Prayer

St Paul's - House of Prayer in the City

City Mantra: Where can I find the time to pray? I'm too busy! I'm too exhausted! I'm too distracted! I have given up!

Life in the city of London is faster and more distracted then ever before, so the challenge of cultivating a culture of prayer in the home, in the workplace, while on the move, or where ever we find ourselves, is becoming more and more difficult. Part of our CityShapers vision is to develop and equip the Church with tools for praying whether it's on the tube to work, in the supermarket queue, with the children, as a family, in marriages, as a life group, with friends, or simply deepening your own prayer life, that not only help us sustain our prayer lives but transform our vision of the city to see it in the light of God.

As a community of praying people we are we are developing daily, weekly & monthly patterns of Awake (intercessory prayer), Restore (healing prayer), and Still (reflective prayer), to help that work with the flow of life in the city, and to help us to live prayerfully in all that we do. We believe God is inviting us to go deeper with him and become a praying people in and for the city!

Ask yourself where and how do I pray? Why do I pray in this way? Where does the city work against prayer? Where can I use the city to grow in prayer? And as Paul suggests begin to ‘pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.’ (Ephesians 6:18)

'Prayer then is the intimacy of our life in God. Prayer is being lost in wonder, love and praise, it is the short glance in God’s direction; it is the gasp of wonder and thanks for a beautiful sunset, it is the ache or the exaltation as we listen to the evening news. It is the cry for help when there is no time to articulate anything more and it is the silence of being with God in ecstasy or distress. Prayer like breathing provides the underlying rhythm that is essential for life.'

(Rosalind Brown)