Extras

I hear you saying, 'But what's so special about the prayer room in the church? We know it is there but there is no reason to go sit there unless you need prayer!' (and even then, you probably wouldn't!). This last week, thanks to a dedicated team of people led by Caroline Coulter, the Admin Office at 90 Denmark Street became “The Prayer Room @ 90”. If you missed it then take a look at some of the snaps dotted across this page for a bit more of an insight! (You can click on them for a bigger version).

The Room

Caroline and her team of little helpers spent a few days last week putting up curtains and bits of fabric around the room, in the bay window that faces onto Denmark Street there was a huge comfy bean bag to add to the atmosphere of a chill out space. The idea behind it was that as we embark on the building work and coming into Holy Week, it would be good to have somewhere people could come in, shut the door and leave their busy life outside on the doorstep. They could then bring their prayers of worry, praise and thanks to Jesus without being disrupted or distracted by the outside world.

As well as said and thought prayers, throughout the week more and more pictures appeared, some included song lyrics and others included verses. On the back of the door there was a net with pegs so that you could write your prayers down or draw your pictures and then peg them to the door so that they could be seen by other people coming into the prayer room. Above the radiator there were big sheets of paper so that people could blu-tack up their prayers. Later on during the time it was open someone had written "Are the prayers of saints like sweet smelling incense?" across the top of the sheets.

Carrying on around the room, in the corner there was a funky light and around it from the ceiling to the floor, there was black paper so that verses and prayers could be written on it in chalk and others bits like words of wisdom, someone had written on this piece of paper “Raise up an army”. To complement this, there was some toy armour in the corner on the floor - if you are confused as to why armour in a prayer room, have a look at Ephesians 6:10-18. Next to this on the floor there was a drum in case you wanted to beat out some praise to God, or play along to a CD.

Hanging on the chimney breast there was a wooden cross, and for some of the week a crown of thorns was hung over the top. Underneath the cross, on the floor there was a bowl of water, some soap, a towel and a pair of sandals, to help remind us that when Jesus washed his disciples feet he was showing that he was willing to do something that at the time normally only a lowly servant would do.

There was a presentation that ran on a TV in the corner with a selection of verses and pictures on it, changing from time to time. I liked this bit especially because it had my favourite verse on it – Psalm 8:2 - 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger'.

My Experience

Some of you may had been to see the prayer room, and others of you might not have, so I wanted to share my experience of visiting it. I first went in on the first Thursday evening - it was like stepping through the Narnia wardrobe - not because I was attacked by fur coats and moth balls but because there was this sense of everything changing. I'd been busy finishing assessments for university all day so it was great to be able to spend time specifically with God - without being distracted by what is on television or playing computer games.

I found my time there really refreshing, and I loved every minute. Having the room open this last week has been cool because God loves to hear us thank him for things he has done like making the world and making you and me. Yeah he is omniscient (knows everything) but he still wants us to bring these things to him and pray about them.

Next Time

There is another prayer room event planned soon, so watch this space for more details, it's going to be big!

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