Christian Coffee House - Prayer/Chat thread. No rubbish church coffee allowed.

[Madhairday]

With the latest prayer thread coming to an end, we thought we would create a new thread for prayer and general chat too - we had chat threads running for years alongside prayer threads, and we thought it would be great to combine them. I try and collate some of the prayer requests from the last thread in the next few days. In the meantime, dive in! Lurkers/newbies - you are welcome to post. Feel free to start any chat subject about Christianity, church, worship etc, and do share any prayer needs.
Would love to hear from those who were on previous threads and haven't been around for a while, too. Come and let us know how you are.

I love everything by John Rutter and have sung with him a couple of times, the Bach Choir organised it as a fundraising event. He is amazing to sing with. Have you ever seen: ‘I can’t believe it is not Rutter’ on YouTube? It’s hilarious.

I'm so pleased I found this thread.

I am a Christian but find it very difficult to pray for myself so would appreciate any prayers coming my way.

A little bit about me: I am a widowed pensioner. My health is not bad though I am prone to depression and anxiety; I've learned coping strategies.

My home is a mess and I currently have one blocked toilet. Something fell into the loo, it's just paper goods I need to tackle that and have ordered some stuff including a plunger. They will arrive today. I know it has to be done and I can do it but I don't seem to be able to summon the energy to do anything.

My prayer is to be able to prioritise and tackle tasks as they arise and eventually take my place in the world once again.

Thank you all so much.

Welcome Jessstan2. Sometimes being a Christian does not make it easier as you think you ought to be better.
I hope you get the toilet sorted. One thing though: there is no shame in asking for help. People are mostly keen to help, but the hurdle in asking for it can be very high.

Thank you Dutch, I know that but it is something I know I can do; I did it before, years ago. At the moment I don't want people coming into my house, am something of a hermit.

I can understand that too jesstan. Best of luck with the pesky toilet.

Can I join please? I'm at a real crossroads in my religious life atm. I was brought up in the Church of Scotland because my mother made us go.
As an adult I have switched between CoS and a small independent church where the people are lovely but I left for a while as they had a minister I didn't like. When I visit London I go to a very high Anglo Catholic church with lots of bells and incense. I love all the ceremony but I don't understand what it's all about.
In lockdown I haven't been to a church as I hate wearing a mask and couldn't sit for the duration wearing one.

Sorry if that's a bit rambling but I can't seem to find anything that I enjoy going to anymore

RaraRachel, I understand where you are coming from. Just be true to God and it will follow that you are true to yourself; a way will be shown to you eventually. There are plenty of Christians who don't go to church but there is something of value in all churches. All the very best.

Thank you again, Dutchoma.

Welcome RareRachel Good to see people coming into the thread.

Church - I don’t know, it can be complicated. It’s all very well if you are in a group of people that you know, are part of and it is part of your life, Sunday by Sunday and sometimes in the week as well. Maybe it was like that for your CoS church, until a new minister arrived that you couldn’t get along with. Once you begin to roam, lose your way, it can get complicated, because you feel you ‘ought to’. I am not so sure that it is necessary to belong somewhere. It’s good when it happens, but should not be guilt inducing when it does not happen.
About the ‘smells and bells’ services: if you can find a sense of holiness, of making contact with God, it is not necessary to understand everything that is going on.
I too find the mask wearing very hard and I’m not sure how I will cope once the services cannot happen outdoors any more once September is over.

Welcome, @RaraRachael and @jessstan2, so good to see you on the thread. I really get it about mask wearing in church, I struggle with a mask at all and having been shielding for 6 months still feel a bit uncomfortable about church, shops etc. I did go in a restaurant last week and a cinema and both were so quiet I felt ok, I didn't wear a mask as exempt and no one said anything thankfully. But I don't feel able to go in church as yet though I so want to. Our church does good online services so at least I can access that and I feel so excited that we are continuing with them for good now in order to continue reaching those who couldn't come to physical church. I hope you find something that fits you, Rachael. It's especially difficult in this climate. I'm grateful for all the good online stuff that keeps us going through this. Have you tried the Lectio 365 app - a few of us here use it and find it amazingly helpful.

Sorry I'm a bit quiet - knee deep in publishing deadlines and marketing plans. How is everyone doing? I was thinking of you @BlackeyedSusan and wondering how you are getting on, and the DC? This can't have been easy for you. I hope you are ok

I was wondering if there are more ways we can support one another in faith stuff on this thread. Perhaps a weekly Bible study or discussion on a subject? Perhaps you have a burning question and not sure where to ask it? I'd be really happy to try and coordinate something like that?

God bless you all.

I'd love that madhairday.

That sounds good Madhairday

Thank you for welcoming me to the thread

That does sound like a good idea Madhairday. Publication date must be getting pretty close now, how exciting.

Welcome jess & rara

Jess my therapist says to break things down into much smaller steps. I’m in pretty much the same place tbh, so if you want support perhaps we could sort it together.

Thanks all. What sort of thing would interest you to have a look at in terms of the Bible or general questions about God, scripture etc? I'm up for anything :)

Thanks, Rafa. It's October my new book is being published. It's coming too quickly with too much to sort out. Actually can't believe it's 2 years since my last one came out, time has passed scarily quickly. One sad thing is that I couldn't make the launch party for my last one as I was in hospital, everyone else still went ahead with it which was lovely, and this time I can't do a physical launch at all, only an online one on FB live/YouTube, which will seem a bit odd.

How is everyone doing?

This is Mumsnet, so how about either God as Mother or mothering in the Bible?!

Do you think it should have a separate thread though, as it'll all get a bit mixed up? No idea really and I guess @Madhairday has given it some thought already! 💐

Thanks, @AugustBreeze - good idea about exploring imagery in the Bible where God is described as mother. I'm happy to keep it here as this is a chat and prayer thread. I'll have a think. Does anyone else have any other burning questions over faith, anything in the Bible etc they want to explore at all?

@Dutchoma

Welcome Jessstan2. Sometimes being a Christian does not make it easier as you think you ought to be better. I hope you get the toilet sorted. One thing though: there is no shame in asking for help. People are mostly keen to help, but the hurdle in asking for it can be very high.

I thought I would tell you, Dutchoma, that I managed to unblock the toilet on Monday. I was so pleased. I'm also very grateful for all the prayers. If there is anything I can do, please tell me.

Can I ask for my prayer for dear brother Karl, he has Down's plus dementia and isn't in a good state these days, just been admitted to hosp with suspected stroke ( or TIA? not sure yet).

The thing that's upsetting me is that his carer can't be in the ward with him, as they've done on any previous admissions, due to current restrictions. He's almost blind and won't be able to communicate at all with strangers.

Thank you.

That must be so difficult for you and your brother. He is certainly in my prayers, Augustbreeze
Thank you for coming back to tell us about answered prayers Jesstan and I’m very pleased to hear you have a working toilet again.

Yes well done on the toilet 🚽 unblocking @jessstan2, I'm on my own so I know the stresses and the triumphs too!

Praying for your brother Augustbreeze. Are you able to speak to him by phone? It must be very hard for him.

Hi Jess and Rara. Are you in Scotland Rara? Churches are starting to open up but everything is moving very slowly. My parents church opened last weekend but I don't think our one will be open for some weeks yet. We have online zoom services though. If you like the CofE you may like the Scottish Episcopalian church which is closer to it. I've heard good things about the online services at St Paul's and St George's in Edinburgh.

I'd like to join in online discussion about something. I have no burning ideas about a subject though. It'd be good to have a topic where different traditions have different viewpoints. I sometimes think I am in a bit of a narrow pigeon hole and it would be good to explore other views in a respectful manner.

Hello @jessstan2 you are in my prayers. I hope you find energy and motivation to get on top of things which are getting you down. It will feel good when you do. I had a clear out recently with the dc back to school and feel so much better. I want to do more but life gets in the way! Here's a video which I love. I hope it helps you on your quest to do more. I like the idea that if you are all you can do is the next right thing. You dont have to do it all and dont have to do it perfectly but its enough to have acted.

Hello also to @RaraRachael its hard to belong in church now. Social distancing keeps us all apart. Everything is strange. I find I get too tied up in what God can do for me and how church or prayer makes me feel, so when I'm not feeling connection to God I feel somehow deficient and like I'm not doing enough or not good enough. I have to remind myself to take comfort instead from how I best serve God, be that in worship, charity, Christian acts, christian fellowship, raising my children in the faith or any other way you can think of. I have added you to my prayer app that you find your way and that you are granted new opportunities for learning and discovery.

Which brings me to say ing a big yes to @Madhairday and the idea for biblical discussion (btw Hello! The book activity sounds exciting. I hope it's happy exciting not stressy exciting). I am happy to join in bible study. I dont get enough opportunity to do it. I have as you know so many questions about Jesus. My much pondered questions now centre on his divinity and what He knew or experienced of divinity. I sometimes feel he was just a person. I am reading NT Wright atm and find it helpful not to fall into the trap of "either/or" and instead think of Jesus as both human and divine. But how do we come to think that? So that's what's interesting me right now. I could say more but have already written a lot. Off to pray lectio365 now.

God bless to you all.

Ooh and linking in to what @applesandpears33 said about different traditions I am fascinated by Jesus and Mary in Islam. That's a whole other can of worms!

One more suggestion sorry but how about a discussion on Gods promises. Lectio365 brings these up today. We could look at specific promises in the bible and think about how they relate to our own lives.

Thank you all for your prayers. I was given great reassurance yesterday morning when I decided to track down the learning disability liaison nurse at the big hosp he was moved to. Spoke to her and we immediately realised we'd met and she knew Karl, as she used to do the same role at his local hospital! She's great.

He's now home, and OK, spoke to a lovely consultant who said no evidence of stroke, probably just his advancing dementia, we need to think about advanced care planning.