8. Remembering what God has done in your life

The Prayer Garden is a podcast from St Peter’s Bethnal Green to help you meet with God and pray for the world.

Reading – Psalm 77.
Music – ‘The way things were’ by Kevin Graham.
Prayer – A prayer from Richard of Chichester.

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Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for all the gifts which you have given to me. 
For all the pains and insults you have borne for me
O most merciful redeemer, friend, and brother, 
May I see you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly,
Day by day
Amen

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We are an eclectic church community at the heart of East London which worships Jesus in scripture, Spirit, and the sacraments. We hope to be a safe haven to whoever steps through our doors.

Although our church building is currently closed, we hope that we can meet you in many ways, including through this podcast.

Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

7. Seeking Jesus when he feels far away

The Prayer Garden is a podcast from St Peter’s Bethnal Green to help you meet with God and pray for the world.

Reading – Psalm 27.
Music –  ‘Until we reach our full measure’ by Ghost of Us.
Prayer – St Anselm.

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A Prayer of St Anselm
O Lord my God,
Teach my heart this day where and how to see you,
Where and how to find you.
You have made me and remade me,
and you have bestowed on me all the good things I possess,
And still I do not know you.
I have not yet done that for which I was made.
Teach me to seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me,
or find you unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in my desire,
Let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you,
Let me love you when I find you.
Amen

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We are an eclectic church community at the heart of East London which worships Jesus in scripture, Spirit, and the sacraments. We hope to be a safe haven to whoever steps through our doors.

Although our church building is currently closed, we hope that we can meet you in many ways, including through this podcast.

Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

6. Praying when you have divided commitments

The Prayer Garden is a podcast from St Peter’s Bethnal Green to help you meet with God and pray for the world.

Reading – Psalm 86:1-13.
Music – ‘Until we reach our full measure’ by Ghost of Us.
Prayer – Thomas Merton.

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My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I don’t see the road ahead of me.
I can’t know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you, and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.
There will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and will never leave me to face my perils alone. 

________

We are an eclectic church community at the heart of East London which worships Jesus in scripture, Spirit, and the sacraments. We hope to be a safe haven to whoever steps through our doors.

Although our church building is currently closed, we hope that we can meet you in many ways, including through this podcast.

Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

5. Looking to God when the future is uncertain

The Prayer Garden is a podcast from St Peter’s Bethnal Green to help you meet with God and pray for the world.

Reading – Psalm 127.
Music – ‘Distant Water’ by Chelsea McGough.
Prayer – Charles de Foucault (1916).

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Father, I abandon myself into your hands, do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart, 
For I love you, Lord, and so I need to give myself, to surrender myself into your hands, without reserve, and with boundless confidence, for you are my father.
Amen 

________

We are an eclectic church community at the heart of East London which worships Jesus in scripture, Spirit, and the sacraments. We hope to be a safe haven to whoever steps through our doors.

Although our church building is currently closed, we hope that we can meet you in many ways, including through this podcast.

Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

4. Crying out for the healing of the world

The Prayer Garden is a podcast from St Peter’s Bethnal Green to help you meet with God and pray for the world.

Reading – Psalm 126.
Music – ‘Pulse’ by Jacob Pavek.
Prayer – A prayer against anxious activism.

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Send us your spirit Lord, with the gifts of humility and understanding.
Teach us that your Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
But even beyond our vision,
Give us the comfort of knowing that nothing we can do will be complete,
No statement of ours will say all that can be said,
No prayer of ours fully express our faith,
Make us content to plant seeds that will one day grow,
To water seeds which others have planted,
To accept that their promise may be for the future,
To lay foundations for others to build on better,
Give us the comfort of knowing that we are mere workers, not master builders,
Ministers, not messiahs,
And with your grace,
prophets of a future not our own.
Amen
________

We are an eclectic church community at the heart of East London which worships Jesus in scripture, Spirit, and the sacraments. We hope to be a safe haven to whoever steps through our doors.

Although our church building is currently closed, we hope that we can meet you in many ways, including through this podcast.

Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

3. Asking for renewed passion for God

The Prayer Garden is a podcast from St Peter’s Bethnal Green to help you meet with God and pray for the world.

Reading – Psalm 63:1-8.
Music – ‘Until we all reach full measure’ by Ghost of Us.
Prayer – Blaise Pascal’s ‘Night of Fire.’

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FIRE
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob.
Not of the philosophers or the learnt.
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.
God of Jesus Christ, My God and Your God, Your God shall be my God.
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything except God.
He is only to be found by the ways taught in the Gospel. Grandeur of the Human Soul.
Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you.
Joy, Joy, Joy, Tears of Joy.

This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and the one whom you have sent,
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ.
I left him, I fled him, renounced him, crucified him. Let me never be separated from Him
He can only be kept by the ways taught in the gospel.
Renunciation, absolute and sweet
Total submission to Jesus Christ and to my direction. Eternally in joy for one day’s exertion on the earth.

________

We are an eclectic church community at the heart of East London which worships Jesus in scripture, Spirit, and the sacraments. We hope to be a safe haven to whoever steps through our doors.

Although our church building is currently closed, we hope that we can meet you in many ways, including through this podcast.

Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

2. Praying before going to sleep

The Prayer Garden is a podcast from St Peter’s Bethnal Green to help you meet with God and pray for the world.

Reading – Psalm 4.
Music – ‘Distant Water’ by Chelsea McGough.
Voice – Hannah Aldridge-Cousins.
Prayer – John Henry Newman’s ‘Evening Prayer.’

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Support us all day long, O Lord
Until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes
Until the busy world is hushed and the fever of the day is over
And our work is done.
In your mercy, give us a safe lodging and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen

________

We are an eclectic church community at the heart of East London which worships Jesus in scripture, Spirit, and the sacraments. We hope to be a safe haven to whoever steps through our doors.

Although our church building is currently closed, we hope that we can meet you in many ways, including through this podcast.

Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

1. Thanking the Holy Spirit for creation

The Prayer Garden is a podcast from St Peter’s Bethnal Green to help you meet with God and pray for the world.

Reading – Psalm 104:26-end.
Music – ‘Selha’ by Stephen Keech.
Prayer – A prayer adapted from the Veni Sancte Spiritus.

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Come Holy Spirit of God
Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ
Shine in our hearts, in our society, in the world of nature around us, in the church.
Enrich the poverty of our spirits and imaginations with the abundance of your gifts.
To the restless anxiety of our hearts, to the turmoil of our lives,
Bring your sweet message of peace.

Be the still point in the midst of our anxious activity, be the rest after toil,
Be the cool shade in life’s burning heat, be the solace of our sorrows and disappointments.
Blessed light of the darkened mind, fulfill the longing of all who seek you. 

Amen 

________

We are an eclectic church community at the heart of East London which worships Jesus in scripture, Spirit, and the sacraments. We hope to be a safe haven to whoever steps through our doors.

Although our church building is currently closed, we hope that we can meet you in many ways, including through this podcast.

Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.