Prayer Week, Day Five

Our final evening together... before launching into 38 hours of non-stop prayer, and then gathering for our community meal on Sunday afternoon. What a week! :)

We re-capped the last couple of days and prayed that Holy Spirit would help us to filter and sift through all we've felt and heard, so that we discern the way forward together. After summarising Justin Blake's email-dream about the station/journey and the prayer spaces, I read an email that David sent me;

"I was interested to hear/read JB's prophetic word, especially the bit about the prayer room being a safe, restful space with drink/food. Earlier in evening yesterday my mind wandered a little, triggered by something Dewi prayed about going/reaching out.

I saw the festival thing in Rafael's Park that we went to last summer, and in my mind's eye there was an open-fronted marquee with space for prayer (and being prayed for), free food, local people relaxing and talking. I didn't think anything of it until I read JB's prophetic word again this evening. I was thinking that 'mobility' is an important aspect. Tents more than bricks. Going out and creating a welcoming space. A kind of 'community roadshow'!

Not that that precludes anything else of course. Not even sure if it's God or just 'me'. Anyway, something to add into the mix perhaps."

We didn't feel that this was 'just David'. :)

The conversation and the prayer weaved in and out all evening. Here's a brief summary;

+ Jon likened Helen's sewing to the ways that God was weaving the things we'd written on the scraps of paper yesterday into our lives. "We wear them like scout badges" he added. "Let's..." go for it!

+ Tim talked about 'moving on' and told us that we can't do it tidily. There are always loose ends. The challenge for us is to choose to move on, and to leave some of our ways behind. Which reminded me of our last non-stop prayer weekend, and the 'river' we'd created in the prayer room in response to the story in Exodus 33. It's time to cross over. This seemed to fit in with what Justin had dreamed about us too.

+ Rosi read the parable of the ten virgins and the oil lamps, and felt that this was encouragement to live led by, and intimate with God's Spirit.

+ Rich described a picture he'd had all week of a forest. Emma added that she'd been praying for Tim about 'forests', and then Tim explained a few things he'd seen in a documentary about forests... about seeds been buried, but protected from the frost by the trees above, about clearing trees to release the new life/seeds, etc. It all seemed to fit together.

+ Rosi felt that this all spoke to her of slow and safety and sanctuary and hope...

+ Rich added that he'd been carrying 'hope' around in his pocket all week. :)

+ Clare picked up the slow theme, and talked about patience. She described God's relationship with us as parent to child. Parent-God is encouraging us in a particular direction, but is patient and gentle in allowing plenty of room for our "childlike meanderings" in the general direction. It is not a narrow way! There is nothing to fear in this!

+ Emma pointed to a collage on the wall, and the different distinct threads. "It makes me think of the textures and colours of our community life, which are being added to all the time."

+ Sue acknowledged that she'd been pining recently for something 'old' and 'past', as if she'd lost something of her life with God... but that she now felt excited and hopeful about a 'new future'. "There is a way forward that I haven't anticipated yet."

This felt like a good time to pray for one another... so, picking up Jon's image of the scout's badges, we each grabbed a handful of the scraps of paper we'd written values on and prayed for one another around these themes. As usual, glorious chaos ensued... :)

After this, as we drew the final themes of our week together, we asked ourselves the question -are we ready to say clearly and confidently what kind of people God has called us together to be? Are we ready, as Sue said, "to nail our colours to the mast", to cross over, to choose to go and to go together into the new season... to begin a new season of "childlike meandering" together?

We toyed with the idea of 'engagement and marriage'... in this moment, acknowledging all that Jesus has spoken to us and through us to one another, we feel ready to 'engage' ourselves to this way... to being a people of prayer, of welcome and hospitality, of justice, of creativity, of safety and sanctuary, of hope. And in this short period, we will count the cost, consider the implications, and prepare to be wed.

In closing, Ian read a few verses from Matthew 11, where Jesus invites his friends to 'come with him' (remember David's picture earlier in the week of Peter asking Jesus to call him out of the boat and onto the waves?). Reflecting on this now, it feels to me that these verses wrap it all up... "Come with me," says Jesus, "lay down your burdens, your old ways, and take on this new yoke. Be yoked with and to me. My burden is light and my yoke is easy. Come carry it with me."

And so we say, "yes, Lord".