The
Vicar's Monthly Jottings
This
month, the Vicar's March 2010 Jottings are by Rev Bonnie
Appleton, her parting gift to us as a church before she
leaves the parish for her new post in South Gillingham in April.
At
the start of Lent there was a parish half
day of prayer to pray for the needs of the church. Some
of those who prayed in church that day felt an overwhelming
sadness that many from our congregations were missing out on
God's best for them and the church was missing out too.
Prayer
is such a fundamental part of our faith that we can be tempted
to think that if we don't pray regularly for the church and
its leadership, someone else will and that somehow the church
will be blessed by God even if we don't ask. That can lead us
into imagining that we are not needed in the church at all and
that it can carry on without us. The opposite is the reality.
If we are called as individuals to belong to this parish, we
are also called to pray with and for it regularly. When we pray
together we see our church, our leaders and ourselves blessed
beyond measure. We have a value
that says prayer kept central in our church. But is it? The
sadness felt on the half day of prayer was that God had so many
good things in store for us as a church but we were missing
out because we were distracted from praying by many things like
Martha in Luke 10:38 - 42. Why not take these last few weeks
in Lent to become still with
our Lord - like Mary who chose to sit at the Lord's feet and
listen to him. Her reward was both in learning to be still with
Jesus and in having her needs met by him. It could be ours too
if we are prepared to be disciplined and pray.
"For
I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans
to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and
a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me,
and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when
you seek me with all your heart."- Jeremiah 29:11-13
Revd
Bonnie Appleton
PS
- The next half day of Prayer will be on Saturday 22nd May,
6am - 12 noon at St Saviour's.
Return
to top of this page
