Yielding and Salvation

This is the third of our new-style community meals. Our leaders had just come back from an overnight training time with the UK and Ireland Boiler Room Network, which is the network of houses of prayer and churches that do 24-7 in the UK and Ireland.

We were joined by a couple of new people who want to be with us on the journey.

Some feedback on the Good Friday reflections (9pm to midnight) where that it was a very special time, with a strong sense of God's presence and it helped someone continue on their journey with God. Others said it is good to have help to pray and hold attention on God. Can we do something similar again soon (i.e. advertise a time when there will be some organised reflection and prayer). And the worship was amazing!

How is the fasting rhythm going? Some are doing it and finding it helpful. Interestingly, at the Boiler Room Network training Mike Andrea had challenged all the leaders there to establish a rhythm of prayer, fasting and contending for one another across the network. Keep going on this one!!

Worship - Offer your body as a living sacrifice

First we got into the "prayer pairs" we had been in for the last fortnight, to see how we both were and pray a final blessing on each other. We each have a new person to pray for each day for the coming fortnight. Although Richard's random maths seems to have made a few pairs the same... Hmm...

Next, worship. Pete Grieg has outlined a four step rhythm for prayer: Pause, Rejoice, Ask, Yield. Our worship tonight focused on yielding to God.  We thought about the verse Romans 12:2 - offering our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.  This verse is referring to Romans Ch 1- 11 and all the descriptions of God's mercy in those chapters and says, that in view of all that we should offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice. Similarly, we thought of all the Easter story just focused on last week and then we sung When I survey the wondrous cross (by Southampton man Isaac Watts), and in view of all that, we prayed prayers focused on yielding. 

Prayer

Tara picked up on this month's theme of SALVATION. Using a reading from the Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis which is an imaginative story/parable about people getting nearer to heaven. Then we spent time in silence asking God about the questions

• How do you want to use me? 

• Where do you want to use me? 

• Who do you want to use me with?

After our personal quietness with these questions we shared in pairs and prayed for each other, to respond to what God had been saying to us.

News

On 17th/18th May Southampton University Christian Union are having a 24 hour prayer event in the prayer room, to which we are also welcome. We will provide hosts as usual for the day time, so that we can be open for drop-in prayers. We can still book our out of hours sessions.

We have some letters to send to our MPs to encourage them. They will be in the prayer room this weekend and sent by post next week.

Next meal...

...is on Wednesday 8th May.