Lay Academy’s Prayer for Our Times course, Saturday, April 26, 2025.  Check-in is at 7:30 am.  Session One is 8:00 am -12 noon; LUNCH;  Session Two is 1:00 pm to  5:00 pm. Class is held at Stroudsburg UMC (547 Main ST, Stroudsburg 18360).  

Course Description

PLEASE. WOW. THANKS. The most common prayers we utter are single words. Personal and often, private our own prayer lives can range from profound to pragmatic.

Prayer comes in all forms: pleading and bargaining with God in moments of trial, praise and amazement in times of awe, gratitude for answered prayer, and petitions for needs.    Personal prayer is often instinctive and private communications with God.   Public prayer invites a group of people into a prayer space in which to together engage with God.   Leading prayer in a congregation or communal setting requires reflection, awareness, and information to incorporate the needs and theological basis for community’s prayer.

We are encouraged to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks. In today’s world, that can be challenging to be authentic to the gospel and provide leadership.

Join us for inspiration and equipping to pray personally and publicly. This class will provide participants with reflection on personal prayer as well equip those called to pray in congregational and community settings with skills for leading public prayer.

By the end of the class, participants will be able to: 

 Identify four types of personal prayer

 Understand the difference between person, congregational, and community prayer

 Apply principles of personal prayer to congregational prayer and community prayer

 Understand context for prayer in a corporate setting

 Compose prayer intended for public worship

 Create prayer for community worship  

There is a 2 hour prerequisite to attend this class.