Every
Tuesday or Wednesday between 9.45am and 12.30pm and again from 2pm until 4.30pm teams of people
meet in chapel for Bible reflection and prayer. There is a team leader and deputy
and usually a few other “regulars”. Other people join us when they are
able for all or part of the time and prayer is continued by others the rest of the week.
The real basis of the work we do is
the prayer which goes on in chapel throughout the day. This needs to be done day
by day whether we feel like it or not ... like a job! Those of us who have shared
in this have developed a new respect for monks and nuns who give their lives to
it. This is no escape into a dream world, but a real coming to grips with the
depths of human suffering. It is very much “work”.
Ministry
is given to individuals by the Chaplain and other members of the “ministry
team”.
PLEASE PRAY WITH ME.
If you would like
to be prayed for in the group, mention this to the team leader, or respond when
an invitation is given for people to come forward. The team leader will often
ask one or two members of the group to pray for you too. You may give them a brief
indication of why you are asking for prayer, but this is not essential if you
would rather not speak. If you want to have the opportunity to be listened to
for a longer time, this may be possible immediately, or you may arrange to return
at another time for an individual appointment, with the Chaplain in the first
instance. The people praying with you in the group may use Bible texts, pictures,
symbols, prayers or poems or may be quite silent. They may ask your permission
to put a hand on your shoulder or take your hand.
If you have experience
of offering healing prayer elsewhere please look to the team leader for guidance
before getting involved in prayer for other individuals. If you get pictures or
texts we ask you to share these quietly with the leader or deputy before speaking
them out in the group.
Please be assured that many people just like to
be part of the Bible reflection without requesting or being involved in individual
prayer.
All the people in chapel use Prayer Cards and Short Term Prayer
Slips to intercede for others. You will be invited if you wish to join in these
usually silent prayers. REQUESTS
FOR PRAYERS FOR OTHERS.
Requests for prayers for other people are
dealt with in two ways:-
Short term prayers
If the request
is a focussed or short term situation, eg an operation, an appointment, an exam,
a funeral, etc, the first name of the person, along with a brief description of
the trouble, is put on a Short Term Prayer Slip by the receptionist and brought
into chapel. These names are prayed for morning and afternoon for one week. If
more prayer is needed, as for example after a major surgery, then a Prayer Card
will be completed also.
Prayer Cards
If prayer is required
over a longer period of time, the receptionist makes out a card on which the person’s
first name appears with the graces which they, or the requester, have asked for,
eg Love, Wisdom, Peace, etc. These graces are to assist the focus of prayer towards
the healing qualities God brings. This card has a number which refers to the entry
in the register, kept confidentially in the reception office, and a coloured sticker
to indicate the week in which the prayer was requested. These people are held
in prayer daily for eight weeks. If the requester wishes prayer in chapel to continue
then the receptionist will make out a card for another eight weeks Continuing
Prayer List
When people are no longer being prayed for individually in
chapel their names are entered in the Continuing Prayer List which is kept in
chapel at all times so that prayer continues each day. Some names may be sent
to our intercessors at home for a further period.
Intercessors.
We have a number of Intercessors who pray at home. These may be people who want
to remain active members of the Fellowship but are unable for various reasons
to come in person.
If you are interested to hear more about this side
of the work please leave your name and address so that the receptionist can put
the Prayer Secretary in touch with you.
Supporting Prayer
The team in chapel prays for those people who are giving or receiving ministry
in other rooms in the house.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving always
forms part of the prayers after the tea break and we sometimes include reports
that we have received from people who have been prayed for in the past. We always
respect confidentiality and we do not use identifiable names.
We hope
this information is helpful for your visits here. Please do ask team leaders and
receptionists for more information. If you have or are developing a healing ministry
in your own church or group please feel free to use and adapt our model if it
is useful.
You may find our leaflet: “HEALING
TIMES AND SPACES” also helpful for your own or church use. Other
leaflets about prayer are: “PRAY FOR”,
“HIS TOOL RACK”, “INTERCESSION”,
“THREE PRAYERS”, “SPIRITUAL
DISCIPLINES”.
Do come and be with us again.
| May the living, healing
love of God enfold you
May the living, healing light of Christ penetrate you
touching you in your need. May
this Fellowship be for you
a place of welcome
a place and a people
where you experience
the flow of Christ’s Holy Spirit
where the ministry
of healing
becomes real for you. May
we be a doorway
to your learning more
about Christ’s healing. May
you receive, may you discover Christ
unfolding healing gifts within you. May
we together be challenged
to allow our bodies to be temples
of God’s
holy, healing Presence
and to be people through whom
the healing ministry
of Christ
flows for ourselves,
our Fellowship,
our churches and our
world.
Jenny
Williams (Chaplain 1997 -)
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