Streams of Blessing - Shropshire
WPC Teams were invited, by the Diocesan Prayer Advocate, Pauline Mack, to support a county-wide week of prayer. Originally planned for the week beginning 21 May it was rescheduled to take in the Archbishops call to prayer, Thy Kingdom Come, in the week before Pentecost Sunday. We prayer walked the parts of the Severn where it flows into the county, and where it flows out, and strategic stretches of the Shropshire Union and Llangollen canals.
The first three days were a prayer walk from Bridgnorth to Ironbridge, which we felt was significant for many reasons. The theme of Jesus as a bridge recurred, and that God's people should be bridge-builders in their communities. In Ironbridge we saw, during evening worship, that we have a bridge of flesh and blood, and that He breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron, with His blood.
We prayed the 'Friday blessing' prayer from Ffald y Brenin, and/or a more comprehensive prayer crafted by Sarah Cawdell from Bridgnorth, on any significant bridge we came across (or under) on our walks, directing our words downstream so that the river carried the blessing (as in Ezekiel 47 – wherever the river flowed, there was life).
Another task was to go and pray at some of the ancient wells, such as ancient or not so ancient churches en-route, Buildwas and Haughmond Abbeys and the Roman city at Wroxeter. At Buildwas Abbey Chrissie reminded us of Psalm 74, "Lord turn your footsteps towards these ruins..." and on reading the psalm out loud there, were able to imagine the scenes during the dissolution of the monasteries and how the saints of old must have echoed the words in the psalm: "we are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be." Were able to declare hope, referring to the Malcolm Duncan talks, about the new day coming.
The two scriptures that formed the basis for our prayer for the week were Psalm 63 v 1-5, and Isa.41 v 17-20, both of which talk about dry land – the opposite of what Shropshire is naturally, but which proved to be the case spiritually. But in praying blessing over the land and the people, the end in view was v.20: "that men may see and know, may consider and understand that the hand of God has done this, the Holy One of Israel." However, another scripture proved very directional during the week, and this came to light because John Gilman had done his homework! He pointed out that in the area we began, Highley, there had been mines, and felt that Paul Miller's word about the hatches was going to become relevant, which proved to be the case.
From the first evening in the 24-hour prayer room at Highley, the 'treasures in darkness' scripture came up (Isa.45 v 3) and this theme kept cropping up, even when we visited old friends in Newport to drop off a sewing-machine! Izzy said: "I have been praying this scripture for you all week: Daniel 2 v 20-23" Verse 22 says: He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
The Task
Each 24-hour period from Tue 10th to Thu 19th was to be prayed through in 10 different locations. Churches had set up prayer spaces or rooms for this to take place.
As mentioned our work began with prayer walking, but we also did some prayer "motoring", joined in at the prayer rooms, sometimes filled empty slots in the rota and in one location, we set up and with Pauline Mack helped to make sure the 24-hours were covered in prayer.
The LORD gave us many opportunities to pray and bring prophetic encouragement to people or into localities which we trust will bear their fruit in due season. We met ministers who were feeling they wanted to give up and others who were pressing in to seek God for the transformation of their locality, church members whose hope was rekindled just because we turned up to pray, and were blessed in return as we prayed and worshipped with those who were alive and alert and praising God anyway in challenging situations.
The time in Shropshire was an exercise in flexibility. We never knew what to expect in any given situation, and very often we were praying with the ones and twos in little village churches, bringing much-needed encouragement. This we were glad to do. We feel we have been stretched and encouraged ourselves by the way God has resourced us and never let us down, renewing the streams of living water which as He promised have flowed out of us.
Chrissie & Colin
May 2016
URGENT PRAYER FOR FINANCES
We have decided to urgently call a week of prayer from Tuesday 31st May to the Tuesday 7th June and we would love you to pray with us. We are asking for specific prayer for WPC and our funding. We are running out of money at a time when we believe we are entering a new season for WPC as God moves in the nation and internationally. We are looking to increase our prayer information and resources and reach more people. We have scheduled, in faith, a very significant Trumpet Call – and national day of prayer for Saturday October 15th to pray for an historic move of God.
It is not surprising that we will meet some difficulties and opposition along the way! We would really appreciate you praying – and we want to pray some specific prayers:
- For £30,000 by July 4th when we have our first Trumpet Call planning day.
- For fresh ideas and wisdom for the team as we look at ways of increasing our income.
- For another £8000 per month in our regular giving.
- For great testimonies out of this of God's goodness and provision.
Please join us. If you are able to come in to The Prayer Room, we will be having an open time of prayer on Thursday 2nd June from 9:30am – 11:30am. We are praying to a good, good Father and we look to Him for His provision.
As One! Scottish Prayer Shield
On behalf of both the Pray for Scotland and Parliamentary Prayer Scotland teams, once again a huge 'thank you!' to everyone who played a part in making sure that the Shield completed its tour of the nation, that the river of blessing prayer flowed uninterrupted throughout Scotland over the 40 days, and that many joint prayer events involving folk from many different church backgrounds took place, in some cases for the first time.
Good reports and encouraging testimonies of the power of God at work are still coming in. We had already heard of a lady's healing from 3 years of back pain at the evening gathering in Stornoway during the Shield's tour, and have just heard of another healing from severe pain at the final evening event of the tour in Leith, Edinburgh on 4 May. It's not about the Shield, it's about God confirming His word in Psalm 133 that where brothers and sisters come together in unity of purpose - 'As One!' - He will command His blessing!
Please pray that the journey will continue -
- that many leaders and church folk will grasp this vision and continue to raise a prayer shield over their community;
- that there will be a rapid increase in the number of joint prayer events for communities and the nation takling place all over Scotland - we already know of one county where a new monthly joint meeting has been established following the tour - please pray it is well supported.
- ask God if you are meant to be one of those in your area taking the lead in mobilising joint prayer!
Bless you as you continue to pray for your community and our beloved nation!
Thy Kingdom Come 2016
We can't thank you enough for your support with Thy Kingdom Come, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York's invitation for all churches across England to pray for evangelism in the week leading up to Pentecost.
The call was taken up in the most extraordinary way by thousands of worshipping communities and tens of thousands of Christians. Churches up and down the country, from every tradition, and from inner-cities to rural areas, got involved with passion and joy. Both in the six centrally organised Beacon events and in many more local churches, cathedrals and churches responded to the invitation with grace, tenacity, vision – and most of all with faith.
Many churches hosted whole weeks of 24/7 prayer – some for the first time or in partnership with others. Some hosted prayer days, special events and half nights of prayer. Schools put on special assemblies, and engaged in other creative ways – for example, working with parishes on interactive prayer labyrinths.
The demand for tickets for the Beacon Events at Winchester, St Paul's, Durham and Canterbury Cathedrals was so great that overspill areas with big screens had to be organized.
Most encouraging though were the thousands of parish churches who joined with us to hold prayer and Beacon events. This happened further and wider than we ever could have expected – from the centre of England to the USA, from Bermuda to Brussels, from New Zealand to Israel. And it included everything from fresh expressions of church to chaplaincies, from right across the traditions. Every day dozens more stories continue to pour in – we know from diocesan champions that what we're hearing about nationally is only the tip of the iceberg.
And it didn't stop there. The desire to join this wave of prayer wasn't limited to the Anglican Church. There was support from within the Vatican, and the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales backed the call to prayer and encouraged local churches to join in.
The call has not only tapped into latent creativity in many places, but also a deep desire to pray, something that can so easily get smothered under the busyness of life. Many churches – including those that dioceses tell us they often struggle to engage with – have picked up the baton with vigour. Often they have been especially encouraged by the passion and direct appeal of the Archbishops.
In their letter of invitation, the Archbishops reminded us that "any movement of the Holy Spirit to draw increasing numbers to faith in Christ has always begun with prayer." As people across the country (and indeed many more beyond) prayed during Thy Kingdom Come, it's clear that not only will those we seek to reach be changed by God's transforming grace and redemption: so will those of us praying.
You can watch the Beacon event at Canterbury Cathedral on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/archbishopofcanterbury/videos/1011428212244658/
And to get a sense of the outpouring of prayer across England and beyond last week, just take a look at what happened on Twitter. https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ThyKingdomCome&src=tyah
Give thanks for answers to prayer
It has been a busy season of prayer and fasting so far in 2016. We started with 40 days of prayer and fasting during Lent with initiatives like The Fast UK, and then many prayer initiatives - Trypraying, the Scottish Prayer Shield, Thy Kingdom Come week of prayer and Ark on the Park to mention a few.
But how do we know that our prayers are working and having an effect?
The simple answer is... by the fruit. So here are some of the answers to prayer that we have heard. Let's give thanks to God that He hears and He answers our prayers! So we want to encourage you to keep perservering in prayer for your life, your family, your community and the nation - particularly in the run up to the EU referendum.
The Scottish Prayer Shield toured throughout Scotland for 40 days blessing as they went. Check out some of the testimonies.
Watch some of the videos from Trypraying which has had a month of prayer in Birmingham, Scotland and elsewhere.
Ark on the Park took place in May on the island of Jersey. Here's some of the real life testimonies from the day.
Thy Kingdom Come was an amazing time of prayer for evangelism in the run up to Pentecost. Here's some details of the week and links to some of the stories.
We received an amazing testimony from Chelmsford 24-7 prayer about a guy called Danny who miraculously encountered God at a prayer station in Chelmsford Cathedral!
Small but Mighty
The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.' (Isaiah 60: 22)
God uses children to change nations. No one is too small or insignificant in his eyes! The Bible is full of children used by God and children who've overcome the odds to become great men and women of God.
Today, children are born into situations of great risk of abuse, trafficking, disease, disaster, early death – yet are being used by God to share his love and to change society.
Let's empower the children in our churches to lead us in prayer.
Let's make them more visible and listen to them.
The 2016 World Weekend of Prayer for children at risk campaign on 4-5 June has the theme: "Small but mighty".
Our desire is to turn to God together in prayer for a change of attitude and action by all communities around the world towards their children.
We're calling on Christians wherever they are that weekend to join us in praying that:
- Children who feel neglected and forgotten would experience lasting change in their lives, receiving genuine love and compassion.
- God would turn around the thoughts and actions of those adults who look down on, ignore or even despise children.
- Child leaders would be raised up and anointed as ambassadors for Christ: committed in prayer, selfless in action and spiritual in their decisions.
We would love for World Prayer Centre to stand with us that weekend and be part of this global prayer campaign.
Would you be able to promote the event through your member/supporter networks, on your website, email communications or through social media?
Go to www.worldweekendofprayer.com to find resources for download, including a resource guide, plus activities, a study series, a song and a prayer diary. Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/WWPrayer.