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Quiet Service - Resources

Quiet Service 19th October 2014

Introduction.

Our service this month enfolds our Away Weekend and the Cliff Mission next year in the prayer life of the church as we start to firm up our plans for these events.

We will pray for God's blessing on both events and seek His will on the adventures of the "Mission Possible" we will undertake together as a fellowship with God at the centre.

I have divided our time together into five short sessions to focus and direct our thoughts and I have developed these thoughts using the 3rd chapter of the letter to the Colossians.

The sections are only a way to shape and focus our thoughts. If you have a prayer bursting to get out which doesn't seem to fit - just pray it - it will be right. God is not constrained by our desire for structure and neither should we be.

The Service.

1. We start with a time to prepare, a time to set aside the concerns of the day so that we can be ready to hear God.

Reading: Colossians 3 v 1 - 4

Song: Come now is the time to worship (Singing the Faith - 24)

Prayer of preparation.

Lord we come into Your presence moving from a busy, sometimes hectic day where our thoughts and concerns have been for the here and now of our daily lives. We now take time to be quiet in this holy place. To be quiet in your company. Sometimes in our busyness we lose contact with You and You feel remote even though we know we could reach out and touch You at any time we wish. As we pray together we become more aware of your presence.

Let us pray together...

2. We share a time of asking as we put to God our thoughts, questions and possibly worries about the Mission and Away Weekend.

Reading: Colossians 3 v 8 - 11

Song: Seek ye first the kingdom of God (Singing the Faith - 254)

Prayer of asking

Loving God we come into Your presence with some or many ideas of our own. Where we think we should be going as individuals, where we think the church should be going and these are almost always good things. However we are called to be a people who ask You, who talk with You, who listen to You. We are called to test our thoughts and ideas. We are called to be a community who talk together to strengthen and develop our calling. God we pray that we may continually ask for your blessing. That in our fellowship together we may discern your pathways and stay firmly on them.

Let us pray together...

3. We pray that we may be open to the promptings of God and the Holy Spirit

Reading: Colossians 3 v 12 - 14

Song: Lord you have my heart (Singing the Faith - 559)

Prayer for our openness to God

Lord having prepared ourselves we open ourselves to you. We pray that you will pour into our lives and be a fire burning in our hearts. We ask that as we pray together the things that are of our own desires and preferences will drop away from us that the things that are of you will strengthen their hold. We pray that the creative ideas may flow and the ways that we may take them forward will become clear to us.

Let us pray together...

4. We pray for God's Word to us

Reading: Colossians 3 v 15 - 17

Song: Master speak thy servant heareth. Verses 1 & 4 (Singing the Faith - 666)

Prayer for space to hear God speak

Loving God we spend some time in silence as we listen for your word to us. We may hear your voice we may be strengthened in our conviction in the things we are called to do. I am listening Lord for thee: Master speak O speak to me!

Let us pray together...

5. We pray for our Commitment to working for God in this place.

Reading: Colossians 3 v 23 - 24

Song: I will offer up my life (Singing the Faith - 446)

Prayer of Commitment

Loving God as we bring our time together to a close we spend a little time praying that our commitment may be strong. That as problems come before us we will be resolute. That as we prepare to go back into the world we will re commit ourselves to living out your Good News in every moment of our lives. We pray especially for the Mission Possible that we will be quick to offer our service to you. That where we see a need we can meet we will be able to make space in our lives to give time to meeting that need. We pray for a great blessing on this fellowship and on the community in which we work out our faith, May our mission together be a source of growth and renewal.

Let us pray together...

We close our prayer time with the Grace.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and forever. Amen.