Skip to main content

What's prayer for? June 2014 Prayer Column

Image
By
At a recent meeting someone posed that seemingly simple question. And as it happens I’d been sent a possible answer just a couple of days before in a quote attributed to one Richard Exley:
Prayer is multidimensional. It includes petition, confession, intercession and praise, but its highest purpose is fellowship with the Father. In prayer we share our needs with God, but more importantly we spend time with the Father. Relationship takes precedence over everything else. Remember, the primary purpose of prayer is not petition but fellowship. It's about spending time with the Lord.
Listen to most prayers, and it’s about praise and asking – and there’s a lot right with that. Jesus certainly told us to praise God the Father and ask for what we needed, especially when we’re in a fix (Matthew 6:9ff). And (perhaps obviously) especially when what we need is for God’s work on earth: promoting Jesus-shaped values of human and cosmic welfare (you can think big if you’re a Christian), including justice and peace, as well as the delicate business of on-to-one relationships requiring caring, patience and forgiveness. What’s more, Jesus promised to answer such prayer himself (John 14:13f), though not always as we expect, because Jesus as risen Lord and Saviour thinks even bigger than we do.

But the important reminder in that definition of prayer is that the point of it all is being with God as Father – for which Jesus is the way (John 14:6). Do you want that? Then pray, in his name.

Roy Lorrain-Smith

A prayer for each week

Answering Lord, fielding both our questions and our requests, we praise you for your patience. Please help us to seek for and grasp the answers you provide. Amen.

Calming Lord, offering peace in your presence that can be felt but not explained, we praise you for calling us. Please help us to stay with you, not rushing. Amen.

Fatherhood Lord, creating and sustaining us your children (and all else), we praise you that in you we belong. Please help us to get to know you in eternal depth. Amen.

Companionship Lord, friend to all who humbly seek you in truth, we praise you for the privilege of conversation with you. Please help us not to hold back. Amen.

Way-making Lord, who sent Jesus to lead us to you as Father, we praise you for your love. Please help us to follow your beckoning, to please you and bless us. Amen.

Your own prayers

 Download a pdf version.

 If you would like us to pray for you or those known to you, or if you would like the monthly reflections and prayers emailing to you, please send a prayer request.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Soupermums! Wilsden Trinity Church

By
Do you have a young baby? Looking for something to do? If the answer is yes then Soupermums is for you. We're here from 11 until 1 every Monday, Mums (and dads) have a rest and the babies can play. Have a lovely sit down whilst you sip on a brew. Enjoy having someone else make lunch for you! Come along to Wilsden Church, meet the rest of the group. Lovely ladies cuddle the babies, whilst you eat your soup. Chat with the mums, new friends you will make. Swap tips and advice over a slice or two of cake. So what are you waiting for? come on along, For homemade treats, good company and if you're lucky a song. We're looking forward to meeting you, please come take a peek, 11-1 at Wilsden Trinity, we're here every week! Celine V  (a Soupermum!) Where can new mums go, to have lunch where it’s warm and safe and you get to eat fresh soup and homemade cakes, while someone holds your baby? Too big an ask? Not at Wilsden Trinity! Every Mond
Post a Comment
Read more

A year in the life of Baildon Methodist Church

By
The snippets below are taken from Baildon Methodist Church report to the Charity Commissioners for the year ending August 2017. Church membership increased to 187 by the end of the year. As a further development of the Jesus Shaped People programme, which we found so inspiring, (https://www.jesusshapedpeople.net/) a five-week teaching programme entitled ‘Parables For Baildon’ again took place in the New Year, studying the relevance of the Parables in relation to living today. A ‘Family Focus’ leaflet, updated seasonally, was produced listing all activities and events available at Baildon Methodist Church for children and young families. Events during the year included a harvest supper and entertainment, a Gilbert & Sullivan evening, a comedy night, a Church Anniversary social, Action For Children Christmas Fayre and concerts by Village Voices, Aire Valley Male Voice choir and Woodhouse Grove School. In the autumn, the Church hosted a visit by a group of young Palestinian dan
Post a Comment
Read more

Message from the Ministry Team

By
Dear friends By the time you read this, we will already be a month through this new year. Where does the time go? It really does seem to go by ever more quickly, as each year passes. For children who have returned to school after the Christmas and New Year break, next Christmas will seem an age away. When I started secondary school, I couldn’t imagine getting to the end of school at 18. I worked out that I would be 35 at the turn of the century, but that seemed impossibly far away. So what makes time seem to pass quickly? After all, each week is made up of seven days and each day has 24 hours, whatever our age or stage in life. Responsibilities play a part: there are things we need to do at certain times, and any deadline always makes us aware of time ticking away as we approach it. We accrue responsibilities as we grow older and take on more senior positions at work, or have a family to look after. At church, we ta
Post a Comment
Read more