BRISTOL PRAYER WALL NEWS:

Monthly Prayer Meetings: NOT next Monday but Tuesday May 8^th 7pm at Woodlands Christian Centre; normally every 1st Monday of the month

Weekly Prayer Meetings: Every Thursday at 6.30am at the Paradise Café,…

NEW PROJECTS NOW STARTED which need ongoing prayer:

FEEDBACK ON PRAYER REQUESTS:

BRIDGE HOUSE BAIL HOSTEL - A steady stream of miraculous outcomes has flowed from the prayer request made two weeks ago:

A major breakthrough has occurred that has liberated bridge house more smoothly into God's purposes: the line manager who has held the controlling influence over all the hostel for the last 4 years has been moved on to another part of the service - this has left bridge house now in the hands of the deputy manager who is much more accepting of the Christian gospel and more pliable in regard to the influence of Christian staff. It is impossible to understate the strategic importance of this shift.

The request sent out for the arrival of seriously motivated clients has also broken through. The hostel balance has changed and there are at least three clients who express openness to Church and prayer support and another resident who is now regularly attending Woodlands church and being richly blessed. I believe very strongly that the hostel is on the threshold of breakthrough: If there can be at least 6 clients going to church I feel the whole hostel would be open. The vision I would ultimately desire to see is of all 12 residents actively seeking Christian support through church and prayer as they work on their recovery. Also to see the incorporation of Christian principles into the rehabilitation process in line with the original intentions of the early 'fathers' of the probation service who were themselves Christians and designed the service to function in this way. It is about taking back this ground for Christ: I have felt a strong sense that God has spoken clearly over Bridge house something like this:

THIS IS MY HOUSE. THESE ARE MY PEOPLE. THIS IS MY INSTITUTION.

HOPE CENTRE FINANCIAL APPEAL – so far they have raised £160,000 which is enough to start the work on the building renovations in Sept. The church leaders admit that the original Word about £1 million was misinterpreted.

DAY ONE YOUTH EVANGELISTIC EVENT – Over 60 youth went forward at the Colston Hall to make commitments many of whom are now attending Youth Alpha courses. Others made commitments at the Castle Park – Praise God for the good weather throughout the event and for the great Christian talent.

Someone is running with the Football Stadium Prayer Event Vision and is committed to it.

PRAY FOR GOD'S SPIRIT TO IMPACT HARTCLIFFE AND WITHYWOOD AND FOR ONGOING SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGH TO COME – words have been given that ‘Now is God’s time for Hartcliffe’ (given at the Intercessors for Bristol recent prayer meeting)

Pray for The Noise Social Action/Outreach Project – May 3^rd to 6^th bank holiday

SPECIFIC PRAYER POINTS FOR HARTCLIFFE & WITHYWOOD

PRAY FOR THE POLICE & THE ADOPT A COP SCHEME and the Police Chaplain at Trinity Rd Police Station, Rev. Andy Paget.

PRAYER POINTS FOR POLICE ARE:

• Drug PROBLEMS
• Child protection – for the victims to get help and move on with their lives
• Physical & spiritual protection for the police and prioritising

PRAYER EVENTS IN BRISTOL:

EA PRAY FOR BRISTOL - Thurs 16^th May 7.30pm to 9.30pm – South Bristol Christian Centre, Churchlands Rd, off West St, Bedminster; Contact Stephen Abbott: tel: 9779270

VISION for citywide PRAYER in the Memorial STADIUM – 27^TH May sharing of it – Pray for the Rev. Palmer

PRAYERATHLON – Prayer & Fasting for the CITY of BRISTOL – All aspects of life covered – 18^TH TO 20^TH MAY – at the Paradise Café 398 Gloucester Rd – tel: 9429819

PRAYER SCHOOLS RUN BY the REV. PALMER – an opportunity to learn more about Travailing & Intercessory Prayer and breaking through

KINGSWOOD, Kingswood Community Centre, The High St TO OPEN Sat. 25^TH MAY 7pm to 9pm – Last Saturday of every month

PARADISE Café, 398, Gloucester Rd, Ashley Down – every Saturday 9am to 10.30am.

Malcolm X centre, Ashley Rd, ST PAULS – Sat. 15^th June – 7.30pm to 9.30pm – every 3^rd Saturday

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH PRAYER NATIONALLY?:

THE CALL - 13^th July, Majeski Stadium Reading, tickets £10 – Day of Prayer & Fasting for the Nation

THOUSANDS EXPECTED AT HISTORIC GATHERING T0 PRAY AND FAST One of the biggest prayer gatherings of Christians ever seen in Britain is being planned for July 2002 – many have felt Cindy Jacobs prophecy needs to be responded to – this is one major response.

VISION: We've taught our young people to 'feast & play' but now we believe God's call is to 'fast and pray.' TheCall is a response to the urgent summons in Joel 2:15: 'Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a solemn assembly, bring together the elders, gather the children...'The Call International VisionTo shape the history of nations by calling the generations to gather in united massive fasting, prayer, and humble repentance. The Call International Mission Our mission is to shape history by:

Who is TheCall?
TheCall is a prayer coalition that spans the generations, laying hold of what God wants. It is a joining together of three generations, including youth, youth leaders, pastors, church leaders, and concerned parents and grandparents responding to a call from God to believe and fight for spiritual revolution and cultural transformation. We invite you to join us in summoning a massive assembly to worship, pray, fast and mobilize. TheCall is a response to the urgent summons in Joel 2 Joel 2:15-18 "Blow the trumpet in Zion; set apart a fast (a day of restraint and humility); call a solemn assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation; assemble the elderly people, gather the children and the nursing infants: let the bridegroom (who is legally exempt from attending) go forth from his chamber and the bride out of her closet. (None is exempt from the humiliation) Let the Priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the alter: let them say, Have pity and spare Your People, O Lord, and give not Your heritage to reproach, that the (heathen) nations should rule over them or use a byword against them. Why should they say among the peoples, "Where is their God?"

Julie Anderson, the Executive Director of TheCall, England, felt the Lord say we need 7-day fasts each month up to TheCall England. So for the next 9 months we are asking as many people to join with us every month to pray and fast from the 7th to the 13th.

'The Call' needs help with communicating to all Christian leaders in the UK. They have videos, colour brochures, church posters and credit card size promo cards. The video shows the incredible gathering of 400,000 people in Washington along with the heart behind the preparation of 'The Call England'. I’ve attached a list of quotes from key Christian leaders endorsing ‘The Call’ as, "the most remarkable public event of its kind. We are going to look back in generations to come and say ‘God did something then.’ "

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DEVOTIONAL REFLECTION:

PRAYER IN THE SECRET PLACE . . . REST IS A WEAPON

Does prayer sometimes feel like trying to push a huge boulder up a steep incline? When you‘re done, you might feel like you’ve exerted a lot of energy, become tired, felt a massive weight bearing down on you, and in the end, hoped you’ve gained some ground.

It does seem that at times we can become overwhelmed with the burdens we carry in prayer. But, the good news is that Jesus in Matthew’s gospel invites the weary and tired to:

In this passage we discover that Jesus wants us to partner with Him. In our prayers, He wants to draw alongside and shoulder the burden for us. When we cast our cares upon Him, we learn that His yoke is easy and His burden light.

As the "one who ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25)," Jesus invites us to come into rest and, at the same time, learn from him. Yielding to Him, we quiet ourselves in His presence and He shares His heart with us and what issues are pressing. By learning His heart, our prayers reflect this and we then have great confidence that we are praying "in Jesus' name" because our words are echoing His. We have faith and joy and know that the Father will hear our prayers.

As we take Christ’s yoke upon ourselves in prayer, we learn how to pray from a position of rest, discovering what a powerful weapon rest is in engaging in warfare prayer. Rather than getting beat up by the enemy, we are hidden under the shadow of God's wings (Psalms 36:7 and 91:1) and we can find ourselves being refreshed while doing "hard work."

Remember, there are two "Rs" in P-R-A-Y-E-R -- and they mean "rest" and "refreshment."