If you’ve tried prayer, what happened? If you’ve discovered something this week, then keep going and get to know God better.

What’s Happened?

It’s good to think what has happened as you have read this series. You might like to answer these questions for yourself:

• What has changed during the days I have been praying?
• Has my attitude changed?
• Have my circumstances changed?
• Has my “big issue” changed?
• Am I getting a new understanding of God?

Above anything else Jesus wants us to believe in him (John Chapter 3 Verse 16). Would you say you now believe in Jesus?

You could look at this again in a week or a month. Let us know how you got on with this series and what has happened. Send an email to [email protected].

Go Wild

Share this series with a friend. Explain that you found it helpful and simply say, “Why don’t you try praying for a week and see what happens?” Ask them how they got on when you next see them.

Next Steps

If you have discovered something during this week then keep going! You’ve just started and it gets better. The main thing is to get to know more and more of God. You might like to:

• Tell a friend about your experiences. If they are not interested find a friend that is!
• Get more of the story. Read the Bible. It’s full of wisdom for living
  and hope for the next life. Begin with the accounts of the life of Jesus. You’ll be impressed.
• Check out some good web sites. Several are listed on www.trypraying.co.uk which also gives access to the trypraying app and other useful articles.
• Go on a course. There are many good introductory courses like Alpha, Christianity Explored, Journeys etc. See what is on offer locally.
• Check out a good church. You may need to try a few before you find one that’s right for you. Find one that helps you connect with Jesus.

© There is Hope 2015.

Read the Other Posts in the Trypraying Series

You can read the other posts in our trypraying series as they are published here:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7

Find out more

You can find out more about trypraying basingstoke 2019 by reading this post.

You can also follow us on social media, where we will be posting about trypraying every day between 1-18 June 2019:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

You can visit the website trypraying.co.uk which also gives access to the trypraying app and other useful articles.

You could attend the trypraying basingstoke prayer event being held at London Street URC on Sunday 9 June 2019 from 6:30-8:30pm. You’d be most welcome.

Or you can contact OneChurch Basingstoke direct, using the form on our Contact page.

What have you got to lose?

Pick up your free booklet from the train station or a church near you. God wants to hear from you!

Related Posts

• Find a Church
• Basingstoke Churches Sign Up to trypraying Basingstoke Initiative
• Leaders Morning Prayers Venues Updated for June-August 2019
• Events

As you try praying, God overwhelms your life with his love. He frees you to live life to the full.

When God Breaks Through

When God breaks through, people are awestruck. Life is never the same again. They see something that was always there, but they had never noticed.

A process of change begins which affects how they think and what they do.

The Bible is full of stories of people who had experiences of God. One man describes what he saw and heard. It was so profound and real that the doorposts of the building shook and the place was filled with smoke. He writes, “I saw God, seated on a throne – high, exalted.” He saw other beings and heard words being called out, “Holy, holy, holy, is God almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory.” He realised that God was holy and that, in stark contrast, he and his society were foul mouthed and sinful.

Overwhelmed by Love

Another man describes a common experience: being overwhelmed by love.

He writes, “Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Many people think that the consequence of following Jesus is a life that is boring and dull. So they are stunned by his words when he said he had come to give life and life to the full.

We may not have a dramatic experience of God. We certainly cannot demand it. But knowing that he loves us and that he is holy have a profound effect on us. They are the foundation of a relationship with him that changes our whole life now – and for eternity.

This life is not all there is and a bright future awaits those who believe. These words give us a glimpse of things to come:

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.

Something you can do today…

Try Praying

God I would like to have an experience of your love. I want to live my life with you, trusting your love and knowing that you are holy.

Look

Go to a place where you can see a view and pray, “God you are bigger than this world and bigger than my biggest thought of you. So I want you to be the biggest thing in my life.”

Keep Praying For

• Your big issue – the area in your life where you most want God to work.
• Others – your friend or family member who needs help.

© There is Hope 2015.

Read the Other Posts in the Trypraying Series

You can read the other posts in our trypraying series as they are published here:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Next Steps

Find out more

You can find out more about trypraying basingstoke 2019 by reading this post.

You can also follow us on social media, where we will be posting about trypraying every day between 1-18 June 2019:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

You can visit the website trypraying.co.uk which also gives access to the trypraying app and other useful articles.

You could attend the trypraying basingstoke prayer event being held at London Street URC on Sunday 9 June 2019 from 6:30-8:30pm. You’d be most welcome.

Or you can contact OneChurch Basingstoke direct, using the form on our Contact page.

What have you got to lose?

Pick up your free booklet from the train station or a church near you. God wants to hear from you!

Related Posts

• Find a Church
• Basingstoke Churches Sign Up to trypraying Basingstoke Initiative
• Leaders Morning Prayers Venues Updated for June-August 2019
• Events

As you try praying, you sense that prayer gives God’s power in your life. A power that makes you feel fully alive.

No Spark

The ignition spark on the oven just wasn’t doing anything. It was supposed to deliver the spark to the gas and then we could get cooking. But nothing. All the hardware was there. The oven, the gas rings, the gas connected. But no spark. It had become clogged with years of dirt and grease. It needed a clean.

Life. It’s all there, but the spark is missing. As far as human beings are concerned we are not fully alive until we have the ‘spark’ of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives. We were never meant to live life without him. It’s as senseless as trying to cook without power. How do we get the spark?

Become religious? No. Pray hard? No. Go to church? No. None of these deal with the issue. We need to get rid of the dirt and press the “ignition” button.

Get Clean

How? Don’t cover up the dirt, but get rid of it. There’s stuff that has spoiled your life – the grime and dirt has built up. You can be clean by asking God to forgive you for the wrong you have done. Admit it and say sorry.

Then ask for God’s Spirit to come to your life to make you what you were meant to be. He comes to live in us empowering us to be what we should be. He makes us truly alive.

These words have been the invitation to which millions have responded through the centuries. They come directly from Jesus and are an astonishing offer to get to know him:

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Something you can do today…

Try Praying

God, I’m sorry for things that have spoiled my life. I must have offended you in it all as well. Please forgive me and help me to forgive myself. I ask that you would come into my life right now through your Spirit and make me the kind of person you want me to be. Turn on the ignition and let me really live as you want me to.

Door

Go to your front door and say to Jesus, “Please enter my life today. You are welcome.”

Keep Praying For

• Your big issue – the area in your life where you most want God to work.
• Others – your friend or family member who needs help.

So What About the Holy Spirit?

Listen to the things people talk about today and it is often full of spiritual stuff, whether getting in touch with your inner self, spirit guides or mysterious experiences. Dive into almost any civilisation and people are aware of the spiritual, even in our secular materialistic world.

However the Holy Spirit is something else. Clear teaching from Jesus shows us that the Spirit is not an ‘it’ but a person. In fact Jesus told his followers that the Spirit would come and be his presence with them. After he rose from the dead he told them to wait until he – the Holy Spirit – had come. They would be given power and led into truth though the Holy Spirit.

Today when someone trusts Christ with their life the Spirit comes to them as a sort of deposit on all the good things that are still to come.

He is the essence of God dwelling in us. The effect of this is that he makes us aware when we have done wrong and in a special way he lets us know, on the inside, that we are loved and belong to God as his children.

Try asking for God’s Spirit to work in you.

© There is Hope 2015.

Read the Other Posts in the Trypraying Series

You can read the other posts in our trypraying series as they are published here:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 7
• Next Steps

Find out more

You can find out more about trypraying basingstoke 2019 by reading this post.

You can also follow us on social media, where we will be posting about trypraying every day between 1-18 June 2019:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

You can visit the website trypraying.co.uk which also gives access to the trypraying app and other useful articles.

You could attend the trypraying basingstoke prayer event being held at London Street URC on Sunday 9 June 2019 from 6:30-8:30pm. You’d be most welcome.

Or you can contact OneChurch Basingstoke direct, using the form on our Contact page.

What have you got to lose?

Pick up your free booklet from the train station or a church near you. God wants to hear from you!

Related Posts

• Find a Church
• Basingstoke Churches Sign Up to trypraying Basingstoke Initiative
• Leaders Morning Prayers Venues Updated for June-August 2019
• Events

As you try praying, you can find freedom for failures in life, because Jesus paid the ultimate price to set you free.

What’s So Special About Jesus’ Death?

People make a lot about Jesus dying on the cross. So a good man dies a horrible death. That’s happened to many others. What’s so special about him?

The reason it was special is because Jesus died for a purpose. Most people know they will die, but hardly any say they are dying for the sake of others. Yet Jesus said this many times. He would lay down his life because of his love for people. In an unusual way his death was like paying a ransom
to get people out of a fix.

The “fix” is serious. People are loved by God but are not living the way he intended. As a result we have run out of credit and are in significant moral debt – with eternal consequences.

For Freedom

How does it work? It is something of a mystery. But as Jesus was a perfect human – the God/man – he entered death on behalf of the human race and emerged from it alive again. Like a football team or an athlete representing a nation, Jesus represented the human race. He endured and defeated the worst thing imaginable, the judgement hanging over us, so we can be free.

It was so impressive that those who witnessed him dying said this man really was the Son of God. A writer at the time explained it saying “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

The result of it all is astounding. Instead of being condemned and in debt we are freed, forgiven and in credit. People have been in awe of this demonstration of God’s love ever since.

From an ancient prayer here’s a rich statement of what God is like:

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me …

And here is what Jesus taught us to pray:

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

Something you can do today…

Try Praying

God, there’s a mystery here. But if you really did die for me then the least I can say is thank you. I’m sorry for my failure to do what’s right. Thank you for your love for me and for forgiving me.

Draw

Take a piece of paper and write on it anything you feel ashamed about. Then draw a cross over all you have written and thank Jesus for paying your debt. (When you have finished shred the paper!).

Keep Praying For

• Your big issue – the area in your life where you most want God to work.
• Others – your friend or family member who needs help.

Why is There So Much Suffering?

War. Oppression. Earthquakes. HIV. Malaria. Cancer. Poverty Death. Where is the good news in the midst of all this suffering?

There is a prayer which has come to us from the first century. It was taught by Jesus to his followers and became known as the Lord’s Prayer. A phrase in it is, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

It’s a potent request which Jesus included so that we ask for something better on earth.

It’s fascinating because it completely turns on its head a common misunderstanding: when things go wrong people blame God. When suffering occurs people often think it is God’s will. But what Jesus said kicks that into touch. It says God’s will is often NOT being done! It’s a mess and God is not happy with it. Bad stuff happens – really bad stuff.

This kind of language makes us realise things are not right. We live on a beautiful planet, but there are serious problems. It is occupied by a flawed human race. At times we do appalling things that bring suffering to others. In addition Jesus mentions circumstances and influences that test us and he says there is an “evil one”. So instead of laying the blame for bad stuff at God’s door we should put blame where it really belongs.

“Your kingdom come!“

We are invited to pray for God’s kingdom to come; something which will make life on earth better. We can ask that things here would change and for God’s will to be done instead. God’s ultimate purposes will be fulfilled and he will right all wrongs. Not only that, but he is not uncaring as we face suffering but compassionate. His purposes for us are not frustrated nor is his love diminished.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’”

© There is Hope 2015.

Read the Other Posts in the Trypraying Series

You can read the other posts in our trypraying series as they are published here:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 6
• Day 7
• Next Steps

Find out more

You can find out more about trypraying basingstoke 2019 by reading this post.

You can also follow us on social media, where we will be posting about trypraying every day between 1-18 June 2019:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

You can visit the website trypraying.co.uk which also gives access to the trypraying app and other useful articles.

You could attend the trypraying basingstoke prayer event being held at London Street URC on Sunday 9 June 2019 from 6:30-8:30pm. You’d be most welcome.

Or you can contact OneChurch Basingstoke direct, using the form on our Contact page.

What have you got to lose?

Pick up your free booklet from the train station or a church near you. God wants to hear from you!

Related Posts

• Find a Church
• Basingstoke Churches Sign Up to trypraying Basingstoke Initiative
• Leaders Morning Prayers Venues Updated for June-August 2019
• Events

As you try prayer, you discover faith is what helps us make a real connection with God.

One Last Hope

There was a woman who had been ill for ages. She had tried all the help the doctors could offer and spent all her money in the process. But this particular gynaecological problem was not going away. She had one last hope. Jesus had been healing all sorts of people from all sorts of problems. Perhaps, she thought, he could sort her condition.

So she mingled with the crowds around Jesus as he was going to see someone. There were many people and she didn’t want to draw attention to herself, but she pushed through the crowds, reached out and caught Jesus’ cloak. Suddenly she knew she wasn’t ill any more.

Faith and Prayer: Connection with God

Jesus said it was her faith that healed her.

She believed he could make the difference in her life. But she had to do something. She showed her faith by going to him and touching him. That was when power came out of him to heal her. She knew she had been healed. 

Faith is what makes the difference between the many that just hang around and the one who really connects.

There are no requirements to coming to God. We do not need to be squeaky clean. God accepts us as we are – all we need to do is believe.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Something you can do today…

Try Praying

Jesus, there’s something about you and what you say that challenges me. now I’m invited to put my faith in you. I don’t find that easy. I’m on the fence and I want to get off on the right side. But what I know of you I like, so perhaps I can trust you.

Walk

As soon as you start walking from your home pray, “God, please walk through the day with me.”

Keep Praying For

• Your big issue – the area in your life where you most want God to work.
• Others – your friend or family member who needs help.

What About Unanswered Prayer?

A man prayed for his son’s epilepsy to stop. It didn’t. Years of uncontrollable seizures robbed his son of language and ability. Prayer for a deaf boy left him unchanged. A good relationship spiralled into an abusive one and, in spite of prayer, separation was the outcome.

Where is God when he doesn’t answer?

Prayer is a conversation between friends. It’s not like sending an email off into cyberspace wondering if it will ever be read by someone.

If we are in friendship with Jesus Christ we can be sure our prayers are heard. Fundamentally it is less about “getting something” and more about “knowing someone”. Our needs often propel us deeper into relationship with God.

There are times when we just need to keep going, knowing that it is not yet the end of the story. There’s an old African proverb that says, “No situation stays forever”. Often perplexing situations of unanswered prayer will yield to change as we persist.

Some things don’t work out the way we wanted, but strangely work out better. And sometimes the thing prayed for would not have been good. It’s only in hindsight that we realise it. But, agonisingly, some things do not work out and we may question whether God is really there.

The answers may not be understood until eternity. This life on earth is only temporary because we are being prepared for eternity in which there is reward and judgement. The next life is the real thing. The last book in the Bible has an incredible description of the future when there will be no more crying or pain. Perhaps then we will understand how close God
has been throughout our life.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Try telling God that you are willing to trust him – even with things that are confusing.

© There is Hope 2015.

Read the Other Posts in the Trypraying Series

You can read the other posts in our trypraying series as they are published here:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7
• Next Steps

Find out more

You can find out more about trypraying basingstoke 2019 by reading this post.

You can also follow us on social media, where we will be posting about trypraying every day between 1-18 June 2019:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

You can visit the website trypraying.co.uk which also gives access to the trypraying app and other useful articles.

You could attend the trypraying basingstoke prayer event being held at London Street URC on Sunday 9 June 2019 from 6:30-8:30pm. You’d be most welcome.

Or you can contact OneChurch Basingstoke direct, using the form on our Contact page.

What have you got to lose?

Pick up your free booklet from the train station or a church near you. God wants to hear from you!

Related Posts

• Find a Church
• Basingstoke Churches Sign Up to trypraying Basingstoke Initiative
• Leaders Morning Prayers Venues Updated for June-August 2019
• Events