Barb Totterdell July 30th 2017 ~ Prayer Ministry

We’ve had a couple of great weeks of prayer ministry training.  Thanks to Trevor and Liz Parry who have run these times and led the Prayer Ministry team so faithfully.  It’s also been great to see the sense of engagement and momentum at both of these gatherings.  God’s doing something in our midst . . . and it is good!At the first one, we explored what Prayer Ministry looks like at St Philip’s, some of the principles involved and practical aspects of being involved in this ministry.  We heard stories of how God has been at work through the prayer ministry that occurs on a Sunday morning.  We also spent a little time discussing what might hold people back from coming for prayer.  Do you feel you need to have a significant thing happening in order to come for prayer?  Are you aware that coming for a blessing or having people join with you in praying for things that feel comparatively small is equally appropriate?  Or perhaps having people join with you in thanking God? During the evening, we also reflected that it would be fantastic to hear more testimonies of how God has answered prayer and worked through the Prayer Ministry.  Please do share these stories.  The testimony time on a Sunday morning is one great opportunity to do this.  A story from me: before the camp I led in the April School holidays, I was unwell; I was also uncertain about camp for a number of reasons. The Sunday before camp started I came up for prayer, both for healing as well as for camp and my role in it.  Dick and Joan prayed with me along those lines.  They had a picture of the river of life running through camp.  This picture linked directly to a passage from Ezekiel that has been key for me for a number of years.  It was a powerful time.At other times there might be a more general sense of peace, empowerment, or God’s presence.  Why not avail yourself more often on a Sunday morning of the opportunity to be joined with in prayer?  Thanks to the people who offer themselves to be a vessel for God to use in this way each week.Some of our community have been learning over recent times what it is to take up the authority that Jesus has given us to bless people in His name.  On the second Tuesday night, Trevor and Liz again led us through a session exploring this, including a time where we practised blessing each other.  How exciting to be growing as a community which takes the authority given to us by Jesus to personally bless each other and the world around us in His name.Want to learn more about this?  Trevor, Liz, Malcolm, James or I would love to talk with you more.  Alternatively, you might like to have a read of two books that have been key in the journey for a number of us: The Grace Outpouring and The Way of Blessing by Roy Godwin.  Let me know if you’d like to join me in some times of blessing our local schools in this way.Blessings,Barb.