Prayer - Written or Spontaneous?
The prayer which I used this past weekend in worship was written for the contemporary service in which the prayer was incorporated into a music set including: Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble? and All Creatures. I worked to incorporate some of the lyrics that were sung by the congregation into the prayer. My intention was to write a different prayer for the traditional music services as there were different songs for the congregation, but I didn't find the time.
At Resurrection, the pastors are encouraged to write prayers for the services as it encourages more thoughtful consideration of what is being prayed, and increases the intentionality around this part of the worship service. What do you think?
Do you find written or spontaneous prayers preferable during a worship service? What do you do or what happens at your place of worship?
If prayers are prepared or written before hand, how important is it to incorporate other elements of the service into the prayer (song lyrics, for example)?