GOING DEEPER IN PRAYER

We hold monthly prayer meetings on the first Thursday of each month at 7pm in the HT Foyer.

A 24/7 virtual prayer room can help us to learn to pray, by praying in all kinds of ways singing/ listening/dancing to worship, writing, painting, reading the bible, resting with God, talking to God about issues of justice on your heart, crying out to Him for help for those you love, thanking Him…

In January 2021 we joined together as a church family to create an unbroken 48 hours of prayer, each taking a 1 hour slot. Although we’d usually create a physical prayer space, due to the pandemic we asked everyone to to pray in their own homes – in the kitchen, bedroom, garden – in any space available.

This is what happened…..

WHY PRAY?

So 1 hour to pray? How an earth can I fill an hour with prayer, you may wonder? If you have those thoughts , you’re not alone! Most of us find the idea of committing to pray for an hour daunting at first, but ,in all honesty, by allowing yourself the freedom to experiment and pray in all sorts of different ways, and use some of the resources we’ve prepared, the time can fly past! First thing to note- Prayer does not look the same for everybody- why would it? God made us all differently, with different personalities and interests. Some introvert, enjoying quiet, alone prayer, other more extrovert enjoying being out and active, some loving creative arts and songs, others enjoying quiet contemplation and reading. And most of us are a bit of each. So, use a mixture of ways of communicating with God in your hour. As with a friend, you wouldn’t just sit in silence, or just talk non-stop at them, you would talk, listen, maybe get up, move, walk, do some creative activity, all whilst being in each other’s Presence. Most importantly, there are no rules about this time, so seek to enjoy it.

God is waiting for you, waiting to hear what’s on your heart. Waiting to respond to your hurts, fears, anxieties. Waiting to bless you, and talk with you about all that’s going on in your world and beyond. Will you give Him an hour of your time and trust Him to turn up for you?

As David says in Psalm 61:8
‘Trust in God, all the time. Pour out your heart to Him. God is a refuge for us.’

He’s waiting for you because He loves to spend time with you.

PRACTICAL TIPS: PRAYING FOR 1HR

It can be helpful to break the hour up, perhaps view it as 4 blocks of 15mins, or 6 blocks of 10 mins. It’s often helpful to start with some worship to help focus your mind and spirit.There are worship videos attached or you could find your own favourite ones, or just sing yourself. You can then choose a subject for each block of time from attached files.

So, making use of the resources we’ve suggested below, it could look like like this…..
Worship – 10 mins
Personal reflection on Identity – 10 mins
Lament – 10 mins
Pray for local Area – 10 mins
Pray for Aylesbury – 10 mins
Focus on Justice Issue eg Climate Change – 10 mins

RESOURCES

To help us in praying revival prayers for our nation there is a very helpful resource called  The Prayer Shield (click here) which has a 2 minute prayer each day by a Christian leader, praying over the UK, along with a scripture and declaration.

Another helpful resource is Lectio 365 (click here).
This is a daily devotional written by leaders from the 24-7 Prayer movement and can be downloaded as an app to your phone.

***NEW RESOURCES***

Click on any of the buttons below to open (in a new tab) or download the resource sheet as a pdf

PRAYER GUIDES

Click on any of the buttons below to open (in a new tab) or download the resource sheet as a pdf

SUNG WORSHIP VIDEOS

Get Connected

HT is a lively church with a great mix of people of different ages and backgrounds, a broad range of worship styles, and a shared passion to get to know and love the God who made us.