Lent 2018

Aspects of Prayer

Poster available for download at the foot of this page; click on blue arrow ↓ below

Mondays in Lent at Spalding Baptist - all welcome; the talks have been kindly and generously recorded by the team at Spalding Baptist

These summaries await proof checking (20/3)

19 March, 7:30pm: Conversational Prayer with Kevin TaylorLooking at what others understand by dialogue and conversation, Kevin drew on Biblical moments which highlighted the desire of God the Father to have a close relationship with his people.

He described how the atonement made it possible for each and every person to enjoy the relationship first experienced in the Garden of Eden, now through believing in Jesus.

12 March, 7:30pm: Reflective Prayer with John BennettWith wisdom in the second half of life often comes the opportunity to reflect. John outlines how wisdom and reflection can produce characteristics which reflect the Father heart of God.

5 March, 7:30pm: Healing Prayer with Paul WheelerRecognising the care needed in exploring this huge aspect of prayer, Paul described healing prayer as asking God to come, wait for him to come and respond to his coming.

Throughout the church world wide there are various views; at one end of the scale there are those who would name it and claim it from the Word of Faith movement who would say that healing is for everybody and that we should all be healed and all we need is to have just enough faith.

Paul offered examples from his own family of physical healing along with the testimony of those who have prayed for physical healing and yet the answer appears to be silence or 'no'. Not everyone is healed but we don’t always know why; we are called to pray for those in need and we are called to trust our Father that he is sovereign and that his ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. We are to create the space to wait on his and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us so that his Gospel may be advanced

26 February, 7:30pm: Desperate Prayer with Frances BallantyneOur speaker focused on the lit candle and introduced the subject of desperate prayer from a personal perspective, outlining times in her experience where 'Centreing Prayer' had been a help to her. The talk included Psalms, Bible verses and hymn lyrics as a mantra to help in times of desperation. It comes when people are in need, overlapping into pastoral care - which may bypass the conventional approach of people kneeling in prayer in petition, adoration, confession or thanksgiving.

Desperate prayer might not even address God by the right name, has no right posture and it is no respecter of place nor time. Desperate prayer can happen at night or day, home or office, church or hotel.

Desperate prayer may have few words, unstructured, possibly subjective, and is reached when all else has failed and there is nothing left. Self help has failed - it is a reaching-out prayer to the one who can help, save, rescue, liberate, free from, the one who has authority to calm the storm and bring peace, to the one, the only one who is the Lord of all time, every desperate situation and all time.

19 February, 7:30pm: Relational Prayer with Chas SandhuWhat is relational prayer? AB Simpson said that prayer is the link that connects us with God.Prayer is about relationship without relationship with the one we are speaking to, our words are empty and repetitive; without relationship, prayer is like connecting to a machine rather than a person.

Prayer with a Father who knows us and listens to us - he inclines his ear toward us (Psalm 10.17 & Psalm 17.6). Thomas Watson is quoted as saying 'Prayer delights God's ear; it melts His heart; and opens His hand. God cannot deny a praying soul.' Four key elements:

* Communication

* Biblical examples

* The cost of this relationship

* Our responsibility