Prayer: A beginner’s guide

THE GOOD THING about prayer is that there’s only one way to go wrong, and that’s not to do it. The best way to do it is to just get on and do it. If prayer at its simplest level is listening to God and talking to him, you don’t need long books to tell you how to do it, you just need a conviction that prayer is a good thing to do, that you’re someone God wants to hear from and that he’s worth talking to. Is prayer a good thing to do? Never mind for the moment about whether prayer 'works’ or not: Jesus prayed and he encouraged his disciples to pray too, so if we’re following him, we need to be praying. Full stop. Are you someone God wants to hear from? The message of the Bible is that however unworthy, sinful and useless we may feel as human beings, God can’t wait to hear from us and is sitting on the edge of his seat like a lovestruck teenager, hand poised ready to pick up the phone the second it rings. Is he worth talking to? He’s the one person who knows us inside out, the one person with infinite power at his fingertips, the one who has the true perspective on an entire world’s story. Not a slot machine to pay into in the hope of one day getting 'an answer to prayer’, but a person who likes us. How might you begin to pray? What sort of a person are you? Do you like a good gossip? Then gossip to God. Are you the strong silent type? Then be silent in his presence. Say hello... say the Lord’s Prayer ... say 'Oh God’ and mean it... deliberately be silent and still for one minute ... read a story from a Gospel and imagine what you would say to Jesus if you were there... tell him about what is worrying you or thrilling you ... copy the great pray-ers of the Bible and of the Church... write a letter to him ... listen and look for a few moments in a place you consider holy... You can’t go wrong. Prayer is good. God longs to hear from you. He’s worth it.

Do please come and join in this vital aspect of the work at St Johns.

Put it in your diary now!

Prayer at St John's

These are some of the opportunities for prayer at St John's…

HOT ROLLS FOR BREAKFAST
Hot rolls and croissants are back on the menu at the Saturday Prayer Breakfasts thanks to Brian and Janet Starr who have kindly given us an oven to replace the defunct one in the church hall kitchen. No doubt it won't be long before it's brought in to service for other events too.

Prayer Diary

Topics for prayer are compiled every week and are printed in the weekly notice sheet which is distributed in church every Sunday.  The Prayer diary and weekly sheet are available online, click on the links on the home page.
If you want something included, please contact the vicarage, 321525 or notice sheet editor.  If you are not able to come to church and pick up a notice sheet, you can see one on this website, or pick up a copy from the box at the top of the steps that lead down from the car park to the church hall door.

Prayer Chain

Every Monday, or at other times when there is a special need, a short list of items for prayer is circulated by e-mail and phone.  This is particularly suitable for more confidential or more urgent matters. 
If you would like some person or situation to be prayed for in this way, please contact the vicar (see Contact Us page), or 321524).  Please also tell him if you would like to join the chain - and either receive an e-mail or a phone message once a week or occasionally at other times as well.

IT'S ALL ABOUT COMMUNICATION..!

No-one can dispute the fact that we live in an age of communication which would have left our great-grandparents breathless and bemused! Some of us 'senior citizens' still actually write and post letters, although that seems to be a dying art! Most of us use the phone, tap out texts, send emails, download attachments, surf the web, watch the TV, catch up on 'I-player', listen to the radio, and read newspapers and all the other 'stuff' that drops through our letter-boxes day by day, to keep in touch. Some of us manage our finances on-line, order goods from Amazon, sell things on E-bay, and 'google' the information we need. Those who have time to spare use Facebook, Twitter, Skype or Blogs to communicate with friends and family – or even total strangers. The younger generation - and many of their elders, too – get withdrawal symptoms if they are parted from their mobile phones for any time, and now the invention of I-pads and other ingenious technological devices mean that no-one needs to be 'out of touch' for a moment, whether it's phoning home from the train to announce that they'll be at the station in seven minutes precisely, or standing in the supermarket aisle enquiring which brand of cereal to buy.

Yet, despite the fact that we spend a huge proportion of our time in communicating with the world around us, I wonder how much time we spend in communicating with God? After all, he communicates with us all the time – through the beauties of his wonderful creation, through all the changing seasons; in the love of friends and family, or the kindness of strangers; in the answers to unspoken prayers, or the 'co-incidences' that delight us; in the way he cares for us when the going gets tough, and shows us the way ahead when we are confused. And, of course, through his Word which teaches, comforts, enlightens and warns us.

The Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is full of prayer – for help, healing, comfort, deliverance and justice, as well as prayers of hope, praise, gratitude and acceptance. God always answers our prayers, though not always in the way we might wish or expect; sometimes the answer is 'No', or 'Not yet' or 'Wait', because God knows all our circumstances so much better than we do. The Bible teaches us that prayer is fundamental to our Christian lives. We can pray on our own (Matthew 6:6); with one or two others (Matthew 18: 19-20); or in a church fellowship (Acts 2:42).

Jesus knew the importance of prayer, and made it his priority to spend precious time with his Father in Heaven – whether slipping off to a secluded place on his own, or praying with his disciples, or joining in the synagogue worship – even praying on the Cross.

God longs for us to communicate with him in prayer, and it's a two-way process, whether it's through reading our Bibles, praying with a prayer-partner or in our family, joining a Home Group, coming to a church prayer meeting; praying formally or informally; sending up 'arrow-prayers', or spending time in intercession for people or situations. It should be as vital to us as breathing, and as instinctive as a child communicating with its parents.

I still have so much to learn about prayer – but I couldn't live without it!

Anne Butler