3 minute read
Team Talk
YOUR prayers are requested for Hefin, who has just received a prison sentence.
The War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.
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Becoming a Christian
There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God
Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong. Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free. Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen
Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International
’ talk Team talk ‘TEAM TALK Pray tell
Claire Brine gives her take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters
SINCE the death of the Queen, I’ve been thinking about faith a lot. It started the day after she died, when I watched mourners gathering in St Paul’s Cathedral for a service of prayer and reflection. The building was full of people of all ages who wanted to remember their monarch and connect with God.
Spotting the younger faces in the congregation, I found myself reflecting on a Church of England survey, which was reported in The Guardian last month. It revealed that younger adults are more likely to pray than members of older generations, with 32 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds saying that they have prayed to God in the past month. (By comparison, 25 per cent of people aged 55 and over said they had prayed during the same period.)
The Rev Dr Stephen Hance, national lead for evangelism and witness for the Church of England, commented that the I say things I might not tell figures challenged the ‘all-too-common assumption that young people are not interested in faith or spiritual things’. anyone else Having prayed through my teens and twenties and now into my thirties, I’m not surprised to learn that young adults are turning to prayer to help them through life. Talking to God is often what I do when I don’t know where else to turn. I can think things in my head, or say things out loud, that I might not tell anyone else. I can pray any time, anywhere.
I find prayer to be powerful, peaceful and helpful. But there are also times when I find it dull and difficult, and wonder what difference it makes. It can be tempting to give up praying when it feels as if God isn’t hearing me or answering in the way I think he should. In such cases, I’ve asked myself: What is the purpose of praying anyway?
The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard offered one answer: ‘The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.’
He was right. Getting what I want isn’t – or shouldn’t be – the point of prayer. The point is that talking to God enables me to grow closer to him. And the more I begin to see the world through his eyes, the more I’m open to becoming a better me.
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