Spiritual Space
We are all complex and complicated beings, made up of body, mind and spirit. We spend much of our time looking after our appearance and feeding our bodies but we often neglect our mental and spiritual wellbeing. Medical research has shown that those who have faith generally recover from operations more quickly, live longer and experience more fulfilled lives. The question for many is how to develop and take care of the mental and spiritual sides of our lives and alleviate the stresses of modern day life.
Those who Jesus met were transformed by their encounter. When the wine had run out at a wedding feast, where Jesus was a guest, he changed water into wine - not just any wine but the finest of wines. He can similarly change the ordinary of our lives today into the extraordinary of life and life in all its fullness.
In an encounter with a woman drawing water from a well He spoke to her about quenching a deep rooted thirst in her life that need never be thirsty again. He told her about 'living water' He said that if she took in this 'water' it would become 'a spring welling up to eternal life'.
If you would like to meet with this life enriching God you can start by speaking to Him in a place where you feel safe, quiet and comfortable. Close your eyes, take some calming deep breaths and then speak out loud to Him or talk in the silence of your thoughts.
Some people find focusing on a flickering candle helpful. Others enjoy the outdoors, taking in the Creator's creation ... wherever you find your space of communication with Him give yourself time to talk to Him.
The Disciples asked Jesus for a formula for prayer, and the answer He gave is one that we still use today. In churches it is sometimes introduced as 'the prayer Jesus taught us' - the Lord's Prayer:
Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
You may find it helpful to pray a line of the Lord's Prayer at a time thinking about what each line means to you or pass on to the line which you feel is the one where you need help and then break away from the prayer and pray your own words. Don't force this, pray as you can, not as you can't.
At first, prayer may be like a conversation with someone who you haven't spoken to for a long time. After a while it will be like speaking to an intimate friend who you spill out all your concerns and feelings to. This 'friend' will listen non-judgementally and will love you unconditionally.
This unconditionally love was expressed in a sacrificially love –
"For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world but to save the world through him."
New International Bible: John 3 verses 16-17
Know that you are known and loved -
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in – behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. …
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.'
(Part of Psalm 139)
On this website there are links to most of the churches in this area – each one worships Jesus but each will have their own style of doing this. Choosing a church is like trying to find the right pair of shoes – you have to put your feet in them to see whether they are the right fit! Come, put your feet into one or all of the churches until you find the one that is right fit for you.
Useful websites
