“Don’t Interrupt Me Lord, I’m Praying”
I am guessing that we have all been doing a lot of praying lately! There was Hurricane Douglas over the weekend, the ongoing pandemic, so many people without jobs, uncertainty about the reopening of schools, and constant reminders in the news about racism and other forms of injustice. The world certainly needs our prayers!
On Sunday, our keiki reminded us that prayer is not just “doing our religious duty,” but rather a conversation with God and an openness to God’s presence in our lives. Perhaps the most important thing I got out of Sunday’s worship service is that prayer can be a dangerous thing—it might even change you! It was a reminder that prayer can change other people but usually has the most impact on the one who is praying. What I mean by that is that I have the ability to change my attitudes, language, behavior, patterns, and so much more; and, especially with prayer, those things can change rather quickly and dramatically. If I want to change the world, I can best do so by changing the things in my own life that can help make the world a better place.
I invite you to pray in such a way that you might be changed—that God’s love and wisdom might transform your life, your relationships and how you relate to all of God’s creation. As you do so, know that I am praying for you as well, and trust that you continue praying for me and the church.
Mahalo nui loa for your prayers!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by Koloa Union Church, an Open & Affirming (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
To see a video of this week’s worship service, including the message, click HERE. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see previous worship services and many of Kahu’s past messages. You can subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
You are welcome to join us on Sunday mornings! To see our Sunday morning schedule, click HERE.
Kahu Akana is also an accomplished artist! He specializes in creating vibrant watercolors of the flowers of Hawaii and hosts a Sunday afternoon reception in a gallery at his home, the Smith Memorial Parsonage. He also meets visitors by appointment. Most of the profit from the sales go for the maintenance and upkeep of the parsonage. To see a video about his art and gallery, click HERE. To see the gallery website, click HERE.
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