Would you like to be prayed for?
If you would like to be prayed for, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us through the church office (01473 251 630 or email) or use the contact form.
For urgent and immediate prayer, Please contact our ‘prayer chain’: Marian 01473 404051 between 8am and 10pm, or the Parish Office 01473 251630 9am-4pm, or Rev Ruth Best 01473 424121 between 10pm and 8am.
How to pray
You can pray to God at any time and anywhere. There are as many ways to pray as there are people – it’s a very individual thing! The main thing is just to get started! If you’d like some ideas to help with prayer, here are a few thoughts:
The Lord’s prayer. The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples – it covers a lot of things, and you can pray it as it is or use each line to guide your ideas. We’ve put the Lord’s prayer below.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
You can use a little mnemonic to get ideas. For example ACTS (Adoration: praising God; Confession: saying sorry to God for what we’ve done wrong; Thanksgiving: saying ‘thank you’ to God for things you’re grateful for; and Supplication: praying for ourselves and other people for needs).
St Matthew’s has produced some helpful thoughts on how to pray each day of the week – you can download it here.
Links for prayer ideas
- Prayers for personal situations
- Daily Prayer
- 24/7 prayer
- Celtic Daily Prayer
- Pray as you Go – daily 10 minute audio guided meditation of music and prayer
Meditation is a type of prayer that has been part of the Christian tradition since the early days, Jesus himself spent long periods in alone in prayer. This type of prayer is increasingly popular and mindfulness borrows heavily from this ancient form. You don’t need a wilderness or lots of free time, a 10-20 minutes pause in your day is enough. Have a look at the World Community for Christian Meditation – includes weekly teachings, blogs for inspiration, podcasts, an App and even a timer!
Apps
- Lectio 365 https://www.24-7prayer.com/dailydevotional
- Church of England apps https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/apps
St Matthew’s at prayer
There are a variety of ways you can pray with others for the life and work of St. Matthew’s and its local community.
St. Matthew’s has a regular prayer diary, and a monthly prayer focus – contact the church office for details, or sign up to the church weekly email.
