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Standing in the Need of Prayer

March 21, 2026

Jeremiah 11:18-20 | John 7:37-52 | Psalm 7:6-11

It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, O Lord –

Standing in the need of prayer –

It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, O Lord –

Standing in the need of prayer –

This old Spiritual comes to mind as I ponder today’s readings. There seems to be a thread of defensiveness and self-righteousness woven throughout.  It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their evil deeds, writes the prophet Jeremiah.  Let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause, he continues.

Even the Psalm echoes Jeremiah’s pleas:  Stand up, O Lord, in your wrath; rise up against the fury of my enemies…Give judgment for me according to my righteousness, O Lord, and according to my innocence, O Most High. Let the malice of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous.

Oh dear.  Clearly these writers are voicing their lamentations during hard times, and we know that those days were indeed times of great suffering and persecution, which makes such anger and beating of the proverbial breast understandable. 

And yet:  Harboring and ruminating on the perceived (and yes, sometimes actual) faults and transgressions of others does us no good, sometimes literally.  Bitterness, pride, feelings of being wronged or misunderstood can lead to what is often referenced in the Bible as ‘hardness of heart’, causing us to block our connection to God and to each other.  “Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.” (Proverbs 28:14).   Those of us of a certain age really don’t want to hear about blocked connections and the heart.  Very unhealthy, in so many ways.

But within today’s readings are also references to both the heart, and the mind, and how they are so intricately connected.  Jeremiah acknowledges that the Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, tries the heart and the mind, repeated, but inverted by the Psalmist that the righteous God tests the mind and heart.  “The heart has reasons that the mind cannot understand,” says a wise proverb. 

So how do we apply these observations and wisdom to our own lives, as we look at ourselves in the mirror and consider our faults and frailties?  “What you dislike in another, take care to correct in yourself,” penned Bishop Thomas Sprat in the late seventeenth century.  Ouch.  Really?  Our ‘horizontal’ relationships with each other are directly connected to our ‘vertical’ relationship with God.

Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord –

Standing in the need of prayer –

Not my father, not my mother, but it’s me, O Lord –

Standing in the need of prayer.

Many times, our relationships with those closest to us are the ones that are marred by dysfunction, pain and disappointment, when they are intended to be sources of security, nurturing and shared good memories.  While these are often family members, they may also include close relationships that are family-like.  They all are members of God’s precious family, and in need of love, acceptance and forgiveness, as we would ask for ourselves.

Not the preacher, not the deacon, but it’s me, O Lord –

Standing in the need of prayer –

Beyond the preacher (rector?!) and the deacon, this may represent those in positions of leadership and authority.  God loves them too, and they need our prayers.

Not my neighbor, not a stranger, but it’s me, O Lord –

Standing in the need of prayer.

Whether it’s the neighbor who shoveled their snow onto your property, or the stranger who’s holding up the line at the market, the Golden Rule probably best applies here.  Cut them some slack, and give them the benefit of the doubt, which we’d want for ourselves.  Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?  Nicodemus asks in today’s Gospel selection from John.  Though he’s referring to Jesus, it’s a pertinent question to ask ourselves in such situations.

Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water, Jesus says in the Gospel reading. 

As I stand ‘in the need of prayer’, that promise assures me of Peace in my mind, and softening of my heart, – free of spiritual, and literal, blockages. 

Laura Sullivan