Category: Prayer

Ministry reflections

April 27, 2023

In the past week I have been on holidays and have been reflecting on the ministries I have been involved with over the years.

Over the last 30 years I have been involved with youth groups, led Bible study groups, Pastored a church, been an Elder, a lay preacher, been on the prayer team, helped with emergency food parcels and headed up a para church ministry.

In all of these roles my heart has been to care for and encourage people and to help people grow closer to Jesus. It may have been delivered in a slightly different way because of my job role, but the focus has always been the same.

At the moment I am working in the role of Chaplain. It is something that I have never done before in an official sense. But I guess no matter where I have worked I have been the “unofficial” Chaplain of my workplace. I have often listened, encouraged, had spiritual conversations and prayed for people as the need arose.

Although I did enjoy being a Pastor of a church, I do really enjoy being a Chaplain more. I get to talk to and encourage people, listen to their struggles and pray for them. And in the role I am in I am with a lot more non Christian people. I can share God’s love and light in a real and practical way. This is something I really enjoy too.

The Lord’s Prayer index

April 10, 2023

Matthew 6:9-13 NLT – Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. [10] May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. [11] Give us today the food we need, [12] and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. [13] And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

The rabbis in Jesus’ day taught people the idea of ‘index praying’. An index is usually at the beginning of a book, giving chapter numbers and titles.

That’s exactly what index praying was all about. The rabbis would provide the points for prayer, like an index or outline, and the people would fill in their own prayers.

Some Bible scholars tell us this is the method Jesus was teaching in the Lord’s Prayer. Can you imagine using the Lord’s Prayer as an outline to pray in a sense?

1. Worshiping the Father 

2. God’s kingdom 

3. God’s will/guidance 

4. Our daily needs 

5. Forgiveness/relationships 

6. Spiritual warfare 

For me this is a very interesting idea that would provide a great structure to wrap our prayers up in. It would help us to cover all aspect of giving honour to God and covering our needs too.

Morning rituals

April 4, 2023

What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?

Today’s question on WordPress was “what are your morning rituals?

For me it involves at cuppa, my Bible, prayer and some type of devotional. This is how it has been for many many years. While the format of tools may change slightly at times, it is always first thing in my day.

Sometimes I use an electronic Bible on my phone or iPad, sometimes it is my real paper Bible. Sometimes I do Our Daily Bread and other times I do a Bible reading plan on the YouVersion Bible app. And it always involves prayer.

For me this morning ritual helps me to start my day right. It is helps to focus in on God and His kingdom. It helps me to think less about myself and more about others and the work God has for me to do.

What is Jesus doing now?

March 23, 2023

As a Chaplain I get asked lots of questions. Someone recently asked the question “What is Jesus doing now?” We were talking about His return to heaven after He gave the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) to His followers.

Two things came to mind off the top of my head. I thought I would share them today.

1. He is interceding for us – Romans 8:34 tells us that Jesus is before the Father praying on our behalf. Like a lawyer pleads to the judge for his client, Jesus is pleading and praying for us before the Father. He is our heavenly representative!

2. He is preparing a place for us – John 14:1-3 says that Jesus is preparing a place for us. He tells us that there “are many rooms in His Father’s mansion” and that He is “coming back for us one”. He wants us to be where He is.

So what is Jesus doing now? He is praying for us and preparing the place we will spend eternity. That is great news…..in fact I think that is awesome news!