Watch & Pray Lent 2022
By Lisa Holmes, Deeper Church Lead, BUS
During Lent it was brilliant to join together on zoom to form a wall of prayer around Scotland as we travelled over 6 Sunday evenings from the Highlands & Islands to the Borders (& all places in between).
It was so helpful, encouraging & inspiring to be joined by 2 representatives from each region to share stories of what the Lord is doing & give us specific focus for our prayers in small break out groups. We heard about prayer walks, open opportunities into schools and renew cafes recommencing amongst so much else.
It was a moving privilege to have the opportunity to pray for Ukraine each time we met. We were inspired by the story of Nehemiah as he encouraged the people to watch & to pray, to work & to be prepared for battle as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem which was the task God had assigned to them for at that time.
We are praying for & focused on the vision & calling God has for us in 2022.
We launched on Ash Wednesday when it still felt like winter & as I sat in my office I noticed that almost imperceptibly at times the cherry tree outside my window was changing (& this week it is in full blossom).
That tree has given me insight into our praying – sometimes even when we begin to pray – we still can’t see anything changing but we choose to continue, to persevere & then if we look very carefully we can begin to see very small signs of life & hope. Often our prayers are prayed in hope & faith that even in the moments we can’t see answers the Lord is already at work bringing change & transformation – we long for Spring time & for the fruitfulness of Summer.
Our prayers over Lent are just the beginning – God reminds us in Zechariah 4:6… “not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord” – we need that ever increasing dependence on the Lord & the power of his Holy Spirit as we pray for the transformation of Scotland – ourselves, our churches & communities together.
