Prov 29:18 If people can't see what God is doing, they trip all over themselves; But when they do to what he reveals, they are blessed.
It's great that we have lots of specific prayer requests for individual situations, KEEP THEM COMING!
It's equally important that we pursue the vision God has set before us, our work in moving forward together starts with our battling for the vision to be fulfilled in the heavenly place.
Father has set before us a great work, we need to keep this big picture in mind as we pray, or we can easily become bogged down in details. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, not the problems and trials of life.
Please focus on praying for all aspect of our corporate vision in prayer on Tuesday.
Expect great things from a GREAT GOD!
Friday, 29 July 2011
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Monday, 21 March 2011
Vision - focusing on the big picture.
Prov 29:18 If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they do to what God reveals, they are blessed.
It's great that we have lots of specific prayer requests for individual situations being posted on the PrayerHammer Facebook site, KEEP THEM COMING!
It's equally important that we pursue the vision God has set before us, our work in moving forward together starts with our battling for the vision to be fulfilled in the heavenly place.
Father has set before us a great work, we need to keep this big picture in mind as we pray, or we can easily become bogged down in details. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, not the problems and trials of life.
Please focus on praying for all aspect of our corporate vision in prayer on Tuesday.
Expect great things from a GREAT GOD!
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Prayer through Lent
One of the area that we feel led to address in 2011 is a further increase in the corporate prayer life of BCF. In order to help with this we will be exploring various ways of stimulating, nurturing and focusing the prayer life of BCF.
To get things rolling we want to encourage people to join us in praying through lent, with a particular focus on seeking God for growth through seeing people saved. (It was great to see so many guests at Cafe Church Sunday morning!! But God has promised us much more, so we have a long way to go to impact the lost in Bury!)
To help you to pray Wendy and I will be using various means to remind folks and to help focus our thoughts:
Facebook - There is now a PrayerHammer group set up which will provide regular updates and prayer points for members of BCF.
Email - like this one for those folks not on Facebook.
The Notices - regularly has items for prayer.
SMS Text prompts - yes even your phone is not safe.( if you want to be on the SMS prayer chain please let us know)
Skype - if you are on Skype then let Wendy and myself know, so that we can explore holding tele-prayer meetings.
Podcast - for all you Mp3 junkies and iPod fans help is coming in the form of a podcast in the near future.
Prayer meetings with a twist - Yes we will be planning chances to meet and pray too!
When is Lent I hear you ask?
Lent in 2011 starts on Wednesday, the 9th of March and will continue for 46 days until Saturday, the 23rd of April.
Enough for now - other than to say this initiative means nothing unless you take up the challenge to pray and to conclude with a quote from a man of prayer, who saw incredible things achieved through prayer.
"It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly, continue in prayer until we obtain an answer; and further we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us, and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing." George Müller
To get things rolling we want to encourage people to join us in praying through lent, with a particular focus on seeking God for growth through seeing people saved. (It was great to see so many guests at Cafe Church Sunday morning!! But God has promised us much more, so we have a long way to go to impact the lost in Bury!)
To help you to pray Wendy and I will be using various means to remind folks and to help focus our thoughts:
Facebook - There is now a PrayerHammer group set up which will provide regular updates and prayer points for members of BCF.
Email - like this one for those folks not on Facebook.
The Notices - regularly has items for prayer.
SMS Text prompts - yes even your phone is not safe.( if you want to be on the SMS prayer chain please let us know)
Skype - if you are on Skype then let Wendy and myself know, so that we can explore holding tele-prayer meetings.
Podcast - for all you Mp3 junkies and iPod fans help is coming in the form of a podcast in the near future.
Prayer meetings with a twist - Yes we will be planning chances to meet and pray too!
When is Lent I hear you ask?
Lent in 2011 starts on Wednesday, the 9th of March and will continue for 46 days until Saturday, the 23rd of April.
Enough for now - other than to say this initiative means nothing unless you take up the challenge to pray and to conclude with a quote from a man of prayer, who saw incredible things achieved through prayer.
"It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly, continue in prayer until we obtain an answer; and further we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us, and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing." George Müller
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
10 quotations to make you think about prayer
Have faith in God," Jesus answered. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:22, 24
“Prayer is where the action is." John Wesley
"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." Martin Luther.
“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” Charles Spurgeon.
On persevering prayer: "I look at a stone cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before." Anon
I don't often spend more than half an hour in prayer at one time, but I never go more than half an hour without praying. Smith Wigglesworth
"As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray." Martin Luther
"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" Corrie Ten Boom
"Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure." D. L. Moody
The Spirit Himself intercedes for us. Rom 8:26
“Prayer is where the action is." John Wesley
"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." Martin Luther.
“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” Charles Spurgeon.
On persevering prayer: "I look at a stone cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before." Anon
I don't often spend more than half an hour in prayer at one time, but I never go more than half an hour without praying. Smith Wigglesworth
"As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray." Martin Luther
"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" Corrie Ten Boom
"Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure." D. L. Moody
The Spirit Himself intercedes for us. Rom 8:26
Monday, 15 November 2010
Prayer points for Hope Bury's event "Carol" by Lacey Theatre Co.
Please pray for the following things
The venue:
Woodhey High School Tuesday 30th November 2010 7.30pm
The participants:
Lacey Theatre Company (5 members) – who hope that their ‘performance will open doors and cause people to ask questions that hopefully local churches can help to answer’.
Bob Hartman
Rehearsals and planning have been taking place in earnest since September and much prayer and creativity has gone into the production of this play.
Our hopes are that:
Jesus would be honoured
The corporate witness of churches working together would be profound and challenging.
Churches who don’t often work with other churches would join in on this occasion.
It will be an inspiring event to send us back to our churches enthusiastic to make Jesus known to our communities in the forthcoming Christmas season.
That everyone attending the event would be pointed to Christ, and that for some it would prove to be a very significant occasion in their Christian experience.
Our helpers:
We require a few more stewards, who ideally will be able to arrive at Woodhey at 6pm on the day.
There is space for a few more members in the music group
There would be enough willing helpers for the refreshments team
The audience:
Small at the moment (only a couple of dozen tickets had been sold at 14.11.10, although a good number of others
say they intend to buy tickets)
Publicity opportunities would fall on receptive ears
People would have courage to invite friends, families, neighbours, and we would be prompted by the Holy Spirit to
know who to invite.
Our supporters
Woodhey High School – that some pupils and staff would join us for the show, and that the local churches would
be able to continue to build good relationships with the school as a result of this event.
Bru-Station – for their willingness to provide 350 drinking cups to support the event.
House on the Rock – for their manager (Nigel Rushworth) being willing to support the event by selling tickets.
The tour’s supporters – Spring Harvest, Tear Fund, Lion Publishing
Friday, 29 October 2010
Swimming against the shoal?
Another thought provoking Friday night theology piece today. Which raises the question are you (and I) truly living prophetically? Are we prepared to swim against the shoal in order to maintain a godly integrity when we comment on the things we see happening around us?
We need to be a prophetic voice speaking out against injustice and seeking to bring God's wisdom to bear on real world situations - Christianity is not a nice theory to be kept safe in the dusty halls of academia, it's more than robust enough to cope with all the contemporary ideas and new age pick and mix theories that abound today.
To quote the EA, FNT article "The art of living prophetically has everything to do with finding imaginative, new angles and themes for the current dominant stories in our nation - putting some critical yeast into a large amount of dough. In a time when austerity is the order of the day, can we live lives that are marked by generosity? The Christian community can pursue at all times a radical discontinuity from the status quo, working out impossible dreams and overcoming impossible obstacles."
As a nation the UK along with many other countries faces some tough challenges ahead, challenges that Christians can help guide the country through, if only we will pray and listen to God, then speak (and live!) out His timeless wisdom.
We need to be a prophetic voice speaking out against injustice and seeking to bring God's wisdom to bear on real world situations - Christianity is not a nice theory to be kept safe in the dusty halls of academia, it's more than robust enough to cope with all the contemporary ideas and new age pick and mix theories that abound today.
To quote the EA, FNT article "The art of living prophetically has everything to do with finding imaginative, new angles and themes for the current dominant stories in our nation - putting some critical yeast into a large amount of dough. In a time when austerity is the order of the day, can we live lives that are marked by generosity? The Christian community can pursue at all times a radical discontinuity from the status quo, working out impossible dreams and overcoming impossible obstacles."
As a nation the UK along with many other countries faces some tough challenges ahead, challenges that Christians can help guide the country through, if only we will pray and listen to God, then speak (and live!) out His timeless wisdom.
Monday, 30 August 2010
Men in a woman's world?
Here's a great little article from an interview with David Murrow on "Why men hate going to church"
This really scratches an itch for me, as for a long time now I've been talking to folks about the bias towards women in Church, which encourages women to belong but can be a real put off for men. (Before anyone throws in the misogynist word I love women they are great to be with, but I also want to see men saved and thriving in the Church.)
So here's today's challenge - what do we need to do to make Church a place where men can be men?
It's a serious topic for prayer, much as it might be easy to laugh if off as a topic, how can we be expected to share the good news with men if they perceive it as girly? Churches today are largely populated by women, and the statistics show that most men who make a Christian commitment are led there by men, so the challenge is an important one.
It was no accident that Jesus became 'Man' in order to reach and save mankind, do we men in the church need to rediscover our true manliness in order to reach other men?
Ask Father to reveal His plan for addressing this important issue - you might be surprised at the answers you get,
This really scratches an itch for me, as for a long time now I've been talking to folks about the bias towards women in Church, which encourages women to belong but can be a real put off for men. (Before anyone throws in the misogynist word I love women they are great to be with, but I also want to see men saved and thriving in the Church.)
So here's today's challenge - what do we need to do to make Church a place where men can be men?
It's a serious topic for prayer, much as it might be easy to laugh if off as a topic, how can we be expected to share the good news with men if they perceive it as girly? Churches today are largely populated by women, and the statistics show that most men who make a Christian commitment are led there by men, so the challenge is an important one.
It was no accident that Jesus became 'Man' in order to reach and save mankind, do we men in the church need to rediscover our true manliness in order to reach other men?
Ask Father to reveal His plan for addressing this important issue - you might be surprised at the answers you get,
Friday, 27 August 2010
Who is the Stig? A point to ponder prayerfully!
Here is a thought provoking article by the EA Friday Night Theology team "Who is that Masked Man?
It explores the paradox that obscurity may be more effective than celebrity for Christians, reminding us that "God sometimes subtracts from a person in the present in order to multiply their future."
That thought holds a big challenge for those of us who are faced with the pressures of life in a world where celebrity culture is rife, especially when faced with consumerism in the Church. This is particularly noticeable amongst some young people, they take the view that "I'll shop around to find a church that suits me" as opposed to honouring their spiritual family and working together with those folks to build a church that suits God!
By all means let's be radical and relentlessly work for changes as God leads, but work to change where you are rather than becoming yet another spiritual butterfly looking for an ideal that does not yet exist..
One of the worrying developments, that I think has grown up because of this consumerist culture, is the endless pressure to hype things up. Should we hype things up to make our walk with God\Church\ministry sound great? Or do we simply get on with serving and let God get the glory.
The church is not meant to be a consumer driven organisation, led by popular opinion and the latest market survey. We don't need to add in extra excitement when God is given free reign, the challenge then becomes are you capaple of keeping up with Father's glorious roller coster ride!
It explores the paradox that obscurity may be more effective than celebrity for Christians, reminding us that "God sometimes subtracts from a person in the present in order to multiply their future."
That thought holds a big challenge for those of us who are faced with the pressures of life in a world where celebrity culture is rife, especially when faced with consumerism in the Church. This is particularly noticeable amongst some young people, they take the view that "I'll shop around to find a church that suits me" as opposed to honouring their spiritual family and working together with those folks to build a church that suits God!
By all means let's be radical and relentlessly work for changes as God leads, but work to change where you are rather than becoming yet another spiritual butterfly looking for an ideal that does not yet exist..
One of the worrying developments, that I think has grown up because of this consumerist culture, is the endless pressure to hype things up. Should we hype things up to make our walk with God\Church\ministry sound great? Or do we simply get on with serving and let God get the glory.
The church is not meant to be a consumer driven organisation, led by popular opinion and the latest market survey. We don't need to add in extra excitement when God is given free reign, the challenge then becomes are you capaple of keeping up with Father's glorious roller coster ride!
Sunday, 4 July 2010
A prophetic word
I saw a great dam, a huge wall holding back the great expanse of water behind it. It was as if I was flying up to and then over the dam wall. As I got closer to the wall I saw that it was massive and that the huge slabs that made up the wall had various words upon them: "anxiety", "illness", "stress", "poverty", "selfishness", "greed", "fear".
As I ' flew' up over the dam and over the water behind it I could see that the water was crystal clear and stretched for miles. I seemed to fly over it for for hours (days?) it felt like time was compressed during this experience - the water simply appeared to go on forever.
As I ' flew' up over the dam and over the water behind it I could see that the water was crystal clear and stretched for miles. I seemed to fly over it for for hours (days?) it felt like time was compressed during this experience - the water simply appeared to go on forever.
Suddenly I was back at the dam wall again and I saw Jesus stood over it - he spoke one word "Now!" at this word of command dam cracked and crumbled beneath the incredible weight and force of the water. The huge blocks making up the dam were effortlessly pushed aside and tumbled over and over again being smashed to tiny pieces in the process. There was a roaring and crashing of water the noise was deafening and awe inspiring, each of the named blocks was totally destroyed by this unstoppable force.
It was terrifying watching the huge body of water rush forward as it was released. I felt that it would overwhelm and crush me, but as the water enveloped me, and all the others around me it became incredibly gentle and lifted me effortlessly to the surface. There was no longer sense of fear despite the huge force of the rushing water, the feel of the water was calming and restful despite it's incredible raw power. I immediately understood that the water was God's love carried by His Spirit and that whilst sin was being ruthlessly destroyed, the sinners were being held securely and dealt with gently.
As the water continued to pour out it became clear that the water would never diminish as it was being constantly refilled by a spring that continued to pour out blessing as the waters rushed out to the farthest reaches of the eye.
As the water continued to pour out it became clear that the water would never diminish as it was being constantly refilled by a spring that continued to pour out blessing as the waters rushed out to the farthest reaches of the eye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I was praying and preparing God just gave me one word: release! I was reminded of the commandment to the Hebrew's about the release of debtors every seventh year, and about the commandment that the fiftieth year year should be a year of Jubilee. God's message of forgiveness and his plan of redemption was written into the law and formed the very rhythm of Jewish life, and yet the Jews for the most part missed the point.
That made me wonder how often do we do the same, are there times when even we Christians fail to live in the good of the release we have received? Too often we hold tight to our favourite sins with both hands, whilst at the same time asking God to bless us. God's response is open your hands release the things you are holding onto so tightly and let me fill your hands with a treasure that won't rust and rot away. It's time to release those favourite sins once and for all and to take hold of what God gives you.
This is a time when God is waiting to bless many people through The Church, it's a time for seeing new birth, and God wants you and I to be the midwives to assist with this process. It's a time to allow yourself to be revived (There is no point praying for revival if it can't start with you!). Even this coming week Father wants to see the people you and I share our lives with introduced to Him. (Yes it can happen - doubt your doubts after all we are dealing with God!!)
It's time to be bold and speak up, regardless of the season - God has got some thrilling 'divine appointments' scheduled for you this week, so keep your eyes and ears open!
It's time for God's people to move in intercession in a new way. The hammer of prayer is a versatile implement, it can be used in warfare to demolish strongholds and rout the enemy, or it can be used as a tool for building. - It's time to swing the prayer-hammer as we work to see His Kingdom established.
As I was praying and preparing God just gave me one word: release! I was reminded of the commandment to the Hebrew's about the release of debtors every seventh year, and about the commandment that the fiftieth year year should be a year of Jubilee. God's message of forgiveness and his plan of redemption was written into the law and formed the very rhythm of Jewish life, and yet the Jews for the most part missed the point.
That made me wonder how often do we do the same, are there times when even we Christians fail to live in the good of the release we have received? Too often we hold tight to our favourite sins with both hands, whilst at the same time asking God to bless us. God's response is open your hands release the things you are holding onto so tightly and let me fill your hands with a treasure that won't rust and rot away. It's time to release those favourite sins once and for all and to take hold of what God gives you.
This is a time when God is waiting to bless many people through The Church, it's a time for seeing new birth, and God wants you and I to be the midwives to assist with this process. It's a time to allow yourself to be revived (There is no point praying for revival if it can't start with you!). Even this coming week Father wants to see the people you and I share our lives with introduced to Him. (Yes it can happen - doubt your doubts after all we are dealing with God!!)
It's time to be bold and speak up, regardless of the season - God has got some thrilling 'divine appointments' scheduled for you this week, so keep your eyes and ears open!
It's time for God's people to move in intercession in a new way. The hammer of prayer is a versatile implement, it can be used in warfare to demolish strongholds and rout the enemy, or it can be used as a tool for building. - It's time to swing the prayer-hammer as we work to see His Kingdom established.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)