Prayer is vital. God is always delighted to hear from us and keen to speak to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus gives us the pattern of how to pray and petition the Father. As a church, we will be devoting a month from 12 January to pray together, and to deepen our understanding of why and how we pray.

We will be committing to a daily and weekly rhythm of praying, as well as using some events both here and around Tower Hamlets to join as a wider family in pursuing God’s heart for us, for our city, and for the world. Prayer might be something you do each day already, or it may be something you’ve never tried before. It may come easy to you, or it might be incredibly hard to quieten your mind in the midst of a busy day.

Together, we are going to help each other to both speak to God and to listen from Him - we hope that by the end of this month we all have a deeper and closer relationship to our Father who loves us by devoting this time to prayer using the rhythms, habits, and resources below.

Jump to

The best bit of advice I ever received about how to pray was this: keep it simple, keep it real, keep it up - Pete Greig

〰️

The best bit of advice I ever received about how to pray was this: keep it simple, keep it real, keep it up - Pete Greig 〰️

 

Daily Rhythm

As a church we are reading through ‘How to Pray’ by Pete Greig, as a way to deepen our understanding of why and how we pray. Each day, try to read a little of this book, or reflect on what you have recently read.

Our younger members of church are also able to join in through ‘How to Pray: A Guide for Young Explorers’ which they can read themselves or be led through as a family. Both of these books are available at church each Sunday, and free to those who need it.

The Lord’s Prayer is an amazing passage of scripture that gives us an insight into Jesus’ relationship with the Father and a pattern by which to pray for ourselves, each other, and the world.

Each day at 11.02am (as we can read a version of this prayer in Luke 11:02), we will be setting an alarm and pausing our day to pray this prayer and trust God because of who He is, what He has done, and what He continues to do.

It is hard in the midst of busy lives to pause at all, never mind to pray and to worship. Yet the Bible reminds us to ‘be still and know that I am God’, so we would encourage you to find a moment of stillness and peace with the Holy Spirit.

It may be helpful to listen to some music or some worship to do this, and we have a playlist here of reflective worship and peaceful instrumentals to help us slow down and focus our minds on things to be thankful for.

 

Weekly Rhythm

  • Fasting

    Go without food, phones, or social media for the day to limit distractions where possible and focus on prayer.

  • 7am Early Prayer

    Come and join us at St Peter’s to pray a simple morning prayer, on zoom if you can’t travel, or at a different time at home.

    Click here to find the words we will be using to pray.

  • Outreach prayer

    All sorts of activities that help us to tell our community about Jesus happen throughout the week. Take some time each Wednesday to pray for some or all of these projects. Why not pray whilst they’re happening?

    9am: Pray for St John School whilst they have assembly

    1-3:30pm: Pray for Art and Soul

    6pm: Pray for the work of GrowTH night shelter whilst the guests gather

    7.30-9pm: Go along to the HoPE (House of Prayer for East London) to pray for Tower Hamlets

    10pm (or whatever time you go to bed!) Pray for Alpha (which starts on 27 Jan)

  • Bethnal Green Prayer Walks

    12midday: Meet at the front of St Peter’s to walk the parish and pray for our neighbourhood.

    Or prayer walk your own streets, and log your walk on the Holy Ground app!

  • 7am Early Communion

    End the week with a quiet communion service at St Peter’s, and an opportunity to pray for our world.

    Join in at home at any time of the day with a simple order for sharing bread and wine, which can be done by yourself, or with others.

  • Prayer at Home

    Set time aside to pray, journal, or worship, in whatever way suits you. If you’re looking for some inspiration, why not try Lectio 365 - or check out the resources below.

    If you live with a young person, Saturdays could be a great day to work through some of their ‘How to Pray: A Guide for Young Explorers’ and think through some of the habits, rhythms, and themes of what we have been praying as a church with them.

  • Sunday Services at St Peter’s at 10am and 11am .

    plus an opportunity to pray together at St John on Bethnal Green (details to follow)

 

Events (Jan & Feb)

 

Resources

 

worship God | make friends | change the world