Barry Parish Church

24th May 2023

Thy Kingdom Come Prayer Journal

 

Day 7 - Listens

 

Reflection

‘O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know

when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts

from far away. Even before a word is on my tongue,

O LORD, you know it completely.’

Psalm 139: 1, 2, 4 (NRSV)

 

In Psalm 139 we hear how God knows

everything about us; He knows our

thoughts before we have them, He knows

our words before we speak them, and

knows more about us than we do ourselves.

This is why we can have utter confidence

that He hears all of our prayers.

God has answered so many prayers in my

life, when I have walked closely and when,

sadly, I have walked away. I remember when

I was 18 nearly 19, a feisty, independent

city girl working for a big oil company with

a fabulous job and an even more fabulous

fiancé, my life felt pretty sorted. Then things

started to come crashing down; within

a week my fiancé and I split up, we had

a sudden family trauma with two deaths

within two days, and one of them was my

beloved grandma, (my grandma who always

prayed a special prayer with me that I still

pray every night with my children).

Whilst in the hospital I was really

struggling and my father asked me to be

strong for him – but I didn’t have any

strength to give – I fully understood, it

was his mum, she was dying. I stumbled

across the hospital chapel, entered, knelt,

and prayed. I prayed that if God was there,

He would help, give me strength, that I

was sorry that I had ignored Him for a

long time but right here I couldn’t do this

without Him. And He gave me a strength

that was beyond myself, and I was able to

be supportive to those I loved so dearly

through the darkest of days. He didn’t heal

my grandma but he carried me through.

And that was the biggest turning point

for me in my life; the God of everything

breaking through as I turned to Him.

He had heard my cries and, as Bishop

Michael Curry says, it changed the

equation of the moment.

 

Pause and pray

Take time to pray for your

five people – that they will

turn to God in prayer, that

they will know His love and

that He is always with them.

 

"Living The Kingdom" Action

Can you share with your

five friends that you are

praying for them and that

God always hears their

prayers?

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