Praying

Imagine sharing a house with someone who only communicated with you by leaving little post-it notes dotted round the place.

And suppose you asked them why they did that and they looked at you quizzically and said: ‘well I guess I don’t get much out of talking to you; I’ve tried but my mind just wanders, so I’ve given up’. 

That might leave you with serious doubts about your own conversational ability, but mostly, I think, it would strike you as extraordinarily rude. 

Yet that’s often just how we can be with God. Either because we find prayer hard work or because we don’t get much out of it, we just give up. It is, when you think about it, extraordinarily rude. 

So when one writer comments that the very worst sin is prayerlessness, you can see their point. 

Prayer must be right at the heart of a Christian’s life and right at the heart of things at Christ Church. 

Here are some of the ways we seek to encourage one another to pray:

Prayer diary

Each month, both in paper form and electronically, we make available a diary with a few brief pointers for prayer each day. You can find the electronic version on the Christ Church app here. 

Church Prayer Meetings

On the second Wednesday of every month. Some brief input from the front before time praying in small groups. Many will pray out loud, others will prefer to pray silently. A meeting where we are able to hear more about things going on at Christ Church and elsewhere and commit them to God in prayer.

Week of prayer

In the Autumn we set aside a week to focus particularly on prayer by having a range of gatherings for prayer as we enter into a new year of ministry at Christ Church. 

Prayer triplets

A number of people choose to meet in threes or fours so that they can support and encourage one another by praying together. Do contact the office if you would like to know more. 

Books

Many have found the following books helpful encouragements for prayer. 

Tim Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (Hodder & Stoughton)

Paul Miller, A Praying Life (NavPress Publishing Group)

Prayer mate

Many are helped by using PrayerMate an app that helps us get organised to pray. You can find it in the Apple Store or Play Store.