Category Archives: Uncategorized

This section of the blog features articles that don’t fit into any other category!

Prayer for Protection at Work

When we work, we serve God. No matter what our occupation we contribute daily to the ongoing work of His Spirit. It can be daunting when we feel the stress of responsibility, the fatigue of physical tiredness or the fear of the unknown and yet God longs to journey with us, to help us through our daily working lives.

Here is a list of prayers to help when we need protection at work:

Short Prayer for Protection in the Workplace

Abba Father, you are the author and creator of life. It is all held within your care, from beginning to end. We thank you for Your presence, for the strength it brings and the protection it gives us. We pray now as we anticipate our working day. We give you our concerns, our anxieties and responsibilities. Please come and bring reassurance into our hearts, minds and souls. Amen.

Prayer for Protection at Work

Lord God, come be our protector as we work today. Enfold us with wisdom as we seek to serve. Cover us with gentleness as we engage with each situation we face. Fill us with courage to solve the problems and negotiate the difficulties. Shower us with hope, that we might go boldly in your strength, knowing you are behind us and before us. Lord, come and walk ever closer by our side. Thank you that you are our guardian and protector. Amen.

Short Prayer before Starting Work

O Lord, meet me today in the ordinary rhythms of my working life. I invite you to come and breathe your life into mine. Come, may your love fill this heart and may it overflow into the lives of others. May your hope well up inside me and bring new vision for my life. And may your truth light up my reactions and decisions. May this ordinary day become extraordinary because of you. Amen.

Prayer for Peace and Comfort

Lord God, you promise the peace of a still lake even in the midst of a storm. You promise the peace of a slumbering child even in the middle of tension and disagreement. You promise the peace of a poppy field even in the place of heartbreak and devastation. Your promise is a peace that surpasses our human understanding. So I choose to rest by the still waters, to lie down and rest amongst the poppies. Your resurrection declared peace over trauma, power over death, and life everlasting. I trust in you.

It’s been great to join together in prayer with you today. I know that God would want to say “thank you” for the work that you are about to do. Here is another film which you might want to watch before you begin work:

If you’ve not subscribed to Prayerscapes, then please do! But until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hands.

Lead photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash.

How to lead an opening prayer in church

Today I’m going to give you three pointers to help you when leading others in prayer. In many ways when leading a meeting it is more about who you are than what you say! This is not just true for meetings but for every time we congregate with others for a shared purpose. Here are some tips for opening a meeting with prayer:

God is constant, he is always present by his Holy Spirit, always gracious, always wise, loving and holy. We are the ones that change! It is imperative that we are truly present, that as we open a meeting in prayer, we are not ahead of ourselves focusing on outcomes, or behind ourselves worrying about past concerns. Whether it is a church meeting, a small group gathering, a trustee’s group, a Sunday school or family meeting…… be present. Try to pause, breathe, look around you, take in the moment before praying. This is a new moment to us and to God, be aware of that freshness and allow the presence of God to still your heart.

Secondly prepare if you have the time! Bring something creative. It doesn’t matter how small this is. Bringing something physical can really help others to focus on God and engage in the meeting. Visuals are a good idea. For example, it could be as simple as bringing a glass of water, then praying that this meeting would be “full of God’s presence”, that we would come “thirsty for unity”, or that we “would find God refreshing our hearts and minds in this time”. You might like to wait on God and see if a picture comes to mind, and then describe what you see to help inspire others in prayer. Or you could print out an image (www.unsplash.com is a great resource for copyright free images). Sometimes I bring some tranquil instrumental music to play in the background – this can help to still people’s hearts and focus on God. Or if you play an instrument consider leading a short worship song. Other creative options might be to find a poem to read (or ask someone else to read it) that inspires prayer, or even consider giving a short testimony about something God has done in your life recently. This could lead seamlessly into a prayer of thanks for everything that God is doing among us.

Thirdly you need to be aware of the qualities of unity and humility. These need to be evident in any prayer before you begin a meeting. God is always present with us by his Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:20), but we need to be open and present to Him. It is always good to practice coming before God ahead of opening a meeting. Come before him to confess any resentment, to admit any insecurities, to lay down your agenda and allow the Holy Spirit to cover and lead you. A people group will follow in the footsteps of their leader. If you have ill feelings that are festering underneath the surface these things may well effect the people you are leading. Sometimes we need to open in prayer in a very honest and real way. Remember that God works through the vulnerable and the weak. Take time out before you lead to come honestly before God and pour out your sins to Him. Come to Him and receive His forgiveness and love.

So here’s a summary of these three thoughts – be present, allow God to still your heart and soul before you pray. Secondly, be prepared. Consider coming with something creative that will inspire people as they pray. And thirdly, be humble. God blesses the humble in spirit, it’s in the Beatitudes! (Matthew 5:5)

The most important thought I want to leave with you is this. Remember that you are unique and your relationship with God is unique. Therefore, what you bring when you open a meeting will be unique. Don’t try to be anybody else! Relax and just be you and let the Holy Spirit move through the unique you that you are. And until next time, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

p.s. If you need written prayers to say when opening a meeting, you may find this page useful.

Praying when Life is Desperate

Today I want to ask a tough question. What happens when life throws us a curved ball and we find we can’t cope anymore? How do we find God, how do we connect with him, when life is desperate?

Firstly, if you are in this place my heart goes out to you. I truly believe that our heavenly Father responds directly to the distress of his children, so in an instant God is with you. He will understand by his Holy Spirit that your distress has frozen your responses, he does not need you to pray, but if you find the strength to cry out to him, he longs to listen. It breaks his heart to see you in such trauma, so much so that he has already covered and restored that very hurt, through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus. Always try to remember that God is outside our time frame, he sees the beginning and the end, he sees your future and inheritance in Christ and your place in eternity.

I can think of a few times in my life when I believe God has literally carried me through moments of extreme brokenness and suffering. He has, I believe, at these times held me together and taken all my weight upon himself to carry me. You may ask “how do I know Jesus carried me”? because I am here writing this today. The Holy Spirit is at work in us, around us and ahead of us so no matter how dark life feels. The Lord of love, truth and hope is with us. I’m going to share with you three times in my life when I know this to have been true.

The first was a time of trauma suffered as a child. I did not pray, no one else knew to pray, so I just reacted and responded in a disjointed frozen way which became embedded in my soul. Yet I can testify that the Holy Spirit led me through many dark times and placed so many people ahead of me that I eventually engaged in counselling and found freedom in my thirties. God uses us all to lead others through such darkness into light. I am so thankful for the faithfulness of those who helped me through this journey.
The second time was at the birth of my first child. Things were not going well for me or the baby during the labour and my husband and I were too distressed to pray. The Holy Spirit woke an old friend of mine at that precise time who did not know I was in labour and told her to pray. She prayed that I would have the strength to deliver the baby. I did, and he was OK, much to the surprise of the doctors and nurses.
Lastly, I had suffered a complication after childbirth that meant many years of pain, three procedures and one operation. I was anticipating a second operation hoping for healing, when I was prayed for by a gentle elderly lady at a church meeting and was healed instantly. I have had no pain for many years. I give this testimony tentatively as for six years I was prayed for but wasn’t healed. I know many of you will find yourselves in a similar place, but I can see the ways in which God saw me through that dark time. He will carry you, and we are told we should never stop asking for healing, and I trust you will know this hope.

By the grace of God, I pray that all those in a desperate place can feel loved and cared for by God, by friends and family and by their brothers and sisters in Christ. If you do feel alone in your suffering do seek out someone to speak with. Don’t suffer alone, the church is the very hands and feet of Jesus. Seek out the help you need. I thought I would share the following film “Tomorrow came”. It is my song of testimony that I wrote with my husband. There are times when we feel that tomorrow won’t come for us, but as you watch and draw near to God, as you seek out his people, there is new life and everlasting hope for you. I promise.

Thanks for connecting with us today at Prayerscapes. Do you have any encouraging stories of finding God in dark times? If so, please do write them down below. We’d love to hear them. And until next time, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

How to Bless A House

How can I pray for my home? Perhaps you have just moved into a new property and want to give this new chapter of your life to God, or home life is currently very stressful and you would appreciate some ideas on how to pray into this.

Our homes are significant places of sanctuary and shelter, growth and provision! Praying for our homes is not just about the physical bricks, mortar, clay or wood, but about the relationships, peace, comfort, adventure and community that happen within them. I thought I would give you three creative ideas of ways in which I have prayed for the homes I have lived in. Hopefully these might inspire your own prayers:-

Gathering together with friends, family or church community to pray around your new home is a great idea! This is the first and most obvious thing to do – try to do this soon after you have moved in. It might be it’s your first home adventure, a new home brought about by growth or change, or a new season that sparks a change of location or downsizing in later years. You can download a resource sheet on how to hold a house gathering blessing by clicking here. To begin with, ask those who are living in the new home to share their vision for this place. Ask them about their hopes and dreams for it and any concerns or anxieties they or their family may have about the move. The top priority is always to be real and vulnerable. I suggest if there are number of you then lay a sheet of paper in each room, split into two or three groups and move around the house praying in God’s provision and presence into each room you encounter. The paper can be used to write specific blessings and to note scriptures or pictures that God gives you. It is always lovely to have prayers written down to look back on at later times. Then gather together at the end, share the prayer sheets with the group and pray into anything that has come out of this as you feel led.
The second way of praying is by using oil or water to anoint various parts of the new home. This way of praying is often used when the homeowners are going through a hard situation or time. It could be a neighbourly dispute, trauma in the home, the homeowner experiencing fear or nightmares, or family conflict. A suggestion for this type of prayer is to take some oil and then move around the house praying and making the sign of the cross on the doorways and windows and the entrances and exits. As you enter each room ask the Holy Spirit how you should pray. You could place a visual blessing. For example, stand a picture in the room, or a vase of flowers or a blessing that is written up on the wall, or even written down and stored like a treasure in a secret place. A lovely idea if you are renovating a home is to tuck written blessings and messages of blessing into little places like under floorboards, or to write blessings on the walls beneath wallpaper. You are blessing the fabric of the building and leaving blessings for others to discover in future generations! The truth is that we stand on holy ground as children of the living God. Our homes will be blessed and our boundaries will be protected as we welcome the reign and love of God into these places.
The third way of praying is helpful if your life is quite transient due to studies, jobs, family or finances. Sometimes “home” is in multiple places and we need to carry God’s blessing freely from place to place. I went through times like this as a student. Here it can help to have a “house blessing prayer” that is spoken out, and then placed within each residence, be it a hotel room, digs, lodgings, guest homes or in different countries or locations. Try to develop a routine of carrying this prayer with you and laying it faithfully out as a blessing every time you lay your head down.

So that’s it! There are three ways that you can bless the place that you live – invite others round to share and pray for your new home, take some oil and bless the room and have a prayer written out in a visible place.

It’s great to share these thoughts with you – maybe you have some creative ways of praying for your dwelling? If so, please do leave them in the comments below and share them with the world. If you haven’t already, do take a moment to subscribe to Prayerscapes, and until next time, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

How to Receive God’s Peace

This week I’m going to be looking at God’s peace. What is it and how do we receive it?

Peace is as a gift from God; we hear about peace in bible as the ‘Peace that surpasses all understanding’ and as a blessing exchanged by the early Christians as ‘peace be with you’. So, as humans we can rest assured that when our bodies, minds and spirits are feeling disturbed, anxious or fearful, that God can impart peace by his Holy Spirit into our very souls.

I am going to take you through a step by step visualisation process that can be done individually, in pastoral care or within a small group situation. Peace comes through being real with ourselves. Only when we acknowledge the storm can the Holy Spirit move to calm it.

Firstly, find a quiet moment to focus, and imagine yourself in a small boat, quite alone. How do you feel? What is the sea of your life like around you? I find visual pictures helpful. For me at the moment I feel unsteady in my boat. I know I carry underlying tension that makes it hard to relax. Sometimes it only takes just one area of our lives to become rocky for us to feel this way. My boat feels unstable. For me difficulties with my family and relationships are rocking my boat. For you if you feel unsteady it could be health issues, financial worries, loss or grief. Or perhaps it is disappointment or regret?

Little Boat on the sea — “Little Boat” –download a higher resolution version here

Staying with this picture, in that still or turbulent sea, place Jesus into your boat. Jesus is by your side. Sitting beside you is the author of life, the creator of heaven and earth, the Holy One, the Redeemer. Journeying with you is the one who loved you so much that he faced a horrific death yet conquered over that darkness and rose to life. Feel His presence, the love and light He carries and allow Him to lead your thoughts and heart. Where is the still water? This still water might be the care of friends and family, or it might be the blessing of a focus like hobbies, passions and interests. These are Gods’ good gifts! To find peace sometimes we need to allow Jesus to hoist up our sails and to gently lead us into the harbour. In the roughest times we all need help to engage with rest and sleep, a hot bath, a comforting drink, the beauty of flowers or a sunset! I believe that the Holy Spirit works with us in a holistic way. He helps us engage with the gift of peace.

Now look at the cargo in the boat. What are you carrying? It could be precious cargo, children perhaps? Or a charitable work? Or perhaps a role or responsibility? Look further, is there any cargo weighing your boat down? Is there anything you don’t need to carry? In my little boat I do see precious cargo – children, passions and callings, roles and responsibilities. However, if I am honest, I see a great big sack of guilt! I’m going to give Jesus this guilt. You see it keeps arriving back in my boat! And as I pass it into the hand of the Lord it becomes lightweight dust. It’s nothing to Jesus! Why? Because he has conquered my guilt! He has paid the price for my mistakes and failings. Is there anything that you need to give him? Fear of the future? Shame from the past? Hurt that feels as fresh as the day you bore the pain? Disappointment that suffocates your aspirations and dreams? Name it and give it to Him. See it turn to dust……

Sailing boat in stormy waters — “Voyage” – download a higher resolution version here

Next, what do you need from Jesus to hoist your sails and move into that more peaceful harbour? There is always a harbour, no matter how turbulent our sea, how damaged the boat is or how frightened we feel! Jesus promises us peace in all places and at all times. What is the sail that will carry you? What does the wind of God’s Spirit need to blow on to propel you into that haven of God’s peace? On my sail I see the words “keep trusting in God’s love”. I allow Jesus to lift this sail high and I breathe in those words. For you it might be words of comfort such as “I am with you”, “you are chosen”, or a request such as “I need you healing touch, release me from this depression”. It could be so many things. Where will your small boat sail to? Where is your harbour? Breathe in the love of God, allow hope to fill your sails.

Boat in still waters — “Harbour” – download a higher resolution version here

Lastly, imagine the boat now in the harbour. Create a picture of this in your mind. I cannot promise that you won’t once again feel the storm, the unsteadiness and fear. However, I can testify that the harbour of God’s peace will always be there. If you pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you back into this haven he will. Because God’s love is deeper and wider and more powerful than we could ever fathom or understand no matter how wild the sea around us.

How to Pray for Friends

Hi, today we’re going to be looking at different creative ways that we can pray for our friends and loved ones. If you know someone at the moment that is going through a difficult time you might find these tips especially useful.

Praying for friends or loved ones is a powerful way of releasing blessing. The spaces between the children of the living God are sacred. No matter how far I am away from my brother physically I am connected to them spiritually. It is important to remember God is outside of this dimension/time frame/distance, he sees the whole of creation from beginning to end. He is the author of love and when we love, we commune with God and breathe out his kingdom of heaven upon the earth. Our prayers are powerful because the Holy Spirit was released into the world when Jesus rose back to life from death. It’s like the Holy Spirit is everywhere…… the same Spirit. It’s mind blowing and world changing! Through him our prayer is everywhere, moving outside us, inside us and through us! I say this because sometimes we can feel it is a ‘cop out’ to say ’I’ll pray’! So today I am going to give you four ways and suggestions on how we can pray for our loved ones.

The first one is to imagine a circle around your friend, a circle of Gods provision and protection. Then pray into that circle light, love and healing, and speak out your specific prayers for them. Name the circumstances/troubles or dreams for their lives. Then imagine that same circle and pray out of the circle, fear, shame, pain, hurt, rejection, disappointment, disillusionment and name and pray out all the specific things that you know are hard for them to hold. (If you find a visual way helpful you can draw a circle then write things in or out of the circle.) Then just entrust these things to God, you may find that the Holy Spirit helps you to discern and intercede for them in new ways as you pray in this way.

The second way I call “target prayers”. Begin by taking a blank sheet of paper and writing down the name of each person you are thinking of praying for. Alongside each name just write a word which sums up what you hope for that person. At times it is helpful to distil our prayer in this way, like hitting the centre of a dartboard, all our faith is aimed at one word! You can even go back over these short prayers daily! Even hourly! I find that this way helps if you have many friends or family who are facing hard times, because sometimes we can be overwhelmed by the needs of others around us. Remember our prayers intertwine with the prayers of others, with the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit and praying something is always better than praying nothing! God is more than able to work through our prayers no matter how simple they are.

The third suggestion is one of open blessing. Imagine your friend in your own mind and your heart and allow the Holy Spirit to give you a song! it might be a song that you sing at church, it might be a song that you remember from childhood, it might be a song from a more contemporary setting or if you’re very creative it might be a few words and melody that you spontaneously sing. Sing it softly, sing it loudly and sing it over and over as you think of that person. You may find you change the tense to create a blessing. For example, “Jesus, be her centre, be her hope, be her song Jesus”. God has put us in relationship for a reason. We are the body of Christ, and the body works in unison! When one part of that body is poorly the other parts of the body shift and change to accommodate, when one limb has a limp the other parts take more weight. When you are hard of hearing your ability to lip read increases. It is said that it’s impossible for two parts of the body to feel pain at the same time, and in a similar way thinking of others draws our focus from our own pain. Let’s be aware of each other, pray for one another, look after one another. When we pray, God will answer those prayers and there will be this flow of blessing, love, promise and hope between us as we become brothers and sisters united with our Father in heaven.

Lastly there are times when our concern and feelings for someone we love are overwhelming. There are no words, we run deep with feeling but dry in how to pray. I suggest you find something that represents that person, allow the Holy Spirit to lead you…a stone from the beach, a favourite toy, an item like a clock or clothing or a photo. Then use this as your prayer. Sit and lift you heart to God and hold out the object that represents that person. God loves to talk with us but understands sometimes there are no words. When my son was going through a hard time, I found I would start to pray but end up just worrying about him. Prayer stirred up a lot of concerns but left me tired and more confused! So a friend recommended another way. I found a stone. I was drawn to it because it was heavy and an awkward shape to hold. Every time I felt overwhelmed with grief or worry I would pick it up, and hold it before God. I would cry at times, and that’s OK too! Sometimes I would kneel, other times I would feel peace immediately as I presented my prayer to God. Silence in prayer allows our hearts to rest, to have peace. We can take our troubles quietly to the foot of the cross and trust in the redeeming power of Christ!

Some final thoughts

Well I hope that these suggestions are helpful. So here’s these four different ways of praying for your friends again – pray a circle prayer by praying in the good stuff and out the bad. Try praying target prayers. Thirdly, sing a blessing song for them and finally try holding a physical representation of prayer before God. The other thing just to mention is how powerful it can be to let others know we are praying. It could be a card, a gift of flowers, a text, or an offer to visit and pray with them. At times I have even recorded prayers and sent them to others, so they can hear that prayer over and over. So, as we care for friends let’s be creative, encircling them not just in spoken prayer but with prayer gifts, prayer songs, prayer pictures, prayer company!

Thank you so much for all the comments that you’ve been leaving us about our prayer films. We love to read them. Maybe there are ways which you pray for your friends that I haven’t mentioned? If so, do leave them below. And until next time, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Prayer for a Friend

How can we pray for a friend who is currently having to contend with a very difficult life experience? It might be they have just lost their job, or perhaps it is a serious illness or even a bereavement in the family. Sometimes it is a friend whom we are in fellowship with, the two of us walking beside Jesus, where much prayer will be needed. In this situation, no matter what the storm is, it is essential to remain sure of “Immanuel”, that God is with us. You will find yourself praying for them at many times and in many places. They will rest so close to your heart that every thought of them will be a prayer.

However, it is much harder when your beloved friend is yet to know the fullness of Christ. Here it is the presence of God in us that will be Christ alongside them. Christ dwells in us, we are a temple for the Holy Spirit and there are many ways for the Spirit of God to prompt your prayers, actions, words and being to bless them.

He will not abandon us or them.

He is the beginning and the end.

He will call us all home.

Sorrow will end.

Pain will cease.

He is peace.

He is grace.

He is all love.

He is with you.

I have written the following words as an “anchor” type prayer. Here a remind myself of when Jesus was in the boat with his friends, in the middle of a great storm. With just these three words “Quiet! Be still!” the winds and lashing rains were calmed. It will be hard “heart” work to carry, support or lead a friend through difficult trials. But in the middle of the tempest we shall rest in the very breath, heartbeat and essence of Jesus.

You can download and keep this film for a small sum by clicking here.

Prayer For a Friends Strength

O Lord,

You know how much I long to see my friend restored.
You are with us all, at all times, and in all places.
Your love gives us the strength to endure,
And breathes hope into our lives.

So I pray for rivers of your love to be flowing in their life.
Through the care of friends and family,
Through the beauty of creation,
Through your life-giving words and healing Spirit.
Everlasting Father you promise to be our strength in times of weakness,
So I trust my friend into your hands.

Please lead me as I pray and care for them,
So that I may reveal more and more of your great love and grace.

Amen.

Prayer for Fasting During Lent

Jesus teaches us to begin with ourselves, not to become weary by judging others but to create rivers of truth, hope, peace, joy and love that flow through our own beings (John 7:38). During Lent we seek to pull aside from the tides of work, family, community and the world that push and pull us and kick away the props that merely get us through each day. We come just as we are – fully human – and encounter the divinity of the living God. This is where transformation begins, where we receive from and follow the example of Jesus. From his very holistic teaching, and outworking of grace, we learn to spend time alone with the Father, engage in Spirit led giving, sleep, rest and social time with friends. It is from this place that we use our gifts to bring God’s kingdom to earth. All these things flow from the centre…our centre filled with the Holy Spirit, alive in us and through us.

As you draw aside during this time of Lent, may renewal, healing, growth and peace be yours. Here is a new prayer I have recently written that hopefully will inspire and lead you as you seek God and turn from the props that this world offers us:-

Prayer for Fasting During Lent

I shall lay aside the pressure I feel, and retreat into your space,
Away from distractions, I’ll seek you face to face.
I shall lean into you Lord, where the weight of the world
Falls away from my shoulders, let your freedom unfold.

I shall burrow so deeply, in you I’m covered and safe,
Lift my eyes up to linger on the love in you gaze.
I shall shelter, encircled by the depth of your care,
Where your majesty leads me, I await you in prayer.

I shall whisper my worries, here I’ll open my fears
And lay here unfolded, in a river of tears.
I shall rest my soul gently and nestle into your hope,
Seeking only to dwell here, in your peace I will soak.

Prayer for Couples

The closeness found in marriage can provide a really beautiful space in which you learn together, grow in maturity and enjoy a deep friendship and intimacy. It was for me an extraordinary trigger to becoming more of who God created me to be and is such a blessing. However, that same close perimeter can be hard to live in if you are both encountering darkness, rejection, despair or confusion. Loving each other through the challenging times can be difficult as the closeness and intimacy of a marriage means that it is here that we are real, here where we let off steam, here where we will need to offload!

The following prayer is a helpful reminder that marriage is a three-cord relationship, that the cord of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit weave into our lives and within our love. The prayer asks for God’s light to shine in the dark days, for protection to cover our weaknesses, hope to return by the wind of God’s Spirit and sight to have new vision. So even if the road is so arduous that your marriage has taken the toll, take your partners hand and pray. Pray together if that is possible, pray silently if easier and on your own if your loved one has lost faith. Light will come, a shield will surround you, hope will arise, and vision will be found again. Your marriage is a beautiful thing, a rich treasure, and a great gift – to each of you and those who surround you. Here is the prayer:-

Lord be our Light

Lord be our light.
When the darkness seeps in,
brighten our days with the power of praise.
Lord be our light.

Lord be our shield.
When the arrows of hurt tear us down,
help us to hold a covering of gold.
Lord be our shield.

Lord be our hope.
When despair starts to rise
keep us afloat, blow the sails of our heart.
Lord be our hope.

Lord be our sight.
When confusion ensnares,
free us to see, to hold onto our dreams.
Lord be our sight.

Lord, come be our light,
our shield, our hope and our sight.
For in you we trust,
in you we arise.

This film is available to download for a small sum by visiting this page.

I am a miracle

I am a miracle. A living, breathing, thinking feeling creation. A masterpiece of intricate biology, a perfect balance of chemicals, an extensive network of connections and systems. We are the work of the Creator, the potter, the master craftsman! Life is miraculous, and it’s all around us – growing, bearing fruit, reproducing! Yet as God’s children, made in his likeness, created to walk in the garden with him, we also have great intellectual depth, strong feelings and emotions. And more than these, the promise that our souls carry the very spirit that Christ carried, to guide us and help us. Wow!

Yet to tell the truth I often feel the antithesis of this wonder, especially at this time of year. I become lethargic with routine, uncertain of my direction, burdened with anxieties or heavy with fatigue. It’s time to “refresh”, like the page on a search engine, to reboot, rethink, remember…to remember that I the clay could never fathom, perceive or understand fully the mind of the potter. That I the clay must trust, retrace my steps back to find the beauty, love and wonder that signpost the way to the Creator. And allow faith to arise in God, my Lord, Almighty one, Father, Shepherd, Prince of Peace, King and Saviour, merciful Redeemer.

We are unique, precious, known and loved by a God who yearns to be with us. So as the New Year begins, the most important thing on our “to do” list should be to begin to value ourselves the way that God values us. He loved us so much, enough to pay all our debts, to take the most dreadful acts of man upon himself, and by doing so to transform heaven and earth. We “the clay” can trust that death is defeated and look forward to the eternal wonder and expanse of God’s creation. We are sons and daughters that inherit the Kingdom of God, forever.