Lent starts with Ash Wednesday Service this week. Like the calm before the storm of Chinese New Year Weekend(!), we have an opportunity to orientate our hearts towards the 40-day Season of Lent.
What we can also look forward to is the Lent Mid-day Prayers from 12.30 pm to 1.00 pm during the weekdays. We are blessed with a wonderful Nave which is a quiet oasis in the heart of the city. Tourists also visit her daily. To be able to hear the Scriptures, read and pray together for our city in the Nave is a privilege. Some may choose to fast while others can grab a quick lunch after that. The prayer time will be quietly led from the front and the approach will be meditative, where participants can have their quiet space to seek the Lord. It is good to just “come away.”
As Jesus once told his disciples, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” (Mark 6:31)
As a Year of Prayer in 2018, we have also broken it up into four quarters which we hope will be helpful in guiding our participation. This will also help us to focus our teaching and preaching.
January - March : Personal Prayer
We will encourage and help members to observe their daily Devotion. We launch the Lent Mid-Day prayer on 14 February, and the first Prayer and Praise for the year on 23 February.
April - June: Praying Together
We continue to focus on Prayer & Praise, Prayer during our Service Camps, and will organise our first Prayer Retreat
July - Sept: Praying for our Nation
We will pray for our Nation during the 40-day run-up from 1 July till our National Day on 9 August. We will do this through the 40-day City@Prayer from 12.30 to 1.30 pm in the Nave and the three Solemn Assemblies in the evenings of 5-7 August.
October - December: Praying for the Harvest
We begin to build up our prayer and preparation for the evangelistic Celebration of Hope from 17-19 May 2019 at the Singapore National Stadium. The Diocesan Day of Prayer and Fast will fall on 3 November 2018.
With the new season of Alpha Course starting, do pray for people to invite. Daily, we are presented with opportunities as we meet our family, friends, colleagues, classmates and acquaintances. Even the strangers we meet can be a fresh opportunity. As always, it is genuine care and interest in an individual which opens up the door for the Gospel. If you set out to convert a person, that puts you in the category of a salesman, who is befriending someone with ulterior motives. None of us like people like these to bug us. But if we are authentic and genuinely care for the people around us, doors will open naturally. We have a great message to share and a gift to offer. Friendship first!
