Bulletin Number 111 ( 21st Sep 2007 )
The Heartbeat of the Spirit

I didn’t take kindly to be awoken at 5:45 am by my PDA’s alarm but it was necessary for the journey I was about to make. So after swiftly getting dressed, I climbed into my car and drove to a prayer meeting at Melbourne Methodist Church which takes place each Wednesday morning at 6:30am. It’s only a small gathering but it has been meeting faithfully for some years to pray about church and circuit, people and events. My reason for going was to add to the prayers for the November 3rd Fresh Expressions Vision Day which they are hosting.

The drive down to Melbourne was a time of refreshment when I could prayerfully prepare my sermon for next Sunday and enjoy the unusually quiet roads as the sun was rising. I could sense as I drove through the country roads that the Spirit of God was breathing life into all around me, if only I would stop, look and listen.

So, what motivates people to get up at the crack of dawn to meet together for prayer? Is it a sense of obligation? Perhaps sometimes. Is it a sense of awe and wonder at the privilege of being called to prayer? Perhaps sometimes. For me it was the desire to meet with like-minded people and come before God in an eager desire to serve Him as best I could.

I don’t know how prominent prayer is in your personal life and the life of your church but I do know that, even though I sometimes struggle with the discipline of prayer, I regularly see the fruit of it, but not always.

After the prayer meeting I went on to another meeting nearby refreshed by the fellowship and sensing more than I usually do, the heartbeat of God’s Spirit in all around me. Prayer is a way of slowing down and listening to that heartbeat. Prayer is also a way of quietening our lives so that our own hearts beat in tune with God.

So often our mission agendas can become man-made rather than, as Rowan Williams once said, "watching so see what God is doing around us and joining in".

For more information on these bulletins and other matters relating to evangelism in the Nottingham and Derby District, contact Roger Johnson on 0115 923 5221 / 07913 252541 or email dee@ionian.co.uk