ELIZABETHTOWN — Prayer was the topic of discussion at the weekly luncheon meeting of the Elizabethtown Rotary Club. Rotarian Chris Denny, who is pastor of the Elizabethtown Presbyterian Church and also author of the blog “Almost Daily Prayer,” led the discussion.
He began by defining prayer as “our hearts speaking love to the very loving heart of God.”
Denny also discussed the various types of prayers — including prayers of adoration, prayers of confession, prayers of Thanksgiving, prayers of supplication and prayers lamentation. He also discussed the acts of prayer which are speaking, God listens, God speaks, and we listen.
Denny also discussed the ways our prayers are answered, which include a yes, a not yet, a resounding no, or a yes but in a different way than we expected.
There are various ways to pray, according to Denny. He discussed some of those methods including walking a labyrinth, exercise, words, music, walking in nature, to name a few.
Denny also recommended some sources to learn more about prayer. They include Almostdailyprayer.com, Pray-as-you-go.org, Taize, adult coloring books, labyrinthlocator.com, and the Bible.
Also, Rotarian William Findt, president of Bladen Community College, spoke about the Rotary Foundation and the Paul Harris Fellowship. Findt said the Rotary Foundation makes a difference in communities and around the world. He said that the Rotary Foundation assists communities in building wells to access clean drinking water, fighting disease such as polio, and the Rotary Foundation offers matching funds for projects.
Findt said when the Club was able to obtain $500 from the Rotary Foundation and the local group matched those funds to assist the town of Elizabethtown with the Brown’s Creek Nature Trail and Bike Park project.
Findt said the Paul Harris Fellowship is named after Rotary Founder Paul Harris. It was established 1957 to encourage contributions to the Foundation’s Rotary Foundation Fellowships for Advanced Study, which is now known as the Ambassadorial Scholarships.