Lisburn Cathedral Prayer Focus.
The staff team at the Cathedral sense that a re-newed
emphasis on prayer, and the prayer life of the congregation
individually, in groups and collectively is being asked of us by God at this
time. It is important to acknowledge that prayer always has been part of the
Cathedral’s witness, this is a call, a prompting
for more not to start from scratch.
It is recognised and accepted that the whole area of prayer can be a
difficult one for many Christians.
At the same time we acknowledge that we are ALL
called to pray.
A key
verse is:
Col. 4: 2 “ Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
Devote:
“……to give all or a large part of ones time or resource to a
person, cause or activity…….”
Watchful:
“…..that we are not lured away from our task as prayers…..”
Thankful:
“…. gratitude to God for his past, present and continuing mercies and
grace…….”
Colossians
chapter 4 introduces us to Epaphras. He might be what is sometimes called a prayer
warrior. His approach to prayer is said to be that of one who “labours
fervently” for the Church. Praying that she would:
mature
in the faith,
stand
firm on the truth of the Gospel an
declare
the Good News with Missionary zeal.
There is no simple solution. To have a growing emphasis on prayer and to
appreciate the call on us to pray will require hard
work and devotion. There is nothing surer than the fact that the
Devil will not want to see God’s people gathering to pray. The onus is on us
to be watchful and so ensure we are not sidetracked or deflected from the work
God is calling us to do.
How will the re-newed focus on prayer be encouraged and facilitated “on the
ground”.
1.
PRAYER CELLS
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A small number of people, usually between 3 – 6 would
begin to meet together to pray.
-
The meetings would ideally take place once a week.
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The meeting can last for as long or
as short as the cell members wish.
-
A convenient time should be chosen to suit the particular
group.
-
When personal matters are shared and prayed about CONFIDENTIALITY
is essential.
-
Weekly Prayer Request and the Monthly Prayer Diary would
provide relevant topics for prayer.
-
Other agreed topics can be incorporated into the Prayer
Cell as desired.
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The Prayer Cell should ideally seek to grow in size
rather than remain static.
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Members of the Prayer Cell are encouraged to invite
members of the congregation to join them.
-
When the Prayer Cell exceeds 6 members it would ideally
split in 2.
The invitation and introduction of new members to the cell, and its splitting
when large enough will help to keep the prayer life of the Cells dynamic and
fresh.
A member of the staff ( currently Ken ) will keep an up to date list of the
Prayer Cells. This will help facilitate the introduction of new members to
appropriate Prayer Cells from time to time.
Anyone not able to find a cell to join should speak to Ken.
2.
MONTHLY
PRAYER SERVICE.
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This will be scheduled to take place on the Third Sunday
of every month and use the slot for the evening service.
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It would be desirable that as many people as possible
from the different Prayer Cells would make it a priority to come to this
service.
-
Other members of the congregation will be most welcome
too.
A time for prayer
ministry and prayer for healing would normally be a part of this
service.
The intention would be to have a short reflection, worship
and prayer during the service.
Jeremy Jennings writes
“It is this combination that is the model that we try to aspire to in our
prayer meeting, because, whilst each activity is powerful in its own right there
seems to be an added synergy when the two (prayer and worship ) are combined….
This is because as we seek to worship ( with the aim of touching God’s heart )
and to pray ( seeking his will to be done on the earth ) the experience is that
there is a release of God’s power into all the activities into which he has
called us in the life of the Church including its corporate life and
evangelism.”
In addition it is hoped that people will increasingly feel able to share
about the things the Prayer Cell have seen happen and experienced as a result of
their time spent together. It is so good to be encouraged by hearing how God is
moving and acting in our midst. It is also vital that we remain thankful to God
for all he is doing – seen and unseen.
As has been said on so many occasions prayer needs to be a dialogue and so time
to listen for the voice of the Lord will be included in our service.
Everyone will be encouraged to listen out for and to share what they sense is
God’s word and guidance for the Cathedral.
The
Monthly Prayer Diary will run from one prayer service to the next.
3.
T3.
TERMLY
PRAYER EVENT.
About once a term a longer time will be set aside for the Cathedral
congregation to be before God in prayer. This could be a half or indeed whole
night of prayer. It would be structured and incorporate worship as an integral
part of the event.
Jeremy Jennings writes “ I wish someone would invent
an alternative title to “prayer meeting” because what we are aiming for
involves so much more than what the title portrays. It is (or should be) so
exciting for the people of God to come together to pray and to worship
( how could that be boring? )
4. THE PRAYER TEAM
A small prayer team meets on a regular basis and participates in some of the
Cathedral services. It would be my hope and desire that this team would grow in
number – that more members of our congregation would see involvement in such a
prayer team as a way to serve in the Church. I would also like to see more
opportunities made available in as many of our services as is appropriate for
people to be prayed with.
5.
G5.
GUIDELINES:
Comments from William Barclay on the structure and form prayer:
It should be an orderly time.
Barclay notes 6 different parts.
- Invocation
or calling upon God. It is not that we call upon God to be present
with us, for he is always present, but rather that we ask him to enable us
to approach him and to make us aware of his presence.
- Confession.
It is often good to tell God of our sin and our mistakes and to ask for
forgiveness for them before doing much else.
-
Thanksgiving. We thank God
for his gifts and ask him to make us mindful, of and grateful, for them.
- Petition.
The bringing of our needs to God
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Intercession.
The bringing of the needs of others to God. – The duty of
intercession is always good to remember as it keeps us from being selfish in
our prayers.
-
A blessing
of some kind is an appropriate conclusion to the time of prayer. The
words of the grace are commonly shared at the end of a prayer time.
Silent
prayer is not to be forgotten. Making use of the vast resource of
prayers already written down in books and indeed in our liturgy
is an excellent way forward.
Barclay encourages us to make our prayers intelligible
and in a language we are comfortable with – usually are normal speaking
vocabulary and voice. But he is keen to stress that while it is right for this
generation to speak with its own voice but it must not refuse to listen to and
accept the great voices of the past.
Barclay points out that the Lord’s Prayer does an unsurpassed job in just
70 words! Are prayers do not need to be long.
“ Be
joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12: 12.
If you have any questions or
concerns please speak to Ken who will try to assist in whatever way he can.
Rev. Ken McGrath
t: 028 92 676499 or
Email revken.mcgrath@btopenworld.com
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