Weald of Kent Circuit Prayer Morning
Our Saturday morning prayer meeting held on Saturday 17th January opened with an introductory by Rev Jane, the singing of songs of praise, a reading with opening prayers.
The focus for the morning was on the presence of God based on the book of Exodus chapter 33:12-20 and what this meant for us all in our Circuit.
Rev Kirsty had laid out seven tables to represent our seven churches in the Circuit, they are: Otford, The Drive Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, East Peckham, St Andrews Paddock Wood, United Emmanuel, and Horsmonden. On each table was an upturned box with a photograph of the said churches. There were pens, pencils, stick-it notes, and slips of paper with subjects already printed for people to pray for, such as: requests, thanksgiving, praise, and events that each church was involved in.
On an eighth table, an ordnance survey map of the area was laid out with various coloured dots that indicated where each church was in relation to the other, and with relevant places connected with each church, such as care homes, hospitals etc.
Following the introductory time, those attending were invited to circulate, take time for reflection, to chat with each other and pray together, or just quietly offer personal prayers. They were also encouraged to write their personal prayers on the stick-it notes and stick them to the box on the table; encouragement was also given for individuals to write down what they felt they got out of the morning.
The morning closed with the singing of a couple of songs, Richard closing the meeting in prayer.
Sadly, the attendance was very low from across our Circuit with only 20 or so actually joining us! One must ask the question that, when as Christians we all know how important prayer is, what stops us from fully coming together for these special times?
Thankfully, those of us who did attend this gathering really appreciated our time together and to see and understand how much our individual churches needed prayer, it was also good to see just how many prayers are being answered in all the churches of our Circuit.
Richard adds that whilst Rusthall and Hawkenbury are not members of our Circuit, because of their connection with United Emmanuel they have a place on the Circuit map, and they featured in the prayers during the morning.
Richard Cannam