This week we were thinking about how our lives are shaped by prayer, our own prayers, the prayers of others, the prayers of the Church. We began talking about what prayer is and the part it plays in our lives now. Michelle had put a collection of statements abot prayer on each table.
Prayer is …..
Communication with a Father who loves us, standing alongside our brother Jesus who prays with us
Discovering our place in God’s family, giving us a sense of homecoming and belonging, a place of safety and acceptance
A relief to bring burdens and concerns to God, a release of those things that weigh us down
A privilege to be involved in God’s work to transform this world and us believing God can change us and change the world
A risky place where God will push us out of our comfort zone
A lonely dry place where our deepest cries are heard
A creative adventure where success or failure are not measured what counts is being present, turning up.
AFter we’d had time to read them we were asked which definition most resonates with you? We’d been asked to bring objectw with us that characterised our prayer life over the past week. We talked about our objectw with each other and then tried to explain how the statements that resonated and our objects we’d brought linked together. On the table there was an envelope – inside it was a list of types of pra yer – intercession, thanksgiving, confession etc. We were asked which of the different types of prayer feature in your prayers?
Eventually we were invited into the chapel where a large cross was on the floor with some prayers already written on it and candles lit (family and friends of a student in hosptial had come and joined us for prayers at the start of the evening). Michelle led a reflection for usthat explored the Lord prayer. She also offered us the thought that prayer is standing in the gap between God and his people.
We finished saying the Lord’s prayer together….
