Over the past week I have been thinking a lot about James 5:13-end. One of the things that has struck me as I have thought about this passage is the power of the praying community. James talks about prayers actually making a difference in peoples lives. That through prayer people can be forgiven and healed. That the prayer of a "righteous person is powerful and effective". I don't know about you, but more things happen for people when I pray for them than do when I don't pray for them. More people are healed when people pray for their healing than are healed when no one is praying for their healing. Jesus himself promised that "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them" (Matthew 18:20). No wonder the praying community is so transformational! It is when we get together that our prayer becomes like dynamite. However, prayer costs. We desperately want the Lord to move in power through our nation. We cry out and ask for revival. If we really want that to happen then we can forget all the fancy stuff. Trendy worship, flat screens and good coffee are all good things for a church to have but they will not bring revival. "When I see the Church in the New Testament, they didn't have stately buildings or paid evangelists or a lot of money, they couldn't get on television and beg! But I'll tell you what they did - they turned the world upside-down!" How did that early church turn the world upside down? Through meeting together and the power of prayer. Revival does not just come - it costs. Every revival has started with a movement of prayer. The great theologian A.W. Tozer said ‘God is looking for people with whom he can do the impossible. What a pity that we plan only things we can do by ourselves’. When we don't pray we behave like we can do things in our own strength, we are planning things ion our own strength. When we pray we are giving ourselves over to the will of the Lord. Why would we want to do things in our own strength when we know that nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). That's why I love the vision of my church, St Michael le Belfrey. Our vision is to be "serving God's Transformation of the North". That is not something we can plan to do by ourselves. The transformation of the North seems huge and impossible. But God is looking for people with whom he can do the impossible - even the transformation of the North. Let's all be committed to prayer, to praying for each other. Prayer is powerful and it really does make a difference. | "No person is greater than their prayer life" "Pray for each other" |
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It has been a month since we moved to York now, and time has absolutely flown by! Our first month in here has been really special. The first two weeks we spent the time settling in to our new house before I got ordained on the 30th June by the Archbishop of York, which was a fantastic day. A massive thank you to everyone who came to support us on that day! Ellie and I would like to say a massive thank you to our new church family here in York. We have had an incredibly warm welcome from everyone at the Belfrey and we feel like we are at home already. A special thank you to everyone who helped out with decorating and sorting out the house so it was ready before we moved in. Given the enormous size of the house that was no mean feat! Also a big thank you to everyone who gave us as welcome gift in that massive hamper that was left at Bede House by the church. We honestly could not have asked for a better welcome. Thank you so much! I am now two and a half weeks into my job at St Michael le Belfrey and they have been exciting, fun and very busy. We are really thankful that the Lord called us to York and we cannot wait to see what he does in and through the Belfrey in the next few years. Our prayer and hope is that many thousands of people will respond to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that we will see the transformation of both this city and the north! Some photo's from my ordination |