Sandy:  (Perturbed) Yes! I'm uncomfortable praying out loud, Laura.

Val:  I know just what you mean, darlin'.  I'm not very well-spoken, so prayin' out loud is--the--pitts!  I don't know if y'all noticed or not, but I hardly ever do.  And when I do, my prayers are short and sweet.

Ken: Nothing wrong with that.  (To Alan) I've already studied the life of Joseph.  So I vote for prayer.

Sandy: Me too!

Val: That makes three of us, plus Alan makes four. 

Alan:  Then prayer it is.  (Now he's even more enthusiastic than before and his body language shows it)  Here's what I have in mind...providing of course everyone agrees. We'll take all the prayers of the Bible and compare them --  try and discover a common thread.  God is not a God of confusion, so we know there's a theme--

Laura:  (Interrupts) The theme we'll find is praying for others.  (Grins) That's what I do!

Alan:  (Sincere response) Good for you, Laura.  But prayer is also worship.

Laura: (Uneasy) Yeah, well, I worship in the sanctuary on Sundays.  That's what church is all about, isn't it?

Val:  (A stern reminder) And there's something called thanksgiving!  We mustn't forget that part of prayer, because God sure doesn't.  He likes bein' thanked.  I spend more time on my knees thankin' than askin'.

Ken:  And let's not forget confession.  Jesus says we should ask God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Diane:  (Looks confused) What's a trespass?

Ken:  Sin!  The Bible says we need to ask God to forgive our sins.

Diane:  (Defensive) Hey, I'm new at this! What do I know?

Ken:  (Ignores her remark) There's a verse that says if we continue to sin, God won't listen to our prayers!

Val:  (Under her breath) Here we go....

Ken:  (Surprised by her comment) What's that supposed to mean?!

Val:  (Retaliates) It means here we go with that positive confession stuff.

Ken:  (Mocking) There's that spirit of negativity again. 

Alan: (Picks up the coffee pot) Anyone care for a refill?

Ken: (Trying to convince) There's power in the spoken word, Val.  The devil can kill with words!  You need to pray and confess your negativity to God.

Val: Oh brother...

Sandy:  (Sees where the conversation is going and abruptly changes the subject) So, where's that verse, Ken?  The one says that God won't hear us?