From Easter to the A-Team
Easter and springtime is a time of excitement and new life As I write this a couple of ducks, that have appropriated our front garden for a nesting site, are quacking happily away at passers-by. The walks is in bloom, new life is everywhere.
As surprising as this may seem, this new life, and this excitement translates to church life. Over what used to be termed Holy Week (Palm Sunday, through to Easter Sunday) we at King’s Lynn Baptist Church have had what’s called a 24-7 Prayer Room(www.24-7prayer.com). Simply put from Midday on Sunday 1st April, through to our Easter Celebration service on Sunday 8th people have been praying non-stop in a room in the church. As Christians we believe that prayer changes lives and situations, that we have a God, that is not only willing to be involved in our lives, but is eager to be involved in our lives. Over the course of the week, people have been praying not just for themselves and their families, but for their town, their nation, and their world. And it isn’t all just about sitting in a room in silence, for an hour – the walls of the room we used were covered in artwork done in the room, and most of the time music was blaring out.
It works. This was the third year in a row that we’ve taken Holy Week, to pray like this, and every year, lives have been changed, situations have been resolved, and it’s been a catalyst for newness amongst us, a catalyst for excitement. In our lives there are always things, whether situations or people that we need just a little extra help with. Prayer is an avenue to Almighty God, that makes change, and brings a newness, a freshness, an excitement to our lives. The old A-Team TV show famously started with the words “…If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire…THE A-TEAM!” If you have a problem, if no one else can help, talk to a Christian, come into a church, just sit and pray yourself, give your problem to God, communicate with him, and take hold of that change, that newness, that excitement that comes from prayer.
Kieran Woodward – Assistant Leader – King’s Lynn Baptist Church.