you are unable to find the words. We pray because we believe that God already knows you and loves you and desires for you to be in state of joy and peace, even in the midst of the brokenness and pain of our lives and of the world. God is conditioning you with amazing grace and steadfast love.
This summer, may the cool breezes of air conditioning keep you as comfortable as you desire. And may prayer conditioning inspire you to be in the conversation and closer relationship with God that God desires for you. We’ll be praying for you.
The Rev. Heather A. M. Sinclair is pastor of First United Methodist Church Greenwich.
