Thy Kingdom Come 2020
From May 21st to May 31st (Ascension to Pentecost), we are joining together with Christians around the world in Thy Kingdom Come, a global wave of prayer when we pray for more people to come to know Jesus Christ. Below find some things you can do as an individual or in a family group. We will post something new here each day. You can do one new activity each day or pick and choose the activities that suit you and repeat them. Some may be suitable to do on the day they are posted; for others, you may want to challenge yourself to accomplish the activity at some point before the tens days are up. If you do nothing else, please pray everyday for others to come to know Jesus’ love for them.
May 21 – Creating a Prayer Space: Arrange meaningful items, such as some tealights or a pillar candle, a cross, Bible, or other sanctifying objects, on a piece of coloured cloth to designate a special place in your home. This will remind you and everyone in your household that prayer is an important part of everyday life and that God is present, even when we cannot gather in our church building. A bowl on the table can be used to hold petitions or prayer requests written on pieces of paper. Alternatively, you may want to gather your Prayer Space items in a pretty basket or gift box. Then, at a specific time each day, you can take your portable Prayer Space with you to a comfortable chair in a quiet place where you sit and reflect, or to an outdoor location conducive to prayer and meditation. Plan to use your Prayer Space daily through Thy Kingdom Come 2020.
May 22 – Starting 5: Decide on five people to pray for. Write each Name on a square of cardstock, a popsicle stick, or a smooth stone. Carry these with you in your pocket or bag for the day. Whenever you see or touch those 5 tokens during the day, pray, ‘Dear God, please may [Name] come to know Jesus’ love.’ At the end of the day, go to a quiet Prayer Space. Hold each token, one at a time and think about that person. Draw a heart on each paper, stick or stone, and pray, ‘Dear Jesus, we know that you love [Name]. Please help us show them your love. Amen.’ Leave the 5 tokens in your prayer space. Repeat this activity daily for ten days with the same name or with new names each day.
May 23 – Prayer Walk: Take a walk (appropriately socially distanced) around your neighbourhood and pray for God’s kingdom to be and to grow in these places. Start by walking slowly in silence for a short while. Next, walk while giving thanks for anything beautiful you see. Say sorry to God for things that are damaged or spoiled. If walking with other members of your household, share your prayers and observations out loud with each other. Next, walk and pray about how to share God’s kingdom in your community. Pray for the people (by name if you can) in the houses, and for schools and shops that you pass. (If you are sheltering in place, walk around your home and rest your eyes on 5-10 different household items and prayer for a related person (e.g., kitchen cupboards=grocery store store workers; a blanket=those in hospital; books=students and teachers; and so on). Maybe make a prayer walk part of your everyday routine until Pentecost, or even beyond that.
May 24 – Pebble Prayer: If personal and public safety permits, take a walk to a body of water and find 5 small stones, sticks or shells that will represent the people you are praying for. These might be the 5 people you’ve been praying for all throughout Thy Kingdom Come, or they may be new names. Go up to the water’s edge and, taking care that there are no people or wildlife between you and the water, fling each pebble into the water as you shout out a prayer using simple words like, ‘Please help [Name] know Jesus’ love’. You can adapt this activity for a water feature, or even a bowl of water in your garden or home. Finish by throwing a stone in for yourself or family, asking God to show you where you can be building God’s kingdom. You might like to keep a stone in your pocket for the rest of the week, as a reminder of your commitment to spread God’s kingdom.
May 25 – Praying Hands: Trace your hand, or your family member’s hands, on 5 sheets of paper and write the name of someone you will prayer for in the middle of each hand. These would be people who you want to grow into a relationship with God or to be called to come to church. Tape the hands on the walls or doors around your house in prominent locations, or place them randomly on counters and table tops. As you move through your house during the day, you will pass these Praying Hands. Pause and pray before each Praying Hand, saying, ‘Dear God, please may [Name] come to know your love.’ You can pray by standing there staring, or by physically laying your hands on the outlines of the Praying Hands. Repeat this activity daily until Pentecost with the same 5 names or with new names each day.
May 26 – Tic-Tac-Toe Prayers: Make a grid of three squares by three square. Choose a theme for your grid, e.g., people, places, professions, world problems, individuals who are sick, etc. Write something to pray for related to your theme in each of the nine boxes (see the professions sample here). At intervals during your day, choose items on the grid to pray for and mark them with an X or O alternately, as if playing the game. Or ask a family member to pick a number between 1 and 9 to randomize the selection. For real fun, have someone play with you, and try to get three in a row (but keep praying after someone wins). If you want to repeat this prayer until Pentecost, pray for nine things under one theme today. Tomorrow pray for another nine things on a different theme, and so on.
May 27 – Fizzy Prayers: This is a potentially messy prayer activity that dramatizes the power of Jesus to touch lives. You will need: baking soda; white vinegar; food colouring; non-staining cookie sheet, pie plate, muffin pan or tray. Mix food colouring into white vinegar to colour it. Create 5 different colours, keeping each colour of vinegar in a separate cup or glass. Cover the bottom of the plate or tray with baking soda. Drip a bit of coloured vinegar on to the soda and watch the explosion! Choose a colour of vinegar that represents someone you would like to pray for. As you drop the vinegar on to the soda, pray that the power and love of Jesus will touch that person’s life. If you don’t have the materials needed for this prayer activity, go back to an earlier suggestion, like the Starting 5 Prayer or Prayer Walk.
May 28 – Breathing Prayer: Many Christians use good breathing techniques in conjunction with prayer in order to still and centre themselves. It’s a win-win for you and the person you are praying for. Settle yourself in your Prayer Space or in another location conducive to prayer and meditation. Think of 5 people you would like to prayer for to come to know Christ’s love for them. Practise breathe as follows:
- Breathe in through the nose, counting 1, 2, 3
- Hold the breath in, counting 1, 2, 3
- Let the air out through your mouth, counting 1, 2, 3.
Now replace the numbers, 1, 2, 3 with a simple repeated prayer for someone to know Jesus:
- God… of… love
- Help… [X]… know
- Your… great… love
May 29 – “Lego” Prayers: Use Lego to pray for people to build a relationship with Jesus. Use the Lego pieces to make the initial letter of the name of each person you are praying for. Either build a freestanding letter or make the letter on a baseboard. You can also do this with any other media, such as beads on a wire, needle pointing or cross-stitching, dried macaroni glued to squares of cardboard, sticks arranged on the back deck, etc. (Channel your inner kindergartner or crafty knitter and have fun with the idea.) As you build each initial, pray for that person that they will come to sense God at work in their lives and will build a relationship with Jesus.
May 30 – Location Prayers: The challenge for today is to go to different locations to pray and photograph or film yourself doing so. People in the Bible pray in all sorts of places: out of the depths, in exile, on the mountaintop, in the temple, in the silence of the heart, by the sea, or even inside a whale! Remembering to observe public health rules and personal safety, find similar places near you (at home, on a walk, or even on a road trip) and take a selfie shot or short video of yourself in that location, saying a prayer for people to come to know the love of Jesus. Challenge yourself to think of locations that represent a deep or low place, a place that is higher up, a cluttered place, a narrow passage, the quietest place you can find, a spot under a bush or in a tree, some place that is smelly, by water’s edge, under the sun, or in the dark. (Be safe and sensible; don’t put yourself at risk!) See how many you can get. Put all the images together in a collage or film clip or post them on social media with the TKC hashtags. If this doesn’t appeal, revisit one of the prayer recommendations above. Might be a fun day for a Fizzy Prayer or maybe some Praying Hands or Starting 5 Prayer.
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A Season of Transition
At All Saints, we are in a season of transition as we seek a new permanent senior priest. Our parish selection committee (PSC), a group of 8 individuals representative of our congregation, is now in the process of discerning who we are as a parish, what we hope to achieve as church in the next few years, and what individual God is preparing to be our Incumbent in the near future. As the PSC does its work and we continue to engage in ministry and outreach here at All Saints, we uphold our parish and the PSC process in weekly prayer, knowing God will hear and answer our requests according to His will and timing.
