Feasting… 23 October 2007
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We have just arrived back from the Feast; a 24-7 Prayer gathering in Seville to celebrate what God is doing, to tell stories and to encourage and challenge each other.
It was a packed weekend with a great atmosphere; great to meet old friends and to make new ones too. There are some amazingly gifted and passionate people working under the banner 24-7. We heard some great talks from key leaders that spoke right to the heart of what we’re doing, and some encouraging stories too. We also got a preview of the 24-7 short films that are coming out, which are truly brilliant – don’t miss them being launch over the next few months on the 24-7 website.
Pete challenged us about what we loved about 24-7 Prayer, and asking us if it wasn’t prayer and intimacy with God then maybe we should check where we’re going. Kelly talked about our motivation to go, and what it meant to step out to serve God’s world. Marcus challenged us about community living and seeing today (not tomorrow) as the day of salvation and Andy called us to be a people who truly love and care for each other.
In terms of the Boiler Room here, I’ve been thinking about a few things….
What does it mean to have good rest?
Do we have a big enough heart for prayer, for God and for the area?
Can we make doing this a simpler thing?
And I’ve learned that you shouldn’t get up at 2am to catch a flight for a weekend conference if you want to be 100% present throughout!!!!
Hearing God’s Voice 16 October 2007
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Knowing the inner workings of the ear doesn’t mean we’re able to properly listen to people. Similarly knowing the theory of listening to God doesn’t mean we actually do it.
Rather than dive into a discussion on the night’s theme of Listening to God and hearing his voice at last night’s Boiler Room Meal, we decided to actually do it. We started off reflecting on the verses from Ephesians 3 about knowing the width and length and height and depth of God’s love. We then moved on to praying for each other and asking God what he wanted to say to each of us.
It was very encouraging to be able to speak God’s truth into each-others lives and see how pictures verses and phrases we felt God might be saying, all fitted together so well.
It was great to put things into practice rather than just discussing the theory.
God Story… 15 October 2007
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The saying, “can’t see the wood for the trees” apart from being slightly confusing (is it wood as in what trees are made of or wood as in forest?) describes well the problem we often have in our generation. We get so bogged down in the detail we loose the big picture. Politics is constantly guilty of this – but in every walk of life I find sometimes details actually means we lose sight of why we’re doing it in the first place.
On place where this often seems to happen is the Bible. We latch on to a verse or a little story and suddenly it takes over and we lose sight of the bigger picture. The Prayer of Jabez phenomena a few years back is a prime example, but normally they are much more subtle. For the transit course all the students do God Story, reading through the whole bible and studying it as a story about God working in the world. We go from Genesis right through to the second coming seeing how the whole Bible tells God’s Story (or as some people rather cheesely put it His-story – get it?!!!)
Today we looked at the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus, as Joseph, seemingly abandoned turns up in Egypt in charge of the food and, by God’s grace, ends up saving his family. They prosper in Egypt as the Irealite people. We see how the grow in number and become a great people, but are oppressed in Egypt away from their home. God raises up another leader, through an equally extraordinary set of event, to lead them out of captivity into the promised land.
It is amazing to see that the God that Jesus talks about is the same God we see way back in Genesis; a God who cares for and loves his people, a God of patience and a God of Grace.
It’s exciting to see God working in miraculous ways to see his promises fulfilled, and even more soto know he is still working to fulfill his promises today.
Prayer Week Reflections… 8 October 2007
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At the Beginning of the week I was really struck by the words of the Beatitudes in the Message version.
This is what he said:
“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
Some of these things continued to really be a theme through the week. There were a lot of prayers about freedom and release.
Add your own reflections as comments below.
Prayer Week over…. 5 October 2007
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Today we prayed out the last hour of the prayer week and then carefully cleared things out of the way so that the Methodist Ladies can have their coffee morning tomorrow. It’s been a good week. Some of the over-riding themes of the week have been release and freedom.
I’m off to bed, but keep and eye out for some write-ups coming soon. For the time being have a glance at some of the prayer room photos on the left.
