The last six months or so have been rather different from what we were all expecting when we were thinking about the year ahead at the beginning of January. We had been focussing on the vision given us by God at the leaders’ away weekend, now just over one year ago: ‘1827, Possible with God’. Taking Luke 18:27 as the starting point our aim was to concentrate on growing, developing, mobilising and reaching out. We were making all kinds of plans to advance these aims – and then everything ground to a halt in the middle of March, as the whole country went into lockdown. It could have seemed that all our planning was in vain, especially as continuing restrictions have effectively slowed progress. Or have they….?
We started 2020 with all kinds of ideas for carrying through the vision we believed God had given us. But God had other plans! Does that mean we got it wrong in our vision? Not at all! What we couldn’t have foreseen was the coming pandemic and the effects this would have on our world, and on our own community here in Hendon. It was not, however, a surprise to God, and we have been seeing Him working out all the aims built into 1827 in completely different ways from those we were expecting. And one of the key developments here has been the tremendous growth in prayer across the fellowship.
From the beginning of lockdown, people in HBC started to form small groups to pray regularly, using their phones and a variety of online platforms that we would probably never have thought of using before. We have had prayer meetings on Zoom, open to everyone in church to attend, pairs and small numbers of friends praying via WhatsApp and Facetime or just speaking on their mobiles, and there are daily meetings via Skype for a group who have been faithfully continuing in prayer for us all throughout. People are regularly sharing their requests and needs for prayer via the WhatsApp Prayer Group and thanking God as he answers our prayers. We also recently held a 24-hour prayer chain in which people signed up to pray for each hour through the day and night. This was very much an impromptu response to growing needs within the church as several people were falling ill.
If there had been no pandemic would we have come together to pray in these ways? Perhaps not. There is no doubt we would all very much have preferred that coronavirus had never materialised. But out of all the turmoil and trouble, God has been working in our fellowship and building us together in ways we would not have imagined. We have been seeing wonderful answers to prayer, and many of us are now talking and praying far more frequently with friends we might otherwise only have been in contact with on Sundays.
The utterly amazing thing is that God actually wants us to work with Him and actively invites us to do so, not only through our actions, but also through prayer. One invitation in particular comes forcefully to mind with special urgency in these days of pandemic: ‘When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:13–14).
We now hope to build on the work God has been doing in HBC by holding a Week of Prayer, on 12–16 October. Our theme is: Reset, Renew, Revive! A key part of this will be prayer meetings held via Zoom every evening at 8.30pm. We would love as many people as possible to attend for as many days as they can. To make this easier, the usual life group meetings will be suspended just for this week. People will also be able to pray in twos and threes and small groups throughout the day – and we hope very much that this will prove to be a wonderful time of growth, development, mobilisation and reaching out, as we all come to God together, seek His forgiveness for all that’s wrong in our lives and learn how to listen to Him.
With this in mind, we have asked several people to tell us about their own experiences of prayer over the past six months. And the results are given here, with much thanksgiving to our God for all He’s doing amongst us!
Pastor Errol: Directed Prayer
I have entitled my prayer experience as ‘Directed Prayer’! This would best sum up how I have engaged in prayer during the pandemic. I have found myself praying for others more during this time. Directed at those: affected with the virus, lost jobs, struggling to cope, specific people for salvation, church leadership, ministry department leaders in HBC, church health as a whole, my family, and the list goes on and on.
1 Timothy 2:1: ‘I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people’. I believe we have a responsibility to pray for everyone and God has truly burdened me to focus more on others and their well-being. I would not be telling the truth if I say it has been easy – on the contrary it has been very tough. When so many people look to me for answers, help and direction I can only turn to the Lord for answers, help and direction.
It has been a great blessing to see how God has been answering my prayers for others. This in turn brings hope and joy to so many who are hurting. It is great to be able to say to people, ‘I am praying for you’ and then for them to see how God is moving in their own lives.
We never know how God will answer our prayers, but often He will get us involved in His plan for the answer in some form or another. If we are true intercessors, we must always be ready to take part in God’s work on behalf of the people we are praying for. This too has been my experience as God led me to do practical things for the people I am praying for. Directed prayer then became directed action. Keep praying and keep serving.
Angela
When the first daily prayer group started, we did not know what to expect – we just felt we needed to be closer to the Lord. After several meetings together we sensed the closeness of our brothers and sisters in Christ and the advantages of praying, crying and rejoicing in the Lord together. It strengthens us.
Perin
What blessings have I had during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Even with the relative separation of little or no human contact and being taken up with Zoom, FaceTime etc. online, I have been amazed and blessed by the great outpouring of prayer especially within the HBC family and friends: Daily Prayer (the Sunday Prayer Group meets every day now) and Life Groups, prayer partners and trios, World Prayer Group and sharing with Lectio 365 (https://www.24-7prayer.com/dailydevotional). For me, and others I believe, it started with being introduced to Pete Greig’s article in Premier Christianity, then to his book How to Pray and then immediately the following of the online Lyfe Course teaching studies that two Life Groups started and then others (including at St Mary’s, where Julie, the vicar, is a friend of Pete Greig). We all learned so much and, I believe, came closer to God and His presence in our lives and in the church: the priority of prayer (look at Jesus!), continued and regular prayer, patterning the Lord’s Prayer – Psalms and so many Bible readings encouraging and teaching us. Overwhelming experiences of God’s presence. God listens, hears AND answers our prayers – in His time. Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude (all the prayers answered for the sick etc.) and knowing that He will never forsake us. Words of wisdom shared: prayer is ‘putting down roots in our relationship with God’. Contemplation is ‘prayer of quiet, intimate, sharing between friends’ (Teresa of Avila). ‘A loving attentiveness to God in which talk recedes into the background and feeling comes to the foreground’ (Richard Foster, Quaker) – I put ‘presence of God’ in with ‘feeling’. ‘God speaks to those who take time to listen. He listens to those who take time to pray’ (Frank Laubach, who also suggested gradually increasing the number of minutes in a day when you turn to God!). So many Bible verses, also, to teach and tell us what we/I have discovered about this wonderful gift of prayer that has grown during Covid-19. Praise to God and thanks; and thank you to all those who have shared prayer with me in this time. We are being prepared for His work and plans after Covid-19 – Revival! Thank you for the 24-hour prayer and now for our week of prayer . Overwhelming, isn’t it!
Giovanni
I was really impressed to see how an impromptu call to a 24-hour prayer chain was achieved in less than one hour and how many people gladly took slots.
It is a testament of how, when things seem to get overwhelming and uncontrollable, the only way is to go to the Father in prayer. This reminds me of the words of Peter in John 6: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’.
And the Lord has never disappointed us, no matter how small or big our supplications have been. Even when we got a ‘No’ from Him, it was always delivered with a sense of peace and reassurance that told us He is control and has our best interest at heart.
Khadija
It only seemed like yesterday when pastor Errol launched Vision 1827 in Hendon Baptist Church. The church has been relentlessly seeking God’s face for the vision to be achieved and has been reaching out and sharing the gospel far and wide. Little did we envisage that the Lord had plans on how the church could get the gospel to people worldwide. What a wonderful God we serve!
The past seven months of the coronavirus pandemic have changed our lives and the perspectives of the world dramatically. The way of life for the church has been greatly altered as well. However, we thank God for the power of the Holy Spirit, who has been very instrumental in taking us through the many transformations that have occurred during this period. Our prayer lives have greatly evolved and we have seen God’s power manifested in our lives more than ever before, thus strengthening our faith and giving us the zeal to carry on despite the hardships that we face.
Hendon Baptist Church has been proactive in order to carry out the Lord’s work. Our online platforms have been generating hundreds of views and comments during our live Sunday service. Our life groups have been the glue holding us together in fellowship and prayer and they have also been our support system through this trying time. We have formed bonds and relationships more than ever before, in our partnership in prayer and I will not trade it for anything!
Lanie
My experience of prayer over the last six months is so powerful as I have seen God’s hand on my life, how He has protected me, and other people’s lives that we’ve been praying for. Yes, I’m anxious, but God is so faithful. He has made me closer to Him.
We had started a prayer partnership before the pandemic, and over the past six months God has opened up opportunities for us as a group of people to pray together every morning, getting ourselves into God’s word, coming into God’s presence, interceding, crying out to God, praying for many people – and we know God hears us and answers our prayers. Many prayers answered. What a powerful God we have!
We are in this situation where we hear news that frightens us, we are anxious about going out, people are unwell. It is really horrible! The only way we can overcome this is through prayer together with other brothers and sisters in Christ. God always reminds me that He will not leave nor forsake me. In this pandemic I learned to memorize the Psalm 91, which is God’s promise that I always claim. I am growing a lot in my prayer life and continue to trust the Lord. Personally, I believe that there’s power when all believers come together in prayer – we encourage each other, we support and strengthen each other. Yes, we can pray on our own but it’s different when we are in twos or in a group praying. I was encouraged and blessed when we recently had a 24-hour prayer chain, so I pray that the church will continue to meet in prayer. God says… ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you don’t know’ (Jeremiah 33:3).
God bless.
Ugo
At the beginning of the pandemic it was not new to me to be praying with others over the phone. However, what was new was using the platforms that are now available to connect with others for prayer.
Jacqui and I were already used to praying on a regular basis by phone and I have prayed with close friends in the US over WhatsApp. When we started using Zoom at HBC, that was new and quite a refreshing way of praying with others. After receiving a video on worldwide 24-hour prayer around the Easter period, I was inspired to set up a prayer group via Zoom and then Skype when the pandemic was at its peak. I chose Skype due to there being no time restrictions. This group just started with Jacqui, Michael and a cousin of mine, but grew to include friends from the US whom I knew were prayer warriors. Since then we have had our sister Perin and brother Barrie join, and another cousin of mine. I know there were other prayer groups running at the time, but I was compelled to continue with this prayer group focusing on the prayer points that were given in that initial call for worldwide prayer.
It has been six months since starting that group and there seems to have been growth and dedication in prayer groups within HBC and amongst my friends and family here in the UK and US. In the UK we have had a National Day of Prayer (at Easter) and last month, the US did the same, which I feel is needed on a regular basis, considering the climate we are all are living in.
I am not going to lie and say it has been easy to pray consistently. There are days where I struggle and all I can do is ask God to help me and give me strength even when I have prayed with others. However, once you start the Spirit of God just leads and guides. It is best to start off and be honest with the Lord about how you are feeling and He will do the rest.
The recent 24-hour prayer chain held by HBC was powerful and I felt driven and the urgency of being part of it. I am happy that we will be coming together again for a week of prayer. May the Spirit of God continue to lead us and direct our hearts as we come to Him in prayer.
I have learnt that I am encouraged after praying, whether it is alone or in a group, and we should never underestimate praying to the Father, even if one struggles in doing so. He hears and answers according to His will.
Mobi
My prayer life at the start of Covid-19 was very much active, but deep-down fear and doubts existed. I participated in various prayer sessions in church to further encourage and lift my spirit up which did help; understandably, I was afraid because I was a few weeks away from the delivery of my second daughter. I reduced watching the news so as not to further complicate things and would only get updates from Yemi.
Fast-forward to August 2020, I started to feel like 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – ‘pray without ceasing’. The urge to work more on my prayer life, including taking time to fast, started to occur with a high influx of prayer requests within my personal life, family and church. God’s word says: ‘Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes’ (Ephesians 6:11). I do hope that we will keep praying without ceasing, even when we have victories.
Susan
The revelation for me during Covid is that our relationship with Jesus can only be through seeking his face. I have come to the conclusion that we can do nothing without speaking to God more often than to those around us. Prayer should be the centrepiece for us as believers. There are so many scriptures which emphasise calling upon God, such as ‘seek my face’ and ‘come to me’, and all this is comes down to prayer, which is communion with our creator.
Mike G
Over the past few years we have had lots of variations in our Weeks of Prayer. Some weeks have been led by different groups, and at other times different individuals have led each night. Sometimes we have focussed our prayers all week on particular needs, while others have covered a much broader spectrum. We have met at different times and in different parts of the church building. Earlier this year we had a ‘Prayer Space’ where different items and activities helped us to focus our prayers. So, in these very different times it seems really appropriate that this Week of Prayer will again be different, with us meeting online each evening. Although meeting for prayer online won’t be a new experience for many people, holding our Week of Prayer online will. And to be part of it you won’t have to wear a face covering or even leave home!
Please send us a message if you would like to be sent the Zoom link for our week of prayer (12th-16th October, 8.30-9.30pm)
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