Week: Prayer - Hannah
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Our Father in heaven, we know that You are with us and that You want to talk with us – so we respond very simply by saying: ‘Here we are, we’re ready. Teach us how to pray.’
Sometimes we struggle to know how or what to pray. Let’s REFLECT on one of the things that the Bible says about prayer, which is found in the book of Romans.
Read by Zoë
Romans 8:26-27
…the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain. God can see what is in people’s hearts. And he knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way God wants.
Romans 8:26-27 (NCV)
Even though people associate Patrick with Ireland, he was born in Britain, sometime around the end of the 4th century. But when he was 16, he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave. Amazingly, instead of being angry with God about his situation, Patrick grew in faith, prayer, and love for God.
‘I would pray all the time, right through the day.’ he said. ‘More and more the love of God and fear of him grew strong within me, and as my faith grew, so the Spirit became more and more active, so that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and at night only slightly less.’*
Patrick eventually escaped from slavery and went home to Britain. However, in a dream God spoke to him in an Irish voice saying, ‘come back and walk once more among us.’ Patrick wasn’t just a pray-er, he was a do-er. There were very few Christians in Ireland at that time so he went back there as a missionary where he introduced thousands of people to Jesus and set up lots of Christian communities.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What’s the last dream that we can remember having?
There’s a famous prayer called ‘Patrick’s Breastplate’, which may or may not have been written by Patrick, but it expresses the kind of prayers that he prayed – asking Jesus to be with him in every situation. Let’s use some words from it as our personal prayer today.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise.**
As part of his mission, Patrick campaigned fiercely for the slaves in Ireland to be set free. Today, there are lots of organisations who are still trying to bring an end to slavery.
Loving God, You want all people to be free – not owned or exploited by others. We ASK that You would help the organisations who are working to rescue and support people who are victims of slavery around the world today.
In order to share Jesus’ love and fight injustice, Patrick knew that he needed to listen and be led by God. In a prayer said to have been written by him he asked for:
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me.***
Pause
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Father God, we say YES to listening and being led by You, just like Patrick did. Like him, we want to bring Your love and justice to the world.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Jeremiah 29:12
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29:12 (NIV)
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
*The Confession of Saint Patrick, Saint Patrick, translated by John Skinner (pp38–39)
**https://prayerfoundation.net/st-patricks-breastplate-prayer/
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/st-patricks-breastplate-prayer-irelands-patron-saint
*** Edited down from: https://www.journeywithjesus.net/PoemsAndPrayers/Saint_Patrick_Prayer.shtml
Chris lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two boys. He works for 24-7 Prayer Australia and Red Church and is also a professional musician. When he’s not working or drumming Chris enjoys going on long hikes in the mountains with his boys and playing table tennis.
Zoë Thandeka (Thandi) lives in Guildford, in the UK, with her family. She loves football (her favourite football team is Liverpool FC), Top Gear and car-spotting. When she’s older, Zoë wants to be a photographer or work with animals in some way.
