Prayer in the Making Lent Bookclub

Thoughts on those stories in the Old Testament about the Israelites finding ways through rivers and seas ... rye stopping of the flow, the opening of a way and the chance to cross to somewhere and something new.

Getting into a bit of prayer theology about how sovereignty and human agency work. Is God in control? Are we in control? And how do we pray in the midst of those questions?

What does prayer look like on the days when this doesn't feel doable?

Thoughts on turning prayer from a flood of words into a simpler, deeper, fuller, more meaningful connection with God.

Well, we're all at home for a while. But home can be a place that's full of the living, loving presence of God. Here's some thoughts on how ...

Thoughts on multitasking, focusing, living well and lighting candles ...

Thoughts on finding our balance amidst the wobbly-ness of it all.

This is a strange old time, isn't it ... So why don't we make it a retreat? Here are my first three tips on how to get your coronavirus retreat underway. It's all about becoming a submarine ...

Chapter 12: Resilience; Part 2: Growing a Relationship. It's the last episode in this Prayer in the Making Lent Bookclub, and this is my attempt to get to the heart of things. Thanks for listening, and May your prayer life go from strength to strength.

Chapter 12: Resilience; Part 1: Building a Rhythm. If our relationships with our loved ones always include things we really love to do, then how much more our relationship with God? Yet how often do we focus on the areas of prayer we think we need to improve in? And do we end up thinking that the stuff we really enjoy doing probably doesn't count as much? This is a tiny summary of my teaching on prayer and personality, with a challenge to work out what kind of prayer we most love ... and then to go and do more of it.

Chapter 11: Warfare; Part 2: Victory Strategies. The Bible is full of stories about people who needed to hold their ground until God helped them win victory and find breakthrough. One of my favourites is Gideon, and this is a little reflection on the three ingredients which helped him get his breakthrough.

Chapter 11: Warfare; Part 1: Opposition Strategies. Why is prayer so hard? The answer is partly because it's opposed. Since the dawn of time, the enemy has been sowing alienation between humankind and God. Here's how ... and here are some suggestions as to how you can push back against that prayer-killing opposition strategy.

Chapter 10: Scripture; Part 2: Justice and Kingdom. How do you take what was written in the Bible centuries ago and pray it for your 21st century community? This is a few thoughts on how we need to approach scripture when we're seeking to pray it in our modern times ... and what some of the pitfalls might be.

Chapter 10: Scripture; Part 1: Power and Promise. One of my biggest struggles with prayer over the years has been how to keep myself fresh and open to hearing God's voice in the Bible. Of course that's essentially the work of the Holy Spirit but it's also something I can help with ... so here's my recipe.

Chapter 9: Voice and Body; Part 2: Praying out loud. After a lot of years of praying with people in prayer meetings, I have some thoughts on how we might make praying out loud more engaging and more enjoyable. This isn't really about how you pluck up the courage to pray aloud, it's more about how those of us who are used to doing it can break out of some old patterns and help to make it a more positive experience for others.

Chapter 9: Voice and Body; Part 1: Praying with your Body. This chapter mentions fasting briefly, so this podcast digs into that subject a bit more. It's an intro to three different types of fasting.

Chapter 8: Restoration; Part 2: Forgiveness. These are just a few thoughts on how the act of turning to God in prayer can make it easier for us to forgive others.

Chapter 8: Restoration; Part 1: Inner Healing. If God is doing a work of renovation, restoration and transformation in us, then prayer is the place where we receive it. This is me talking through a few questions that help us partner in that work of restoration.

Chapter 7: Strategy; Part 2: Prayerful Persevering. This is all about how we probably need to change our view of prayer if we're going to learn how to keep praying for the same thing for a long time.

Chapter 7: Strategy; Part 1: Prayerful planning. This episode looks at 3 questions we can ask ourselves, to help set focus and direction in the way were living and the things we're praying for.

Chapter 6: Intercession; Part 2: Heart Prayers. This is a bit about the importance of expressing our own desires in prayer ... telling God what we want. We're often afraid to do that in case we're wrong or we're being selfish, but we need to learn to pour out our own hearts if we're going to have that heart-to-Heart relationship with God.

Chapter 6: Intercessian; Part 1: Shoulder Prayers. These are the confessions of a non-specific pray-er. When it comes to intercession, I am far better at big, vague, conceptual prayers, but I want to get better about being specific in what I pray for, so these are my tips on how to sharpen up your intercession.

Chapter 5: Action; Part 2: Doing and Making. If you're the type who finds stillness difficult, then take heart. This is me talking about how God doesn't just show up when we sit still.

Chapter 5: Action; Part 1: Prayer beyond Words. Sometimes words fail us in prayer. They're not enough, or we just can't find the right ones. But fortunately God isn't limited to words. This is me telling a few stories about times when I've used actions as prayers.

Chapter 4: Stillness; Part 2: Feeling and Filling. Some reflections on stillness, healing and the Balm of Gilead.

Chapter 4: Stillness; Part 1: Making Space for God. Learning to still your body is one thing, but learning to still your soul is quite a different thing. Here are a few tips which might help.

Chapter 3: Listening; Part 2: Listening with the Senses. This is all about stories ... why they mean so much to us when we're little, why they still matter today, even when we're grown up, and how God uses them to speak to us.

Chapter 3: Listening; Part 1: Recognising God's Voice

Chapter 2: Worship; Part 2: Grief and Gratitude. This is me talking about grief: how it doesn't stop us worshipping or get in the way of worship. Grief really is worship.

Chapter 2: Worship; Part 1: Presence and Praise. This is me sharing a few of my favourite tips for bringing praise and worship to life in me, especially when I've become too familiar with God's goodness ... when I'm in danger of losing my wonder.

We're on to the second half of the Encounter chapter, called Heart to Heart, and this is me talking a bit about the importance of telling God how we feel when we pray, even if he already knows.

Today we're reading Chapter 1 Part 1: Face to face, and this is me talking about knowing God is real and present when we pray.

A little delve into what may be the most important thing you'll ever learn about prayer

In this episode we're talking about our favourite prayer times ... and our least favourite prayer times. Go on ... join the conversation! We'd love to hear about your best and worst prayer moments ... and we promise we won't judge :)

This is me telling you how the bookclub will work once we get started on Wednesday 6th.

Find out how the Bookclub will work and where you can get the book, "Prayer in the Making", by Lyndall Bywater