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Tasmanian Anglican

March 2005

 

 

 

 

 


Thoroughly hooked - the pray-ers of St James', New Town and St Andrew's Lenah Valley

 

Venturing into prayer

by Marie Ellison

 

 

Any venture into corporate prayer is risky and potentially addictive.

We run the risk of God's changing us. We get hooked into journeying together with him. We catch glimpses of parish life enlivened with God's presence. As we pray, the local community beckons and the needs of the wider world touch us more deeply. We experience God at work and, with the psalmist, we say, 'Let the whole earth fear the Lord: and let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.' [Psalm 33]

The Parish of St James, New Town and St Andrew, Lenah Valley got hooked on prayer some time during the last six months. Unsuspecting, we began our prayer journey in August 2004 in response to Bishop John's call to prayer.

Surprise?

It seemed to be a good idea to get together a few of the many faithful pray-ers in early preparation for Bishop John's prayer breakfast. Beyond that, no commitment. Our two groups got underway and went well. The prayer breakfast happened in December and it was great.

Is it any surprise that we find ourselves still at prayer, encouraged by God and each other to continue the journey ? We're thoroughly hooked and can't imagine parish life without it.

Currently we meet on Saturday morning at 8 o'clock for an hour. We share leadership and follow a structured meeting format. A study segment prepared and led by anyone willing to 'have a go', lasts about 15 minutes. We have learned about prayer from reading and discussing the Scriptures, Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, Dutch Sheets, Catherine Marshall and many others. Time is spent discussing and listing prayer requests and praise points: these are recorded in the prayer journal.

Pass-it-on

Extemporary prayer follows for about half an hour with a timekeeper drawing our prayer time to a close and leading us in 'The Grace'. Within this structure there is great flexibility as God leads us. We have a library of prayer resources for borrowing and a box of 'pass it on' cards, put to good use. Choosing a card and passing it on has become an important part of our going out, after prayer.

Be encouraged in your parishes to venture into prayer. You, too, will stand in awe. Our parish will gladly provide additional information to anyone interested.

 

Contact Neil Vearing 03 6228 1214