The church is praying for you

Sometimes the pace and cares of life can feel overwhelming. So much has happened in 2022 already: we’ve experienced changes in leadership locally and nationally; we’ve shared in national grief and soul searching at the loss of our Queen, a constant figure for so many. The climate crisis is creating refugees overseas. The war in Ukraine continues to destabilize the world and to bring refugees into our homes, and as winter approaches, everybody will be affected by the cost of living crisis.

Modern life moves fast. So, it is all the more important for us to make space, and stop. Stop and pray. Prayer for some people might simply mean a moment of quiet reflection, or a two-way connection with God to express one’s inner state, and to gain perspective.

I wonder if you know that the Christians in our city region are always praying for you? It is their speciality. As I write, in this week alone I know of events in various churches on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and the next Sunday all dedicated to gathering Christians to pray for our city, for the various crisis facing our nation and the world, for regular people to hear and know God’s heart and voice in the midst of a shaky time.

As a Sheffield resident for 29 years, it feels both surprising and humbling to know that people are praying for us all, week in, week out.

The bible calls on God’s people not to retreat from society into a holy huddle, but to engage locally through words, works and witness. “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you... Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah chapter 29).

There are always opportunities for anybody to engage with prayer. Cathedrals and some churches around our region keep their doors open during the daytimes. Christian churches are designed, sometimes centuries ago, to help humans to contemplate the divine. They are spacious, quiet, inspirational and friendly.

My church is on the busy Ecclesall Road, and every day people pop their heads in, curious about what is going on inside, or to stop for a while and seek inner peace because they feel spiritually drawn, or sometimes desperately lonely or in need.

May the words of Psalm 123 encourage you, in your busy week “I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven.”