The prayer of Jesus in John 17 has always held me. Is this an unanswered prayer? Because Jesus prayed it, it has to be answered, else how can we ask anything? It is a prayer that I have tried to echo for many years and yet the Church does not seem to be one as Jesus clearly intended. This longing for the Church to be the Church that is described by Jesus is often the only prayer that I can offer, but it means changing me and changing you and the way we do things.
The time has come to look at the Church, not just the universal Church but the Church that each of us are a part of. I believe that we grieve the Lord when we think of churches and "our church" …..what have we created? Maybe we should concentrate on just being Church and proclaim the Kingdom.
This issue has at its core an article on the Church. Steve Morgan promised this when I talked to him after his seminars at Flames of Fire. The report of our A.G.M. address given by Trevor and Chris Evans parallels the history and growth of A.R.M. but leaves us conscious of the need for change in the Church. Trevor will be expanding on this theme in a later issue.
There is now much prayer in Wales for Revival, many are responding to various organised initiatives to pray. Prayer for 200,000 evangelists to evangelise the whole of Wales, a Week of Prayer in May 2002, new Web-pages and support teams to coordinate this vast volume of prayer. So we must ask ourselves, "Where do we, in A.R.M.(Wales) fit in?" Do we start our own initiative or just join in, jointly or individually, what is most convenient or least threatening?
I am excited by the fact that there is now such an interest in prayer, but I am sure that I am not alone in asking, "Where do I fit in, what is my place in the Body of Christ?".
Long before I came into Renewal I sought to encourage people into deeper prayer and a real relationship with God. I knew that the Holy Spirit was there to guide and help us "organise" our church and its activities. In fact it was my desire to set up a "healing prayer group" in the six villages that had been thrust together under a Priest-in-Charge, that took me into a situation where the Lord "took over" my prayer. I was visiting a prayer group in another village that already had an established Healing Ministry, when it came to my turn to pray the Lord set my whole body on fire and the prayer was His, I didn't pause to think, the words seemed to come from nowhere. I didn't know that this could happen to an ordinary Christian, I was unable to speak of it at first as the experience was overwhelming and I didn't expect my friends and family to believe me. My vicar, although not into Renewal himself, was encouraging and lent me a copy of "I believe in the Holy Spirit", by Michael Green, "Skim though this in the next few weeks," he said! But I couldn't put it down, I read every word and looked up every reference. I have never been the same since that experience, I was left "in love" with God rather than just loving, I certainly knew now that there was NO LIMIT to what our relationship could become. I had to journey almost the length of St.Albans Diocese to find Renewal Meetings, but God wrought in me a great desire, not only to read His Word but also many paperbacks inspired by the Holy Spirit. The first book in this category was Colin Urquhart's new book "Holy Fire". (Hodder &Stoughton 1984) This was amazing as the Lord was speaking to me and teaching me daily, and then as if to confirm what He had shown me, the next chapter of the book contained the same message. It was as if the book had been written for me.
Since then I have read and studied much on prayer, and see it as a journey, drawing ever closer to God. Only by sitting quietly in His presence can we be drawn close, we have to lay down our agenda and be prepared for His will to be gradually worked in us. So much rubbish has to be swept out of the way, so much healing has to be done, so much relearning, so much loving………so much more of God……..so much less of me.
I am thrilled when I can teach or encourage others but to those who find it hard to pray I say let God do the teaching, just sit in His presence and let Him have His way. If you want more of Him then He will not fail you, this sort of prayer is for us all. You may want to intercede, but feel that it is advanced prayer, the truth is that we are all called to intercede for someone or something. Only the Holy Spirit can show you how, I now see this as becoming like Jesus, even to become one with the Intercessor. So I return to John 17, that is what He wants now in 2002.
I believe that this is God's prayer initiative for us all, we start where we are with Him. He may involve us in starting a prayer group in our locality, but that has to be inspired by the Holy Spirit who must always be in charge, or He may just want us to rest in His presence. We are not wasting time, we are waiting on Him.
But to return to A.R.M.(Wales), we encourage those of other denominations to join us with no intention of making them Anglicans, we learn from them and we hope that we can bless them, but we have a part to play in our Anglican Churches as we pray for Renewal to be effective and for an increase in love and understanding. It is good that the Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics can meet in Charismatic Renewal, that can only be the work of the Holy Spirit, it is a start to becoming one, and we must let Him show us how we can be one in each village, town and city. So we must pray for the Anglican Church to be changed by God Himself, it is a task that is far too great for us to undertake and we need His Grace for it to happen. We Need you Lord…………….
WE NEED YOU LORD.........................(Flames of Fire 2002 )
Mary Newsom
Prayer begins at the point of Contact with God