Every Christian has the right to pray. This is God’s will. When we pray in the right way, we do not think only of our own needs, but of the needs of all the people we love and work with as well, and we think of those who need our special help.
Now in the Prayer of the Church, the congregation thinks of all its children and excludes no one, just as Jesus prayed for all His friends. We call Jesus our High Priest, because He prays for us. In the Intercessions, we pray to God in the Name of Jesus and present all the needs of the Church. But let us not forget that this prayer is also a Thanksgiving, for thanksgiving must always precede all petitions.
“The Little Service Book” was written by the Rev. Berthold von Schenk (1895-1974), pastor of Our Saviour—New York, as an explanation of the Common Service for children.
