Looking forward...

I don't know about you, (although I suspect youre no different to me) but I have always thought that if I truly loved God with all my heart, then prayer should naturally flow out of me without any discipline being involved! Sadly that's not the case for me and it certainly wasn't the case for the first followers of Jesus either. These guys had front row seats watching the greatest pray-er ever, and yet they said to Jesus Lord teach us how to pray. What a startling request! As Jews they would have known all about prayer, offering prayers throughout the day about everything: prayers before meals, prayers on the Sabbath, prayers entering into the synagogue... and yet they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray! Why was that? I believe it was because they saw something different in Jesus, that prayer wasnt just part of Jesus life - it was his life! Just like food fed His stomach, prayer with His Father fed His soul. The disciples hungered for it too. When they saw and heard such raw, real and unhindered prayer from Jesus, they wanted IN. IN. As a child, growing up with my nominal church-attending family, I had been taught prayer as a parrot-fashion ritual, full of repetitive words. But the truth is prayer cant be taught parrotparrot-fashion, it has to be caught with the heart! That's exactly what happened to the disciples; they had been taught it, but now they had caught it. Lets discipline ourselves this week to catch something of the heart of God for our church and our town. If youre a new Christian, this is for you too! When I first became a Christian I remember being so intimidated by people who could pray so eloquently, and all I could do was sit there with clammy palms, heart beating so fast that I thought I would collapse, hoping that no-one would ask me to pray! (PS No one will ask you to pray!) The truth is that God is not interested in our eloquence or how impressive our prayers sound to others. He is only interested in our heart and that we actually pray! In Matthew 6:5-7, Jesus says 3 times to His disciples...and when you pray.... Clearly, Jesus expected His followers to pray. He didn't say to them If If you pray When you pray. pray but When This week is a great opportunity to do just that, and be with other Christians who just go for it. Lets believe with anticipation, just like Abraham did in Romans 4, that our hope in Jesus will make the difference!

Mary Walker |

Anticipate Week CoCo-ordinator

WHY FAST?
Fasting is a voluntary response to make space and pray to God for a breakthrough or intervention. Fasting and prayer are a powerful combination which draw us into a deeper experience with God. But He is not interested in fasting for its own sake or to make us feel more holy. He is interested in the FREEDOM it brings in our lives. Check out Isaiah 58:6: Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed FREE and break every yoke? Fasting is about denying yourself to work with God to bring freedom to a situation. Thats why fasting is not an end in itself; it must be accompanied by focussed prayer. Jesus fasted and prayed at significant points in his life, like just before he started his public ministry (Luke 4 v 2). After fasting he returned to Nazareth in the power of the Spirit (v14) and declared The The spirit of the Lord is on me to proclaim freedom (v1819). As we follow Jesus our fasting and prayer will release Gods power into situations and equip us to be freedom-bringers too. In obedience to Christ, the first Christians fasted as part of their normal spiritual discipline. As they fasted and prayed, God spoke life-changing words to them (Acts 13:1-3) and we are trusting God will do the same for us this week. Also read Matt 6:16 6:16-18 which are Jesus instructions about fasting! He teaches that it is a private discipline, something between you and God, that shouldnt be paraded around but your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matt 16:18) Fasting creates spaces to pray and engage with God. It can take a variety of forms, from a total fast from all food, to a partial fast from certain foods or specific meals. Some people choose to juice fast to give them energy to carry on with life without becoming over-tired or weak. Ultimately its a personal choice between you and God! But to be meaningful, fasting needs to be sacrificial and create space to pray.
Why dont you try fasting from something during this week of prayer? Go without food on certain days, television during the evenings or something else. Just go for it!

Mon 14th Oct

Anticipate UNITY

Prayer @ Kings Centre 12-1pm

Prayer Focus - Internal Ministries

Psm 133:1 1 Cor 12:12 Eph 4:3 Psm 27:1 1 Cor 1:10 Please pray for Encounter Youth that they continue to grow in strength Please pray for Giants and Sunday Baby Gs including all the staff Please pray for Young Adults, that more 18s + connect with each other Please pray for Frontline, our dynamic worship team Please pray for all our Sunday Teams and those that make it all happen

Tue 15th Oct

Anticipate DIVINE WISDOM

Prayer @ Kings Centre 7-8am

Prayer Focus - Outreach Ministries

Pray for Midweek Baby Gs for all the new mums now coming along Please pray for Be Strong that more men are set free Please pray for Street Soccer as they continue to make an impact Please pray for Wildhearts & Young Adventurers Please pray for Kings FC that our team continue to shine bright Please pray for new outreach initiatives to launch in 2014

2 Chr 1:10-12 Job 28:12-29 Ps 111:10 Pr 3:13 Eph 1:17

Wed 16th Oct

Anticipate GREAT STRENGTH

Prayer @ Kings Centre 12-1pm

Prayer Focus Church Planting/People

1 Chr 16:11 Neh 6:9 Psm 28:7 Isa 40:31 Acts 16:5 Please pray for the Tyldesley team for great strength & stamina Pray for wisdom in the process of planting church with Polish in Gdansk Please pray for opportunities to arise regarding Blackpool Pray for other Bolton churches to grow from strength to strength Please pray for all the clients & staff involved in Grace counselling service Please pray for all Kings family, especially those who are sick

Thu 17th Oct

Prayer @ Kings Centre 7-8am

Prayer Focus - Outreach / Discipleship

Acts 2:4 Acts 6:7 Acts 12:24 Heb 5:12-14 Lk 6:47-49 Please pray for Kings One Off Tour at St Catherines 26th Jan 14 Please pray for the many varied Christmas outreach events! Please pray for the Christianity Explored course Please pray for people on the Freedom in Christ 'course Please pray for the re-launch of the life groups in Feb 2014

Fri 18th Oct

Anticipate FAVOUR

Prayer @ Kings Centre 8pm-12am

Psm 31:8 2 Kin 6:1-2 Heb 13:17 1 The 1:2 Isa 61:1-3

Please pray for the way forward with the building! Please pray for the 2014 Vision offering: Spacious Place Pray for our Senior Leaders for strength, guidance & protection Please pray for all the staff, both salaried and volunteers Please pray for 2014 to be the best year in the life of Kings so far!

If you have any prayer requests or praise reports this week, please let us know! Email us at:

PRAY@kingschurchlife.com