I came to New Wine this year carrying a bit of baggage about several things and God has blessed me with these brilliant people who have accepted me, listened to me, offered me advice and hugs, and taught me more about God and prayer than I had anticipated.
Between us we've been running an Internet cafe with the best coffee on site (not that I'm biased!), and a prayer shed...open 7.30am- 10.30pm...so not quite 24-7 like it says on the tin but if I've learnt anything this week it's that prayer is not prescriptive, it doesn't follow rules or timings or plans...it's personal and emotional and spiritual...it's conversation with God, and He LOVES that!
For any of my friends who are coming to New Wine CSW next week, I highly recommend spending some time here...it'll still be going! Then head to the cafe for a decent cup of coffee :)
Anyway I thought I'd post some pictures of the different stations we have and share some of what I've been learning this week. There are 10 stations, people don't have to do them in order but they follow the story of Joseph if you do:
1. Thankfulness
This wall of thankful prayers is right by where I sit when I'm hosting the venue and its the most humbling collection of thanks to God. The prayers range from thanks for family, to thanks for creation...and if you ever need something to bring your focus back to God- just think about what you can thank him for...trust me, the list seems unending.
2. Hopes and Dreams
I love the bubble tubes, I could sit and watch them for hours...this station encourages people to write down their hopes and watch them rise like bubbles to God. I really enjoy that God is invested in my hopes and dreams, He's the one who put them in my heart and He wants them to come to fruition just as much as me.
3. Obedience
A simple station...just putting your thumbprint on a canvas. But that thumbprint symbolises your choice to be completely obedient to God...harder than you would think, trust me! I think this station took me the longest when I went round, because it's not a simple decision. It's massively hard to trust God that much that you will follow whatever He says. Particularly for a control freak like me!
4. Places of Influence
Inside this black tent is actually a beautiful sanctuary of fairy lights and cardboard walls that now have writing and handprints all over them. It asks people to think about where they have influence over people or things. I struggled with this one because I don't think of myself as someone who has influence but actually I do...on my friends, on the kids and youth at church...and I need to take responsibility for that and ensure that I seek God first and be a representation of Him to those people.
5. Worries
This station wasn't so hard for me! I worry all the time...about everything! My luggage tag was full quickly!
But tying it up and handing everything over to God, not so easy...and yet so worth doing.
6. God's Voice
This station had people writing promises and prophecies on acetate triangles and pegging them up...you can't really see them all in the photo...but they are there! God is clearly speaking over people's lives and it's been amazing to see how many clear words and pictures He's been giving.
7. Creativity
The amount of pictures that have been created in this space...but actually I think I've found that its more about the process than the product. God's spirit flowing through people to create and enjoying talking to Him this way. People will stay a long time at this station, I did myself. I was just quiet and calm and fun.
8. World Issues
I've been reading Red Moon Rising this week (just finished it!) which is the story of 24-7 Prayer and its clear in that book that its no just about prayer, it's about action...God breaks our hearts for what breaks His and this map is so full of people praying for issues and places. God seeks justice for people who are hurting and He is calling us to help them.
9. Sorry
This station seemed quite late in the order to me, but I get it...having taken time to get in touch with God and deepen how I was communicating with Him, it's important to acknowledge that I'm not worthy. That I am broken and messed up and that I have to say sorry for those things that separate me from God.
10. Forgiveness
Following on from station 9, this space means I was able to go from this place feeling clean and forgiven and loved. God is so good that even when I mess up on the same things again and again, He still offers forgiveness.
Even when He and I both know that I'm going to mess up again, He offers forgiveness and love.
It's incredibly humbling.
The final area is the Deeper Tent...
A space to just be with God...there's a real sense of peace and calm when you enter this tent. It's a place to go deeper with God and spend time just enjoying Him.
It took time for this tent to come together and it was slightly delayed in opening but actually I truly believe that's because it's such a special place and the enemy wanted to try and throw it off track...but we prayed protection and God prevailed.
That's the prayer shed...I've been so blessed to be able to spend hours here at a time whilst hosting it, I've also spent some of my 'free' time here...because its helped me bring my focus back to God.
It's making me think about how I can create my own space back home because everything else has a better perspective on it when my eyes are focused on God :)
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