Wednesday Prayer - A New Blog Series

Over the past several months, we often met as a church community on a Wednesday to pray together. As meetups have started, and many of us are now meeting regularly to study Ephesians together, we are no longer meeting together as a church to pray. This doesn’t mean that we’re going to stop praying! So over here on the blog we’re starting a new series on Wednesdays, giving you a few ideas of what you could be praying for today and for the rest of this week.

Today we’re praying for…..

Our neighbours!

The first few weeks and months after lockdown began back in March gave many of us more opportunity than ever before to connect with those closest to us geographically! Without the need to travel to work, or the ability to spend our free time further afield, we got to know our neighbours, whether that be through a community WhatsApp group, shopping for those who were isolating, or clapping together in the street on a Thursday evening. This was brilliant, but….

As lockdown went on, and more of us were able to travel further, see old friends again, and generally spend less time at home, we became less connected with our neighbours and our conversations and interaction became less frequent again.

As we enter into a time where lockdown measures may become more strict, there may be more opportunities to connect again in future, but we can be praying for our neighbours right now! Below are a few prayer points to help you out.

1. Pray for good health.

   Many of us will have neighbours who are vulnerable or elderly, and may already be shielding or self isolating in their homes. Pray for their continued protection from the virus, and for healing miracles to happen in their lives, be that a healing from covid-19, or another existing health issue. 

2. Pray for peace of mind.

   One of peoples biggest concerns about the recent pandemic is the unknown nature of the regulations. No-one quite knows what is going to happen and when. This creates pressure within families, in relationships, and gives rise to panic and insecurity. Pray for those who live around you, that they might receive peace in a stressful time, and that the Holy Spirit might be at work in them to reassure them and bring hope when fears about the future come to mind.

3. Pray for opportunities to witness!

   More than ever before, those around us are seeking answers, and though we may not know the answer to every practical question, we do know one who has the capability to fill every spiritual need! As our lives and the way we live our lives become more visible to our neighbours there is opportunity for us to display the peace, the hope, the reassurance about the future that comes from being a follower of Jesus, in the way we go about our daily lives. Why not be bold and pray today that you have an opportunity over the next few weeks to chat to a neighbour about your relationship with Jesus, and the way it helps you to deal with your current situation.

We believe in the power of prayer, and that God not only hears each and every one of us as we pray, but that he loves to be at work in our lives as a result of what we pray! So let’s pray together this week, and be expectant that things will change as a result!

The Great Leveller

As you will no doubt be aware, the recent covid-19 outbreak has changed everyone’s lives to a greater and a lesser extent. As a church we know that many members of our family will be self-isolating, working from home, or practicing social distancing over the coming weeks. We are hoping that through a series of blogs we can encourage you, and others who might be reading these blogs, to fix your eyes on Jesus, and respond to the crisis in a way which honours his will for our lives.

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Lord Hennessy, a historian, referred to the Corona Virus as a great leveller in that the virus is no respecter of social status, race, gender, ability, wealth, etc.

Irrespective of who you are, the virus and the associated social shutdown impacts us all.

He also speculated about how PhD students of the future will regard our society and how we responded to the challenges posed by the virus.  

So let’s give them something positive to talk about.

I’ve seen blogs with suggestions as to how we can make working from home happier and healthier – all suggestions have been welcome.   

But how can we help each other?

My daughter saw a woman giving bottles of hand sanitiser to fellow commuters and a lady holding a sign giving her phone number asking people to contact her if they need support.  I’m not advocating that last one, but it set me wondering, what can we do for work colleagues and for neighbours who are coping with the same pressures right now.

• We can keep in touch with those we usually work along side – not just team conference calls, but on a one to one basis too.

• We can share coping tips – both with work colleagues and neighbours.

• Try turning the usual half-felt enquiry (“How you doing, alright?”) into a more searching question – “How you doing today?” – and wait for a real answer.  If in doubt, ask twice. 

• Support local businesses by shopping in smaller independent shops – they seem to better stocked that the supermarkets in any case.

• Support your local Food bank – details here.

And ring your mum – she worries about you. 

One day we’ll all be featured in a PhD dissertation (probably several); I’d like to think we come out looking good.