Happenings 20/01/22

I told Murry that I would write the happenings this week, which sounded ok when I said it at the start of this week. But now, as I’m sitting here in the church office on Thursday afternoon, I’ve got a real problem, I’ve got writer’s block. In fact, I’ve had it all week, every time I attempt to write this, I would sit there and stare at the screen, or be distracted within thirty seconds by a notification on my phone, or just feeling so overwhelmed by events in the news. It was getting so bad that yesterday, I even lit a scented candle in the hope that it would stop my mind blank and help me focus. Unfortunately, all it did was make me play with fire for half an hour.

Prayer can be the same.

Unfortunately, whenever I even think about praying, I face the same all too common obstacles. My mind goes blank, I can’t think of what to say, and everything around continues to distract me - especially candles!

I don’t want to make too big of a presumption, but you may feel the same way. You may like the idea of regular prayer, yet it still can feel like a struggle.

Now I’m not going to tell you I have the answer to praying regularly (I haven’t), but a couple of friends have reminded me of a few things that can help us pray over this past week. It is not that we pointlessly say the “right words”, but that others may help us express what we are internally feeling. The cool thing about being Baptist is we believe all Christians can hear from God, that God has given us a vast community of people to help us grow in our faith. We don’t have to struggle alone, instead we get to share our experiences as a community.

Since it is the start of the year, can I be bold in my request this week? My bold request is that if you are like me, if you struggle with praying, you will join me in becoming more serious about prayer this coming year.

If you would like to join me in finding different people’s prayers and karakia or thoughts about prayer, I invite you to click on the link below. This is live doc that I will be updating throughout this coming year, sharing things that I have found helpful and prayers I come across. I will also leave it unrestricted, so if you have a prayer, or find something that is helpful, you will be able to share it with us all.

Click here to view

I hope this could be a place where, whenever you may be facing prayer’s block, you can find some help.

Aroha nui,
Matt