Welcome to the Prayer at Crookes page.
Prayer lies at the heart of our relationship with God and so it is also at the heart of all that we do as a church community.
ONLINE PRAYER VIDEOS click here to see some of our online meditations. Why not take 5 minutes in your lunch break and reflect.
Over the course of this term you will find these information cards around the church. Pick one up and find out about each of the four key ways you can get involved in prayer in the life of this church. They are:
PRAYER CARDS - Share prayer requests & stories of answers to prayer.
DAILY PRAYERS - Regular weekday prayer times in the church building – a “place for space”.
PRAYER GATHERINGS - Find out more about the termly Friday Night Prayer Gathering and other special prayer events.
PRAYER POINTS - We really value your prayer for things that are happening in the life of the church. Here's how to keep upcoming events in prayer.
STUCK ON PRAYER?
|
|
Worry versus PrayerIt's relatively easy to fall into a pattern of thinking that prayer is just another form of worrying.
How often have we prayed only as a last resort when we are already wracked with worry? Our attitude can end up being like this: if my worrying can't sort it then perhaps God will. Ideally, we should always approach God first.
Worry is a reliance on our own resources. If our minds and efforts are focused enough we can deal with a situation, but there is a world of difference between doing it in God's strength and doing it alone (worrying).
Perhaps we don't pray because we don't understand something of God. The truth is we will pray in proportion to our understanding of God's love for us. An understanding of love is an understanding of God's will.* It is possible to pray from a place of knowing God's will and thanking Him. We are drawn into a closer walk with God and we feel more secure in our faith in Him. For example, if we know God wants people to live whole, healed and fulfilling lives then this has a greater immediacy than if we just don't know.
Try thanking God rather than asking all the time. Somebody once said that prayer is 80% thanking God. Knowing God's will, which is always love, is the difference between knowing God as a loving Father and thinking that He's like a distant schoolmaster-type figure.
* 'God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him', (1 John chapter 4 verse 16). 'Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails', (1 Corinthians chapter 13 verses 4 to 8).
|
