As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.
For more than a year, the world has been passing through a Gethsemane of sickness and sorrow.
The name ‘Gethsemane’ means ‘oil press’ – a place where olives are gathered to be crushed. Take a moment to imagine the scene in Gethsemane watch Jesus crushed by the sorrow of the world. Am I waiting and watching with Him, or have I fallen asleep?
REFLECT
Today, I ask to wait with You, Lord, on behalf of grieving nations, tired doctors, exhausted nurses and other frontline workers. “Comfort those who mourn. Give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak. May they soar on wings like eagles; may they run and not grow weary; may they walk and not grow faint.” (Isaiah 40:1, 29, 31)
I reflect on a moment in the Gospel story where Jesus himself mourns…
‘Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will Matthew 26:36-39
‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ Jesus says, to most of his disciples. But he takes Peter, James and John with him and says, ‘Stay here and keep watch with me.’
ASK
Am I close enough to Jesus to hear his invitation to watch with Him?
What sorrow might He be asking me to share?
Could I watch and pray with Him for an hour today?
YIELDING
Lord, I yield to Your invitation to watch with You, to share in Your grieving, to wait patiently with You, to mourn for the hurt of Your wounded world, and not to hide from the pain of those I meet.
Not my will, but Yours be done.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I prepare to take this time of prayer into the coming day, I echo Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians, ‘The God of all comfort… comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.’ (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
This Week’s Prayers are once again in the shape of LECTIO 365, a National & International Aid which exists to help us pray in groups or as individuals. The aim is that our prayers, wherever we are, at whatever time we pray, are being prayed to our Father in heaven 24-7 every day of the year.
Together, each day we pray (P.R.A.Y) – ‘P’: PAUSING to be still. ‘R’: REJOICING with a Psalm and REFLECTING on a scripture. ‘A’: ASKING God to help us and others and ‘Y’: YEILDING to His will n our lives, come what may.
SO, WE TURN TO GOD IN PRAYER
PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God. (Pause and pray)
Prayer of Approach
Loving Father, I still my soul now and remember that You are here with me, you are here in me, You are here for me. Lord Jesus, I worship You. Holy Spirit, I welcome You.
REJOICE and REFLECT
Rejoice and Reflect Psalm 10 v 17
Lord you know the thoughts of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.
ASK
To help us in our prayers this week we have three prayers written by Nick Fawcett “For Such a Time as This”.
When faith is shaken by the crisis that has come upon us Why, Lord?
Why have you let this happen, this dreadful virus descend upon us?
Yes, I realise that the whole business, in the final analysis, is not down by you, but can’t you do something, anything, to offer a helping hand?
Why do you seem simply to sit back, unmoved, unconcerned?
Don’t you care?
Aren’t our prayers reaching you?
That’s not fair, I know that, for you’ve made the world in such a way that you cannot simply intervene when it suits you; your hands instead being tied by the laws you have set in place.
Yet I’m asking you, I’m pleading with you, look kindly upon us, and reach out to our aching world, ministering your love and binding up its wounds. Amen.
For those selflessly supporting others, and those who think only of themselves.
In this time of crisis, Lord, you call us to pull together, as families, as friends, as communities.
Thank you for those who are leading the way in doing that: relatives helping loved ones, neighbours helping neighbours, support groups reaching out to strangers, individuals responding to the plight of the vulnerable.
Thank you especially today for the efforts of shops and supermarkets to do likewise, setting aside shopping times and delivery slots for those most at risk.
Forgive the heartlessness, the greed, the selfishness, that looks only after number one and cares nothing for anyone else. Challenge and shame such behaviour and prosper the efforts of all who are seeking to show compassion, concern, and care to those least able to help themselves.
We are all in this together. Prompt each and every one of us to realise that. Amen.
Trust that God is with us, however much it may seem otherwise.
Lord, it’s hard to glimpse your presence even at the best of times, and now, with this disease causing such havoc among us, it’s harder than ever, our prayers appearing to go unanswered, your face seemingly turned away from us. Yet it is at such a time as this, more than ever, that we need to keep faith you are with us.
Though we feel abandoned, we are not.
Though we feel alone, we are not.
Though we feel forgotten, we are not.
Though we feel hopeless, we are not.
Though we feel left high and dry, we are not.
Draw close to us, Lord, and envelop us in your love.
Draw near and help us to recognise that you are by our side. Amen.
YIELD
Yielding prayer
Lord I yield to your invitation to watch with you, to share in your grieving, to wait patiently with you, to mourn for the hurt of Your wounded world, and not to hide from the pain of those we meet.
Not my will, but yours be done.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I prepare to take this time of prayer into the day, I echo Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians, ‘The God of all comfort…. Comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ’ 2 Cor 1 v3-5
Closing Prayer
Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You, in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen.
Due to the current lockdown, our Church buildings are once again closed. Join us via YouTube at 10:30am for our online #Meltham Parish Communion led by Rev’d John Dracup. https://youtu.be/2s6wdUVOK7A
Due to the current lockdown restrictions, the #Meltham Parish Magazine cannot be printed and delivered to homes this month but you can read it online here!
This Weeks Prayers are in the shape of LECTIO 365, a National & International Aid which exists to Help us pray in groups or as individuals. The aim is that our prayers, wherever we are, at whatever time we pray, are being prayed to our Father in heaven 24-7 every day of the year.
SO, I TURN TO GOD IN PRAYER
PAUSE
As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God. (Pause and pray)
Prayer of Approach
Loving Father, I still my soul now and remember that You are here with me, You are here in me, You are here for me. Lord Jesus, I worship You. Holy Spirit, I welcome You.
RESPOND AND REJOICE
I choose to rejoice in God’s goodness today, joining with the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 100.
Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving.
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Having begun the new year after the birth of Jesus I am reflecting on the birth of the Early Church in the book of Acts and also a key moment in the life of the church in the 1700s.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them Acts 2:1-4
At 3am on New Year’s Day, 1739, the Holy Spirit also came to an all-night prayer meeting in Fetter Lane, London. ‘The power of God came mightily upon us,’ recorded John Wesley in his journal, ‘insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy and many fell to the ground.’ * Echoing the experience of those who were propelled out of the upper room in Jerusalem to preach the gospel, John Wesley, too, was propelled out of that prayer room in London to ride 125,000 miles preaching the gospel, while his brother Charles Wesley began writing 6,000 hymns. And their 25-year-old friend, George Whitfield, crossed the Atlantic to stir the fires of America’s First Great Awakening. The world would never be the same again.
ASK
Jesus said that the Father loves to give the Spirit to those who ask (Matthew 7:11) – just as John and Charles Wesley asked that day in London.
And so, as I open my hands in front of me, I ask You, Father, to fill me with Your Spirit. Fill me with new power for this new year, just as You filled those disciples 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, and 282 years ago in Fetter Lane, London.
And now, I lift up my hands and I pray for my community, for my nation, and for the nations of the world. I ask You, Father, to stir the fires of another Great Awakening of Your Spirit.
As I return to this familiar passage, I try to imagine what it was like to be in that room, seeing what seemed like tongues of fire dancing in the air, being filled with the Holy Spirit for the very first time.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them Acts 2:1-4 (NIV UK)
The Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to speak in other tongues. As the story continues, the Spirit enabled them to speak about Jesus with boldness, to endure hardship and persecution, to perform miracles, to serve the poor, to discern and make difficult decisions, and much more. These are the kinds of things that Spirit-enabled people do. What might the Spirit be enabling me to do this year?
YIELDING PRAYER
The Methodist Covenant prayer, written by John Wesley himself in 1755, is prayed by millions of Methodists at the start of every year. It’s a liturgy of profound and beautiful surrender, and so I join with sisters and brothers in Christ around the world as I pray it now.
I am no longer my own, but Yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,
Exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full,
Let me be empty,
Let me have all things,
Let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious, and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
You are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Join us in church or online via YouTube for a Service of the Word from St Bartholomew’s, Meltham – Sunday 10th Jan – 9:30am https://youtu.be/GfttfSfufV4
