Prayer Sheet February/March 2007 - Thanksgiving

A Pilgrim's Prayer
O God our Father, who has taught us that our citizenship is in heaven, and has called us to tread a pilgrim's path here on earth: Guide us, we pray, on our journey through this world to the Celestial City; defend us from the perils that await us in the way; give us grace to endure faithfully to the end; and at the last bring us to eternal joy; through the mercy of your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Church Life

• Special services - Children's and Youth Anniversary; Mothering Sunday (invitation to all those who have had children baptised in the last 5 years); visit of David Banbury CPAS; Maundy Thursday; Good Friday and Easter Sunday
• Day of Prayer 09 February 10 - 2
• EASTER FIESTA 15 March 10.30-1
• Opportunities for welcome and hospitality arising out of Club 55+, ACORNS, Church Cafe, Its Ok, Sunday Services etc.
• Church Publicity - our website, posters and St Cuthbert's Calling
• Preparation and planning for the Keswick Houseparty in June
• Continued provision of necessary resources including financial

Other Churchs

• The seven churches of Cheadle & Gatley as we share Lent Lunches
• Our Lent Course being run jointly with St Mary's on Wednesdays
• Week of outreach at Avondale Academy involving the Churches of Cheadle Heath and Edgeley

for individuals and those in need

• Stuart Ratcliffe and Rachel Seed as they are married on 29 March
• The bereaved, ill, housebound & dying + our Pastoral and Bereavement Visiting Teams as they seek to care for them.
• For all who enter our building each week for whatever reason

for ourselves

• Time and space to study the bible, hear God's voice and to pray
• Enthusiasm and whole-heartedness in our service of God and others
• Wisdom and sensitivity to the Spirit's leading in our conversations and in daily life, whether at home, work or in the local community

children and youth

• Give thanks for the enthusiasm + many & varied ministries of Andy, Patches & Zoe, as well as our large team of volunteers & leaders
• Local schools inc. Meadowbank, Cheadle Heath Primary and The Kingsway where St Cuthbert's is involved in various ways
• Bernard Baylis & others as they launch an after school club for Secondary School age young people in High Lane after Christmas

ACTSL - a pattern for daily prayer

Adoration
Adoration is the spontaneous yearning of the heart to worship, honour, magnify and bless God.

Give God his worth in worship - use Psalms, words of hymns and songs, listen to worship CDs.

Father, help us to worship you in spirit and truth
that our conscience may be sharpened by your holiness,
our minds nourished by your truth,
our imaginations purified by your beauty,
our hearts opened to your love,
our wills surrendered to your purpose;
and may all this be gathered up in adoration
as we ascribe glory, praise and honour to you alone,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Confession
Take time to reflect on your life, your relationships and priorities. Bring to God all that needs forgiveness.

Thanksgiving
Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:19-20

Suggestions for thanksgiving include:

• new people in church
• imminent start of 'It's OK Club'
• building debt coming down to plan
• increased giving that is meeting our needs
• fruitful use of new building
• continued new ideas and initiatives
• our clergy, leaders and musicians

Supplication
Do you know why the mighty God of the universe chooses to answer prayer? It is because his children ask. God delights in our asking. He is pleased at our asking. His heart is warmed by our asking. - Richard Foster

Using the church prayer diary can be helpful. Remember spiritual needs as well as material ones.
Suggestions for supplication include:

• 'It's OK Club' - the training, the volunteers, those who attend
• Hope 08 - for organisation, for ideas at St Cuthbert's, that as a nationwide initiative many may come to faith
• summer camps, for leaders and for 'campers'
• mission partners; Paul and Sarah Tester in Peru; Dean and Paula Finnie in South Africa; Paul and Grace Robinson preparing to go to Cambodia
• Lent groups, that they may enable fellowship and growth
• Alpha course
• Upper Room project
• that we may be a loving and united church
• for our nation, that it does not lose its Christian culture
• a constantly renewed vision of God's will for us

Listening
In our busy and pressured lives we find it hard to find space for listening to God, yet the practice of meditation has blessed men and women of God down the centuries - it is what turns the Bible from a book of quotations into the living word.

Let a passage of scripture dwell in your mind, turn it over and over, and use your imagination to think yourself into the situation. Keep going back to the same passage over several days.

Kidayama Church, Tanzania
Kidayama church, currently under construction, is to receive support from our Mission giving. It is part or the Anglican Church of Tanzania whose aims are 'to further the Kingdom of God and enable individuals and communities to experience life in its fullness through evangelism, worship, prayer, pastoral care, theological reflection and social services.'

Tanzania is very poor, most people are subsistence farmers living on less than $1 per day. One in six children dies before the age of five, largely through preventable diseases.

• Give thanks that in spite of its poverty, Tanzania is a peaceful and stable country
• Give thanks that the churches are growing in numbers
• Pray for spiritual growth and maturity to match the numerical growth
• Pray that these poor communities may be able to obtain the resources they need to build their churches
• Pray for the provision of clean water and basic healthcare facilities
• Pray that God will raise up able ministers and church leaders
• Pray that the Anglican Church may indeed be able to meet its aims