Ribbons of Prayers

On Sunday, I noticed one of my fellow parishioners looking at the prayer loom as he made his way back from Communion.  He didn't add any visible prayers of his own, but he touched the yarn that was there.  Did he pray?

I've spent several months thinking about prayer and how we can get prayer out of our heads and into the world in ways different than simply praying out loud together.  I love that the prayer loom gives our hands something to do while we're praying.  I love the way our prayers weave together in ways that are both beautiful and ugly:

Today I was looking at retreat pictures, and I remembered our approach to prayer at our Friday service at the Create in Me retreat.  We had banners hanging around the worship space; each banner had holes punched around the edges.  We had baskets of ribbons and markers below each banner.

Each banner had a word:  reconciliation, health, community, creation, justice, worship, relationships, and vocation.  We were invited to write prayers and tie them to the appropriate banner.

I liked this vision of all of our prayer ribbons fluttering, both alone and together, joined in a larger prayer represented by the banner.

We did this prayer project in early April.  And now it's early September.  I wonder how these prayers have been answered.