St Peters Online Prayer Requests

Two quotes I've been reflecting on this week

"Church communities which laugh together a lot are more likeley to grow".
(C Schwartz from his research into natural church growth)

"They broke bread in their homes together"
(St Luke from his description of the growth of the early church)

Our church is not always a comfortable place, some groups and some people are "not in a good place" whilst others are itching to go and itching to grow. Some of our congregation are walking wounded, whilst others are itching to step out in bold faith-ventures.
In the midst of my daily experience of "rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep", my own personal life has been far from bouyant during the past year. Yet in the midst of our ups and downs - and mine - God is faithful and unchanging one who brings love, joy and peace.
Some of my friendly critics (well I assume they are friendly) remind me that joy is not the same as happiness. My response is that it's not the same, but it's certainly not anything less - it's meant to be richer, deeper, value-added happiness. Joy without laughter is like a house without walls - it's not a house!

In the light of that, Sunday was an interesting day. A more serious person than I might say that "God told me to tell some jokes". To me, jokes are part of what came out of the process of praying and preparing for leading our worship.

So I told a few jokes at the start of our summer-season of gathering our diverse congregations together in worship. It's true (for those who weren't there) - the humour was awful. Internet jokes, found under the category "religious jokes, suitable for worship" (honestly, you really can google that kind of thing and get some results).

However, as a means of taking the temparature of church life, it did an interesting thing or two.
1) It offended some - one of whom told me afterwards that church isn't the place for jokes and laughter, only for spiritual things. Others I saw scowling at me from the back row and quickly walking out in disgust before they had to talk to me about it (I'm so glad God made me resilient enough not to feel like the naughty schoolboy some folk want to make me feel like).

2) It created a buzz of conversation amongst a group of people who aren't often in the same place - physically, spiritually or conceptually. Despite the corny nature of the humour - or maybe because of it - the combination of worship (engaging) and humour (tacky) did something to "build our visible unity".

3) It reminded me how necessary and therapeutic laughter is. I picked up a useless fact a while back and rediscovered it recently: Children laugh over 300 times a day but adults laugh less than 15 times. Laughter is a God-given and God-inspired gift - and medics tell us it releases some of those important chemicals to make us healthy.

4) [At a personal level] Feeling free and able to "be me" in worship was a personal affirmation of God's healing at work in me as well as in our church. In my (personal) rollercoaster year, I've felt significantly more drained by the exhausting darkness than I have felt enthused by glimpses of heaven. Difficult pastoral encounters, my family bereavement and some generally bewildering circumstances have all contributed to a sense that, tho' "we're getting there", the past months have been wading through treacle (or - as last month's blog - navigating through fog) but now emerging - richer and more fully human because of the experience.

What of prayer?
As we join as the body of God's people "rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep", please:
1) Pray that we keep firmly focussed on the life of "love and joy and peace" that outweighs even the heaviness of grief and death.
2) Pray for those whose life is overshadowed by a season of grief, for God's timing in his healing and renewing work.
3) Pray for opportunities to share joy and laughter as part of our witness to the God of love, joy and peace.

The last few months have felt, for me, like navigating thro' fog - so I've not felt much energy or inspiration to write, but the fog is lifting, so here's some rambles:

Last week, we welcomed our Bishop to meet with our PCC. This is the group of our church leaders who hold together a diverse set of people and congregations in our town. It'd been about 5 years since our Bishop last met with the group - which has, of course, changed since that time - people have come and gone.
I'm one of the people who has turned up on the scene since that time. In fact, it was in order to discern what qualities/gifts/role of vicar the church wanted and needed to guide the next stage of the church's life under God that the Bishop had visited in 2004.

A few rambling thoughts to guide our prayers as part of the outcome of our meeting and the subsequent time of prayer that the PCC held the following Saturday.

1) A need to actively pursue tangible signs of our unity. It's notable that Jesus prayed "make them one", but he didn't pray "make them diverse". Not that diversity is a bad thing, but our natural human entropy creates division and suspicion out of diversity, unless counterbalanced by our active and prayerful pursuit of demonstrating our unity-in-Christ.

2) The ongoing question of how we give space and time for the pursuit of healthy relationships with existing friendships as well as enjoying God's delicious game of picking and mixing who he calls us to work and live alongside in the famaily of his church.

3) The recognition of the personal needs and brokenness of individuals in the present and future church family. Much of my own ministry time recently has been spent nurturing the fragile lives and faith of those on the brink of discovering a new aspect of "a life worth living. Some of these have been people who have recognised their need to attend to their inner spiritual resources - reminded of the need for God to fill us up before we respond to the call to be sent out in service. Others are couragously dealing with elements of their past memories which have left barbed inner hurts. It's been a privilege to see God giving these folk strength to move on, however unsteadily.

To draw something from that ramble - perhaps our greatest need in our prayers for our shared life is for the one-to-one time - not only of our excellent pastoral team and those who offer prayer ministry in our congregations and small groups - but for our "one another" life within our church - the intentional connections we make with one another and the chance encounters that allow every church member to minister God's grace to those who we are called to love and serve.

My prayer is that, with that dimension of our shared life growing daily, God will be piecing together the jigsaw of his dreams for us - a people being healed and restored, offering healing and restoration to our community.

Advent begins: What shall we pray? As Advent dawns in any church, the pace of preparation towards Christmas heats up considerably.

Teams of church members have already been planning and praying together to piece together a wide range of acts of worship     
- Please pray that many members of our community will join us as we worship.
- Please pray for those who are doing things for the first time - and for new ventures, including "Messy Church" and our outdoor nativity.

Our Outreach Group are working on the final stages of producing "The Parish at Christmas", distributed to every household in our community.
- Please pray for a smooth production process, careful etiding (oops - editing) and an appealing final product
- Please pray that each household will indeed recieve a copy and be drawn to the life of the church through it's content

In the wider world, two reasons for remembering that John, the gospel writer, refers to Jesus as "light in the darkness"
1) the ongoing financial turmoil in the western world
- Please pray for all who are making colossal decisions about the complex elements of finding solutions for nations, communities and individuals to the threat of collapse of financial security
2) the resultant lack of focus on the ongoing poverty and turmoil in developing countries, whose financial insecurity is an ongoing reality of daily life for individuals and nations.
- Please pray that all nations retain their sense of responsiblity to show compassion and seek justice for the hidden, weakest and oppressed elements of our world and society.

Most of all, Jesus is the reason for the season
- Please pray that our worship, ministry and relationships throughout Advent and Christmas season will demonstrate the presence and wonder of our Lord Jesus.
 - Please pray that the whole Christian church, throughout the nation and across the globe will shine as a beacon of good news this Advent and Christmas time.

At the cusp of the month (I can't believe I'm writing this post befor the beginning of the month, for a change ), a reminder of the Apostle Paul's teaching - Pray about everything, and don't forget to thank God for answered prayer.

June was interesting for me (sometimes in that Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times" kind of way ), but left me, at the end of my prayers and ponderings to the inevitable reminder that "God will do what God will do", as I breathed a sigh of relief during a few days off work.

As our church looks ahead to the new things ahead of us - some predictable and planned, some known only to God - some pointers for prayer:

Thank God:
For those penny dropping moments when God opens a new opportunity or reveals himself afresh
 - that chance conversation where God has prepared the moment
 - the delight of answered prayer in a hopeless or painful situation
 - the affirmation of a fellow Christian just when things look grim
 - the people who's hidden ministries make all the difference

For the growing expectation that God will somehow use each of us in his plans amongst us
 - the awakening and reawakening of a shared passion to reach our town for Christ
 - the pieces of a jigsaw falling into place as willing servants rise to a new challenge

Please ask God to:
 Help us to welcome and integrate Belinda into our church family and our community
 Guide our PCC as they meet for their regular meeting and their Day Away
 Bless our BreakDancers as they visit with news of their ministry
 Speak to each of us about our stewardship as we "Put our money where our vision is"
 Direct the next steps of our Vison Process - especially our Sowing, Reaping,  Keeping events
 Open our imagination in the next steps towards creating our Youth Council
 Work through each of us as we begin to put in place ways of growing younger leaders.

Please pray for our "Vision Days", as each of our congregations play a part in shaping our shared vision for the future of St Peters in Yateley as we continue to seek to "Build the Body and Bless the World".

Please pray for Belinda, our curate, as she moves house very soon, and joins our ministry team at the end of June.

Please pray for the family and friends of Vera Talmer who died this month. Vera was a great example of a joyful disciple of Jesus.

Please pray for the family and friends of Jim Lawrence, a well known and much loved member of our community. Jim was a great friend to many, and especially since attending Alpha has had a heart for St Peters and found his way into the hearts of many of our church members.

Also prayers for Sue Wade, our administrator as she continues to recover from her shoulder surgery, would be a real blessing.

Also (closing the list for a short while), please pray for Warner Pidgeon, still in much pain and uncertainty with his mysterious problems with his spine and neck. Warner's further details are contained in the first "comment" on this post.

Writing here again seems like waking up from hibernation - Spring has sprung. Things to pray in the life of St Peter's this month:

1) April 1st - our new administrator Sue starts work. Please pray for her as she discovers the various strands of the church's life and puts her mark on the task of organising the practical elements of our church.

2) Same day - Ernie's sister Kath died last week and her funeral is today. Please pray for Ernie and the family as they grieve

3)April 1st - Our PCC meets today to prepare for our Annual meeting, and keep a number of forward-looking items on the boil. Please pray for good discussions and good decisions.

If you've got stuff you'd like others to pray for, with you, press the "comment" tab/text and enter your prayer request.

Praise God!
Mark returned home this weekend, having been in hospital since April/May.

It all came a bit suddenly, with v little time to prepare for extra furniture in an already crowded family home
(eg so Mark can sit on a high stool whilst cooking).
The physio "rehab" unit wasn't much fun - lots of v much older patients, v clinical feel, less option for homely touches in his room, so despite the rush, it's great that he's home, much relief all round.

The O.T. peops have been great so far in going the extra mile to make things easier for the next stage in Mark's recouperation and return to "normal" life.

Please pray for the family as they get used to (the delight of) Mark being with them again - and getting used to Mark's cooking again (yum, when's my next trip ....)

Jesus invites us "Come to me" when we are wearied by our relationships and responsibilities, our overwork and underwork, our stresses and anxieties. He promises that as we do so he grants us "rest" - rescue and release from trying to cope alone or trying to change our circumstances from our own efforts and energies.

Prayer is the beginning of this privileged relationship in which Jesus invites us to take Jesus up on his promise to carry our burdens in our place. He uses the image of a two-oxen yoke as an enouragement to see Jesus as our partner who pulls the bulk of the load - Jesus as the "lead partner" and us as the "learners-in-harness".

The past two months of our prayer life - not least our prayer blog - have seen many instances of Jesus shouldering our burdens and demonstrating that his "yoke is easy" and his "burden is light"

Join us in this community of prayer, where all and sundry are invited to write our prayers for others to pray with us.

Practical note - if you want to add a prayer (use the "comment" button to do so), you'll be asked for your email address - note it's not shared with the world, it's just there for site security.

You may also be asked to type in a codeword (you'll be prompted with the right code) to protect the site from automatic "spambots"

To read this month's prayers, press the "comments" button.

Words from Colossians and John, linked by the plea to be patient in times of trouble:
Colossians 1:11
Filled with his mighty, glorious strength so that you can keep going no matter what happens - always full of the joy of the Lord.
John 16:33 (words from Jesus)
Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows, but take courage, I have overcome the world.

The two verses are drawn together courtesty of "Living Light" daily devotions, last week. They draw together the source of strength in times of anxiety and uncertainty: only the loving-power of Jesus upholds us in our human frailties.
It's in the light of our security in Christ that we offer our prayers - prayers of joy and thankfulness spurring us on in our prayers for the bits of life that are tainted with sorrow and the bits that Paul hints at when he calls us to press on "no matter what happens".

Join us in this community of prayer, where all and sundry are invited to write our prayers for others to pray with us.

Practical note - if you want to add a prayer (use the "comment" button to do so), you'll be asked for your email address - note it's not shared with the world, it's just there for site security.

To read this month's prayers, press the "comments" button.

This song from the olden days of my youth keeps singing itself to me in my quiet moments:

I know who holds the future
And I know He holds my hand;
With God things don’t just happen
Everything by Him is planned.
So as I face tomorrow with its
problems large and small
I’ll trust the God of miracles, Give to him my all.

It might just be one of those God things for me and the family, but I sense that it'll strike a chord for others who need the kind of security that only God can offer, echoing the wonderful image in Zepheniah:

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

Theologically speaking, the "everything by him is planned" bit of the song (not the Zepheniah one ) is a tad naive - or just simplistically childlike. It's easy to pick holes in the choice of language (ie leaning towards a sense of "fate"). From my reading of scripture, and through my experiences, I'd put more emphasis on the battle in which (eg in Job's circumstances) God's enemy "plans" some of our setbacks, whilst God plans our restoration and recovery. That makes more sense, to me, of the nature of God' sovereignty, and the nature of prayer as a wrestling and striving for God's rule.

Nonetheless, however we voice our faith, prayer is based on resting our concerns in the throne room of heaven, where our needs are left to the will and good purpose of God's sovereign and victorious loving-power.

This recalls our recent foray into the Psalms. The refrain "God is my rock and redeemer" (or refuge) has echoed through repeatedly. That phrase only means anything useful if we need a rock of strength in weakness and vulnerability and we need redemption from evil or rescue from danger.

So we pray to our God the Rock and Redeemer - for his strength and stability amongst the storms of daily living; and for his loving-power to be revealed in the circumstances in which we need his redeeming power, his rescuing love, his secure refuge.

Join us in prayer by posting your comments with your requests to the God of miracles