Prayer Festival

It's not often that I'm lost for words 😁 However, I'm not sure where to begin with this post.  It feels like quite a long time ago that Emeka, Adenike and Mercy signed up to join me at a Prayer Festival at the St Benedict's Centre in West Malling (a place I visit on a regular basis).

Joined by Pauline, it was with a strong sense of anticipation that we set off on Saturday, June 7th at 8.30am.  Bibles, pens & notebooks, and food galore in hand, ready for all that God might want to show us.

I'm often reminded that, we can invest in planning big activities for students, but often it is simply the time and the company and the journey along pretty country roads that internationals enjoy.

With registration complete, maps and workshop information in hand, there was time for a cuppa and biscuits before our first plenary session.  Bishop Simon Burton-Jones led our opening session and, in his message to us, several things struck me personally.

**  It's a good thing to be in a place of being undefended in the presence of God, there he meets us with boundless grace.  ** We can only meet God in this present moment, in the NOW. Yesterday has gone, tomorrow is yet to come.  ** In our hectic world we must learn to treasure and embrace silence.

Then, each of us went off for our first workshop of the day. There had been 11 to choose from and we had all submitted our three options in advance.  Although some of us had selected the same options we found ourselves doing them at different times of the day. Whilst all our worshops were excellent and engaging, the peaceful grounds of St Benedict's added to our experience.

 

"Since the beginning of this year I have been longing for a deeper relationship with God, not the church or anything like that but one-on-one; me and the Holy Spirit kind of real intimacy. One of the areas that I knew I needed to grow in was meditation, reading and listening in silence. Amidst all the internal and external distractions going on in my life this had been a challenge. An opportunity to attend the prayer festival yesterday came as an answer to this thirst. 

From the quiet scenery road trip to Creative prayer session to Labyrinth to what turned to be my favorite session-Christian Meditation, I can’t express enough how grateful I am for this day! With guidance from the session lead, God used a few hours of the day to move my spirit to a completely new realm. I have a foundation and tools that I can keep building on as I progress onto the deep that is calling to deep. I thank God for you Lynne, thank you for creating these wonderful, blissful moments and memories"  Mercy

It was a blessed day, and I walked away with a couple of highlights and prompts to apply in my life. Firstly, a reminder from the Bishop that we can only meet God in the present moment. As such, we should let go of the weight of the past and anxieties of the future. He also reminded us that sometimes we pray for things on the surface, but our prayers do not address the root of the matter. No matter how much we treat the symptoms, the disease won't go away if we don't do anything about it. Therefore, whether it is our own personal prayer or an intercessory prayer, we should ask God to guide us and reveal to us the true nature of things. That word of knowledge is like a backdoor or shortcut in our efforts.

My next session was meditation. Christian meditation is a simple prayer from the heart while staying still in God's presence. We were advised to find a quiet space and a short Bible verse or prayer point and just bask in God's love while meditating on His word and His goodness.

Then, I went into 'praying with clay', where we were taught an interesting style of prayer. This style involves holding a bowl in front of you and imagining you are placing your prayer point in that bowl and lifting it to God. One thing I took was when the minister explained how pottery is done and I remember him saying that one of the key stages is the heating of the clay in a 1250°C kiln and sometimes the clay might need this process more than once, but the potter knows what he's doing. It was a call to me personally where I thought "it doesn't matter if I go through the fire, the same God that assures me in Isaiah 43:2 that the fire will not consume me, is the same God forging me into His divine image and I should trust in Him"

Finally, I went into the 'creative writing as a prayer' session which had a guide on what to do, but a final instruction to just let God speak to us in whatever way while observing something around us. So I went out into the garden where I saw a crucifix. On a closer look, I saw that it was actually a tombstone, and I wrote:

"I see a man ignored to the passing of time. Cobwebs litter around him, dead leaves lay at His feet. He cries from a garden only to be ignored by passers-by.  He is above a dead man's tomb, symbolic in its own right. The living God stands watch over the man's eternal rest, every day and night."  Emeka

"The prayer festival was a beautiful experience for me to explore different ways of praying. I attended 3 workshops - Creative prayer, Labyrinth and Creative Writing as prayer. 

A key takeaway for me from the day’s experience was that prayer does not have to be secluded to only a specific time or place. We can continue to pray and communicate with God in our everyday activity. It however does require a lot of intentionality. I’d conclude sharing about my experience with the words below from my creative writing as prayer session which came to me whilst I was observing a river scene…

If Abba Father was this intentional about the waters and the plants, that this much beauty and calm oozes from them; and to think that they exist by the spoken word.

How much more intentional was He about us when He created us with His hands and His breathe. In His image and after His likeness. He then went the extra extra mile to redeem us by giving His life, shedding His blood, the ultimate sacrifice.

How much more beautiful are you? You are fearfully and wonderfully made for real, and you should never doubt that. You were made with intention and with purpose, to reveal His glory to the world around you.

You are not Small. Your source is Oshimiri Atata - The River that never runs dry. Never forget that!"  Adenike

"For me, personally, I thoroughly enjoyed both the Christian Meditation session and the Jesus Prayer, which I knew very little about. The stillness of Christian Meditation is  something I would like to incorporate into my hectic life.

However, the Pilgrimage workshop was definitely the highlight of the day for me. Our key scripture was Psalm 84:5  'Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on Pilgrimage.'  This is a verse that has been very significant to me.  

Rev Jane Winter led us on a walk around the site, stopping at various places, with lessons to learn in each. Here are just a few things that spoke to me ...

** The Cross is our starting point and makes all things possible.

** Pilgrimage doesn't have to cost money or require great planning, it is about intentionally journeying with God. 

** It includes 'resting' and time just to be, and recognising God in the process.

** Parts of pilgrimage are tough, but the wilderness experience is all part of the journey. We are simply required to walk in faithfulness.

** Whilst pilgrimage is personal, it involves walking in the footsteps of others who have gone before and recognising that others will follow after us. Our journey will embrace both the ancient and the NOW moment.

** Hospitality and de-cluttering (practically, spiritually and emotionally) are part of the journey, along which we must be open to receive from others.

** Pilgrimage will involve places of personal refreshment and cleansing.

Lynne

The very final session of our day together was a short Taize worship time. What a beautiful was the bring our day to a close. 

All of us thoroughly enjoyed and benefitted from the day, which we followed with a Chinese take-away back at my place. We would like to thank ALL those who led the day, led workshops, the planners and administrators, those who guided us around the site, and provided us with endless tea and coffee.  I know, only too well, how much preparation and work goes on behind the scenes at such events.

Emeka, me, Adenike, Pauline, Mercy 💖