Prayer Column - July 2020

What is God saying?

It is of course up to each one of us to listen to what God may be saying to us in our circumstances (as well as through the Bible), not least when things are altered radically, as by this coronavirus. What is he showing us, or calling us to do: repent; believe afresh; change our behaviour; or refocus our patterns of spending and giving, and our actions; or whatever? Listening is always important, but perhaps especially so now.

But just as we don’t read other people’s letters, we must resist the temptation to peek into what God may be saying to others, unless of course they ask us to because they need help with reading, or understanding, or deciding. And in that case we must make very sure we don’t misread or mislead: our task would be to help the recipient hear clearly the message the sender intended – and that may require of us a careful listening attitude.

However, as members of Christ’s body, the Church, we have another listening role: to hear what God is saying to us as a Church. How should the Church respond to the present call/crisis/opportunity? We may or may not be in a leadership role, but all of us have ears to hear and hearts and minds to pray. We can ask the Lord to make his message clear, and that we all (and leaders in particular) are directed aright. And we can ask for the boldness we all need to respond as we should: repent; believe afresh; change our behaviour; or refocus our patterns of spending and giving, and our actions; or whatever – and to worship the one true God in spirit and in truth, wherever we are, proclaiming Jesus as Lord.

Roy Lorrain-Smith

A prayer for each week

Dear Lord God, both merciful and mighty, please have compassion on our frailty in the face of this threat, and give us bold strength to endure, in faith, through Jesus. Amen.

Great God of All, who speaks to your people is ways we can understand, please still our hears to listen and open our ears to hear all that you are saying to us at this time. Amen.

Heavenly Father, calling us into families of faith, please unite us in your love and help us listen together to your words of comfort and discipline in our present plight. Amen.

Mighty God, against whom no evil can prevail, please help us walk with Jesus, our Lord, hanging on in there, and doing his work his way, as he directs, for your glory. Amen.

Your own prayers

Comments

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...

July message from Rev Phil

Dear Friends, The Methodist Church makes provision for its ministers to take a three-month sabbatical break from the routine of ministry every seven years – this year, in my case! By the time you read this letter, I will have already started my sabbatical and I will be absent from the circuit from mid-May to mid-August. This is not an extended holiday but an opening to do something different, as a way of being refreshed in ministry; an opportunity to ‘power down’ and to get away from a hectic, diary-driven ministry, in order to spend more focused time with God. It is a requirement and not an option for ministers to take their sabbatical break. There have been two main aspects to consider in planning the sabbatical. The first has been to decide how I should use the time. For your interest, I am pressing on with studies begun through Leeds University (which could lead to the award of a PhD), reflecting on my wor...

Summer Coffee Evenings raise over £1,200

Wilsden Trinity Church We would like to say a big thank you to all who supported us for your help in making our Summer Coffee Evenings such a brilliant success. The evenings have proved to be very popular and have been really well attended, attracting people from Wilsden village as well as members of other churches in the circuit. Together we have munched our way through a tonne of biscuits and home-made scones and consumed gallons of coffee and tea. We have baked and bric-a-bracked and book sorted and are all exhausted and half a stone heavier than we were in May but feel it has been well worth the effort. In addition to enjoying very pleasant social evenings, with God's help we have succeeded in raising over £1,200 - approximately £250 each for the five chosen charities: Yorkshire Air Ambulance , Parkinson Society , Alzheimer's Society , Multiple Sclerosis Society and Martin House Children's Hospice . We are already planning for next summer and look forward t...

Bradford North Circuit

Search This Blog