November 2015 Prayer Column

Greater works (John 14:12)

I read a really good book on holiday. It argued that we should seek more healing in our churches with the aid of the Holy Spirit. Healing and deliverance was what Jesus did all the time, and what the early church continued to do (as Jesus had promised they should), as in the book of Acts, and for the next few hundred years. But then from the time of Constantine such good works were discouraged and declined. Some said that only the holiest saints were fit to do it; others that is was presump-tuous to try and copy Jesus. Later, some claimed that miracles such as healing has ceased with the apostles; and nearer our own time many have declared that today we should know better than to believe that such supernatural things ever happened at all.

Thus, by one means or another, acts of healing and wholeness, once the lifeblood of the Christian faith, have been all but throttled – despite the occasional outbreaks of Pentecostal-style spiritual blessings at various times and in different parts of the church. This includes the ‘enthusiasm’ of the early Methodists and, in the last hundred years, diverse Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. The writer of this book urges that we open ourselves more widely to the movement of God’s Holy Spirit; and urgently seek the fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control); and also all the blessings of healing and wholeness he longs to give to the church for the glory of God in the world. Worth a prayer? With His power?

The Healing Reawakening: Reclaiming our lost inheritance.
By Francis MacNutt, Chosen Books, 2005.

Roy LS

A prayer for each week

Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son, and leaving your Spirit till the work on earth is done. Please Lord, help us to sing this with our lives. Amen.

Holy Spirit, Teacher, please come and make your home in our hearts and minds, leading us into all your truth, through Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Holy Spirit, Helper, please show us the vastness of your resources for living, and the depths of our daily need, and fill us with your presence. Amen.

Holy Spirit, Counsellor, indwelling and ever present, please open our inner ears to your advice, and give us the sense to heed what you say. Amen.

Holy Spirit, Guide, knowing us better than we do ourselves – our past, our problems, and our potential in Jesus, please keep us on your chosen path. Amen.

Your own prayers

Comments

Soupermums! Wilsden Trinity Church

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...

Christmas at Thackley

Our Christmas activities started in early November collecting donations for Christmas hampers for Bradford North Foodbank. Our Christmas Fair swiftly followed on a very chilly late November morning with the first snow of winter! The Fair raised over £600 and we are grateful to Monday Mums for serving refreshments, to the Ladies Group for their yummy cake stall, to the Brownies for their chocolate tombola, the Guides for their tombola and for making lip balm and to everyone else at Team TMC for the many varied ways in which they contri buted to the success of the morning. For several years we have shared one big Christmas card and given the money we would usually spend on cards to charity. The charity is Caring for Life which changes lives by sharing Jesus' love with the vulnerable; if you've not visited their wonderful coffee shop, make it a New Y ear's resolution to do so - http://www.caringforlife.co.uk/ . This year's fabulous Chr...

HOPE Together & HOPE Revolution

Dear friends, You are personally invited to attend an exciting evening at Bradford Academy that we hope will bring people together from Bradford and Leeds to see how further Unity, Prayerful Worship and Missional Transformation can develop between the two cities. Back in July 2012, we saw over 50 young people, 12 leaders and several churches from across Bradford and Leeds join together in a 2 day pilot mission. We partnered with a local church in Bradford to share and witness to Christ's love in word and deed. In addition to this, we included young people in the conversation of ways in which to help connect both cities in the future. There are many people interested in exploring the potential of developing something on a larger scale, culminating in a week of mission across the two cities in 2014. Your attendances and input will help shape the way forward: We would like to invite you to an exciting evening of information about HOPE Together and the y...

Bradford North Circuit

Search This Blog