Part of our year of Discipleship - THY KINGDOM COME 2020

During the 11 days of Thy Kingdom Come, it is hoped that everyone who takes part will

• Deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ
• Pray for God’s spirit to work in the lives of those they know
• Come to realise that every aspect of their life is the stuff of prayer  
• WE hope that you will continue for the rest of 2019!

After the very first Ascension Day the disciples gathered with Mary, constantly devoting themselves to prayer while they waited for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Like them, our reliance on the gift of the Holy Spirit is total – on our own we can do nothing.
Through the centuries Christians have gathered at that time to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit. ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ picks up this tradition. Over the past three years more and more worshiping communities have dedicated the days between Ascension and Pentecost to pray ‘Come Holy Spirit’. We are praying that the Spirit would inspire and equip us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with our friends and families, our communities and networks. It has been amazing how many varied ways there have been in which people from every tradition have taken up this challenge. The effects have been remarkable.

It is our prayer that those who have not yet heard the Good News of Jesus Christ and his love for the world will hear it for themselves, and respond and follow Him. Specifically, we again invite each and every Christian across the country to pray that God’s Spirit might work in the lives of 5 friends who have not responded with their ‘Yes’ to God’s call.  Whether you have joined in ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ before or not, we invite you to take part this year – along with churches from over 65 different denominations in 114 countries around the world.

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses …to the ends of the earth. When he had said this…he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight…Then they returned to Jerusalem … and were constantly devoting themselves to prayer… When the day of Pentecost had come they were all together in one place... All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit... and that day about three thousand persons were added." 
Acts 1, 2

“In praying 'Thy Kingdom Come' we all commit to playing our part in the renewal of the nations and the transformation of communities."
                                                     Archbishop Justin Welby 

• St Cuthbert's - 10 days of Prayer for Pentecost
• Regular bible groups and courses throughout year- We have done All together for the good- Then Mindfulness  followed by Christian Mindfulness in September 
• With Discipleship explored throughout October and November leading into our Advent course in December. Do come along Wednesday evenings from 7 pm usually.
  
  

24-Hours of Prayer // Prayer Guide 
Feel free to use this guide to pray through the full-hour that you’ve signed up. Spending 15 minutes on each letter in the P.R.A.Y. acronym will take up the whole hour. Below, there are specific ways to pray through each letter, and a Psalm given to read and inspire your prayers. Read through the guide before praying, so that you use minimal time reading and more time actually praying during your hour!
P. R. A. Y.

Praise: Psalm 33
Remind yourself what God is like, remember Jesus’ words “If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father”. Remember what He means to you, thank Him for the good things you have. Thank God for his creation. Thank God for being a new creation. Give thanks for God Himself through Jesus.

If you find your thoughts wandering, use the Psalm by reading it through and choosing a set of 2 or 3 verses that stand out to you.

Repeat them to yourself slowly, in your mind or out-loud, 3-4 times. Close your eyes and envision what’s being said as you recite them. Once you have digested them, move on to another set, or give thanks for whatever else God leads you to.

Repent:  Psalm 130
Be honest with yourself and with God, He already knows all your wrongdoing, be specific as you ask for forgiveness. Don’t brush over things that may come up that you didn’t think you needed forgiveness for. God could be bringing them up! He offers forgiveness.
Take a few minutes to allow God to show you the reasons-behind your wrongdoing. Use the Psalm by picking out one or two verses to repeat slowly 4-5 times, and listen for the thoughts that the Holy Spirit may interrupt with to show you those reasons. Beware of any self-condemning thoughts or shame, those are not God! Be positive use it as a chance to grow and expand in your discipleship

Ask:  Psalm 123
Spend about 5 or-so minutes on requests for 1) yourself and those close to you, 2) our church community, Ask God to lead our church community to the places where we can best see the Holy Spirit transform people’s lives. Pray for God to inspire you and each one of us to serve God in some specific way in our church community.as well as the people and local land where we live: pray for Croxteth park, Liverpool and for THY KINGDOM to come across the nation, pray for BREXIT and the people in need across Britain and beyond. 3) Pray for the needs around the world.

Ask God to filter out lies from truth, and for us to be pure-hearted and free from hatred in our discussions of this case with others. Syria & Iraq: Pray for the persecuted Christians in those countries, that God would provide safety and refuge, and that their hearts would not be bitter, but that they’d have peace in their hearts. Pray for God to touch the hearts of high-ranking men in terrorist organisations, pray that God would orchestrate a pathway to peace, and that followers of Jesus would be central in that pathway.
pray for all world problems and for the environment

Yield:  Psalm 131
Our prayers will have an impact, and now we can rest trusting that God is good. God has been, and will continue-to, work for the best-possible-outcome in every request we bring.
The analogy in Psalm 131 is of a child who is no longer just using his mother for food like infants do, but now is growing-up, and is content just to be with her.
Take a few minutes to enjoy God, recite a portion of the Psalm if it helps to focus. For all who trust in Jesus as God, He promised that the Holy Spirit would live through us. The Holy Spirit is with you where you are, in this moment.

Here is the Novena provided by Thy Kingdom come that provide a reflection and prayers from today (Ascension Day to Pentecost 9th June)
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Do please join in, in any way you can. 
www.thykingdomcome.global/resources/novena-2019

Simple Prayer Ideas
Weave prayer into your daily life with these six simple ideas:
1. Be God-Conscious:
“God, I want to give you every minute of this year. I shall try to keep you in mind every moment of my waking hours.”                                                                 Frank Laubach
Learn to be constantly aware of God's presence - come up with ways to remind yourself to think about God every 
hour; then every half hour; then every 15 minutes -  until you’re thinking of God unprompted.  Talk to Jesus throughout the day and look for His presence in ordinary events: is He trying to get your attention? What is He saying to you?  God is everywhere in your everyday. 

2. Be balanced:   If you often find yourself praying about the same things, bring some variety and balance to your conversation with God by using the ACTS acronym:  A is for Adoration – spend time worshiping Jesus.  Use your favourite music, a Psalm, write something, or choose a 
recent answer to prayer to inspire your praise. C is for Confession – Ask the Holy Spirit to show you when you have sinned and fallen short of God’s love recently - you might want to use the words of a Psalm as your prayer.  Say sorry for whatever comes to mind, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you change your future behaviour. T is for Thanksgiving – think, speak or write a list of good things in your life today and thank God for each of them. S is for supplication – supplication is an old fashioned word for asking. Ask God to intervene in each situation you face. There's no special language or strategy needed. Jesus encourages us to keep it simple.

3. Be silent:   We live in a noisy world full of distractions. 
Whether you love or hate silence, there is an incredible peace and connection to God when we practise stillness:
“Step out of traffic, take a long loving look at me…” Psalm 46:10 (MSG)
Try building times of silence and stillness into your day.  Choose a time and place with few distractions. Turn off your phone, computer, music and any other sources of noise or connection.  If you find silence hard, just try 3 minutes to begin with, and build from there.  If you find your head full of unwanted thoughts, give each one to God, and consciously keep focusing back on Him.  Posture can help or hinder our focus -  sit up and open your hands as a symbol of willingness to meet with God. Breathe deeply and slowly invite the Holy Spirit. 

4. Be persistent:   Jesus told a story of a woman so passionate about wanting justice she succeeded in getting her way simply by annoying the Judge who could solve her problem until He finally relented. Our Father is a lot more willing to act than a reluctant Judge, but Jesus used this story to illustrate the importance of not giving up when prayers aren’t answered immediately.  It’s OK to ask, ask again, and keep asking God until we see a change.  Are there specific things you want to persist in asking for?  Try these three ways to help you remember to pray and not give up:  Use your hands – choose five people or situations you want to  pray for.  Assign a finger or thumb to each, and spend five minutes a day praying for each one. Use your mirror – is there something you look at several times a day like a mirror, window, computer screen or phone?  Write a note and stick it where you’ll see it most as a reminder to pray Use your clothes – do you have a favourite accessory or piece of clothing you wear often?  Assign a prayer request to a specific item and every time you wear it, remember to pray for that specific request. 

5. Be unpredictable:  If you struggle to focus during times of prayer, try something more interactive: use dice and assign someone you want to pray for, or a way to interact with God (e.g. silence, thanking, singing, etc.) to each number.
Roll the dice and spend a few minutes on the prayer assignment it gives you.  Alternatively take your prayers to the streets - go to a specific place in your area and pray over it. Or go on a prayer walk in your community with others. Find out more on our prayer walking pages. 

6. Be kind:  Random acts of kindness are an easy way of making prayer practical and positive. It can move our focus away from our needs, and onto the needs of others. Kind acts can be small or large; just be aware of the people and situations around you, and have fun thinking of ways to bless them. Try the following: Doing the washing up, and praying that your household have clean hands and a pure heart.  Treat someone to lunch, and pray that your love and attention reflects Jesus.  Send someone chocolates or flowers anonymously, and pray they can better understand how much God loves them. Pay for the coffee of the person behind you in the queue, and bless them with joy. Leave food next to a sleeping homeless person and pray that the Father would provide for their needs. Help a person struggling with heavy bags, and pray that they know the light yoke of Jesus. 

Also check out these resources: The ‘Pray-as-you-go’ podcast: a daily audio podcast designed to help you pray in the midst of a busy day

Pray the daily office - use the Morning, Midday and Evening prayers of the Northumbria Community.

And don't forget your hashtags! 
#Iprayed #StCuthberts #thykingdomcome #24hourprayer

Publications

www.thykingdomcome.global/about-us 

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Interviews

​www.thykingdomcome.global/resources/day-1-jesus-tom-wright-talks-about-who-jesus-really