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MCT 11am PRAYERS (or any alternative time)

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Hello everyone

When we do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit prays in us.  As we begin our prayers this week, lets pause for a few moments to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives to enlighten our hearts and minds.

Romans 8:26-27

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

St Paul knows how hard it can be to pray at times. He encourages the young church at Rome by reminding them and us, of the work of the Spirit deep within our hearts.

Is there a particular type of prayer that brings you closer to God?

The Spirit communicates to God on our behalf, bringing to God our deepest hurts and longings – the things we struggle to say.

What current issues in our world make you groan or sigh?

What issues do you struggle to pray about?

Lift them to God now. God searches the heart.

Allow Jesus to pour his love and healing into anything you are keeping hidden, trying to run away from, or causing you pain.

THE ‘VENITE’  (Oh Come let us sing to the Lord) is an ancient hymn of the church, based on Psalm 95.

This song of invitation to worship and praise is associated with the Matins or Morning Prayer worship, going back to monastic times….

I share with you the way which often helps and keeps me focused and closer to God.   I like to read or sing the canticles, hymns and worship songs.

Two examples below which are both composed by Matt Redman.

PURIFY MY HEART

Verse 1] Purify my heart // Let me be as gold and precious silver // Purify my heart // Let me be as gold, pure gold.
[Chorus] Refiner’s fire// My heart’s one desire Is to be holy // Set apart for You, Lord //

I choose to be holy // Set apart for You, my Master // Ready to do Your will
[Verse 2] Purify my heart// Cleanse me from within and make me holy
Purify my heart // Cleanse me from my sin, deep within//

(Chorus] Refiner’s fire// My heart’s one desire Is to be holy…………

TO BE IN YOUR PRESENCE

V1 To be in your presence //to sit at your feet//when your love surrounds me
and makes me complete

(Chorus) This is my desire, o Lord //this is my desire //this is my desire, o Lord// this is my desire//
V2 To rest in your presence //not rushing away// to cherish each moment//
here I would stay//

(Chorus}

You might like to pause, clear your mind, be still and use the words of these two songs letting  the Holy Spirit work deeply within you.

Keep Safe, Keep Praying                   

 Peter

Zoom service of the word (from home or from St Mary’s) Sunday 26th July 11am for 11.15am start

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Looking forward to our first zoom service being broadcast live at St. Mary’s Wilshaw.

You have the option to join at home or come to church.

See you in the morning

Topic: Service of the word

Time: Jul 26, 2020 11:00 AM London

Click the link below to join the Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86361266209?pwd=VjdFOHU2NklnK3RxVkpwVElhMDlPUT09

Meeting ID: 863 6126 6209

Passcode: 734091

Helme ground clearance

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This SATURDAY 25/07/20 

The Day to finish the job. 

Pat says there will be cake or Scones.

9.30 ish to start.

Saplings to be taken out,  some more brush cutting and mowing.

Many thanks for all your hard work over the last 2 times, this will be a job well done.

Mike

MCT 11 am DAILY PRAYERSM (or any alternative time)

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Hello Everyone

A TIME OF TRANSITION

Isaiah 26: 7-9,12,16-19

The way of the righteous is level ;       O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous.

In the path of your judgements, O Lord we wait on you;

your name and your renown are the soul’s desire.

My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you

For when your judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness…

O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us …..                                                                                                                                                    O Lord, in distress they sought you, they poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.

Like a woman with a child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near her time,

so were we because of you, O Lord; 

we were with child, we writhed, but we gave birth only to wind.

We have won no victories on earth, and no one is born to inhabit the world.

Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise.

O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!

For your dew is a radiant dew, and earth will give birth to those long dead.   

The message from Isaiah was written during a time of transition when people were struggling in the gap between what had happened and what was yet to come. The people cry out a lament as they seek God –holding on to faith and trusting that God’s promises will be fulfilled, even though the present time is difficult.

We need to ask ourselves in what ways are we yearning for God to be revealed?

Where do we see the Holy Spirit working in our world?                                                                                

This time of pandemic has been– and still is—incredibly challenging for many.                                                                                                                                                

What do you long to see change in your life?                                                                                 

What do you hope the future will look like?                                                                              

Speak now to God about your hopes.                                                                                                                                                     

Thinking about the level path what does your path look and feels like?

Make time to ask the Lord Jesus for strength and courage to let go of the past, and journey with you as you move into God’s future. 

PRAYER- St Francis de Sales.   

 Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow; the same Everlasting Father who cares for you today, will take care of you tomorrow and every day.

Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.         Amen

Thank you Val White for sharing this prayer with us.

Keep Safe, Keep Praying

Peter                                                                                                                                                 

MCT 11am DAILY PRAYER (or any alternative time)

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Hello everyone,

Very quickly after the Coronavirus hit the UK, there were two books written about God and the Pandemic.  Theologian John C Lennox – “Where is God in a Coronavirus world” & a book of prayers by Nick Fawcett from which we have been selecting, using, and benefitting over the weeks – “For Such a Time as This”

More recently Tom Wright, wrote ‘God and the Pandemic.’  Tom Wright is a Research Professor of New Testament  & Early Christianity at St Andrews & Wycliffe Hall Oxford, prior to which he was Bishop 0f Durham (2003-2010) and will be known by those of us who attended the York Course MCT Lent Groups as over the years  he was a contributor.

In the final chapter  – Where  do we go from here? Tom Wright tells us that roughly one-third of the psalms are complaints that things are not as they ought to be. The words they use question why, – Sorrow, Anger, Regret, Frustration, Expressing grief, Mourning, Bitterness.   Perhaps you have experienced your own feelings and have your own questions.

Some Christians have been turning to the book of Revelations looking for signs of the End Times but in these uncertain times Tom Wright cites the Lord’s Prayer as our ‘Norm’

Are we looking for signs of the end times?

No.  In the Lord’s Prayer we pray  ”Thy Kingdom come on Earth as in Heaven”  and we know that this prayer will be answered because of what we know about Jesus. 

Are we looking for fresh, sudden calls to repent?

No. We pray every day, ‘Forgive us our Trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us’. We know that this prayer will be answered because of what we know about Jesus. 

Tom Wright goes on to say : ‘We need Jesus –  His Kingdom-bringing life, death and resurrection; his ascended sovereignty, the promise of his coming to bring heaven & earth together in glorious final renewal.  Any attempt to add new ‘signs’ to this narrative diminishes it.

For this week :- may I suggest praying for your concerns and for the uncertainties that relaxing the lockdown  brings  and spend some time praying the Lord’s Prayer.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Amen.

Keep Safe -Keep Praying.  

Peter