Prayer for Wellesley

Our weekly all-community prayer times will focus on our Wellesley community, both Christian and secular. We will have time also for people to share praises and thanksgivings of ways they've seen God at work. We want this to be a time of prayer where God shapes our hearts to be like His and where we sense Him moving powerfully in our midst. We hope to vary the format each week and include different Christian styles of prayer.

Time: Thursdays, 6:30 - 7pm
Location: Campus center. Please email Prayer team for more details.

Anybody who would like to pray for Christ's work on our campus is welcome to join us!

Other Ways You Can Pray

Here are some suggestions that you can use to pray on your own. Courtesy of Kate Reece and Louren Hernandez.

1. Think of prayer as a conversation. It often helps to visualize Jesus sitting right next to you or to picture yourself kneeling down at the foot of the Cross or the throne of God. Picture yourself sitting and talking with Jesus or sitting on God's lap as His daughter and simply have a conversation with Him. If Jesus was your best friend, what would you say to Him? After sharing your heart with Him, take time to listen to what He might be telling you, whether it's through a gentle whisper that you hear in your heart or through Scripture or just by some thoughts He might bring to your head about how you should handle a particular situation or ways that you could grow closer to Him.

2. Don't just ask, reflect. Remember to not just unload your list of things that you want God to do for you but thank Him for the things He's blessed you with and the ways you can see His beauty and His movement in your life and the lives of those around you. Spend time in reflection on different aspects of His character - His goodness, grace, holiness, and on the other ways that He is not like us - He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient - Let the wonder of who he is brow you away!

3. Be honest! Don't come to God and act like you've got it all together - He knows better! If prayer is a time for anything, it's a time for you to just be yourself. If you're angry or disappointed with Him, tell him and let Him change your expectations or encourage you or say whatever it is that you may need to hear. Always approach God's throne with humility and reverance but don't sugar-coat what you say to God. Spend some time meditating on the Psalms and the ways in which David approached God in his times of disappointment, discouragements, or intense pain. Observe how honest David is with God and how by talking to God, he puts himself in a place where God can change his heart and help him see something that he might have overlooked or forgotten.

4. Turn prayer into a lifestyle. Even though it can be very important to schedule time in to pray during the day, it doesn't necessarily have to be an event. Paul, who wrote many letters in the Bible, encourages other followers of Jesus to be in prayer all the time! Strive to be a woman who is in continual conversation with Jesus throughout your day and make prayer less of an event but more of a lifestyle of speaking with Him and listening to what He is telling you. It may often be necessary to be alone in a quiet place with no distractions in order to hear His voice. Pick a spot where you can be comfortable and reflect before you pray. An ideal place is your room; other favorites include by Lake Waban or anywhere else around the beautiful Wellesley campus. Try to let your stress and worries go, knowing that God has called us to give it all up on Him, and He will take care of you.

5. Study Scripture. Spend time reflecting on the way that Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13. Analyze the different aspects of this prayer and try to incorporate these elements into your prayer life. Remember to be honest and genuine! Ask Jesus to show you how to pray and reflect on the meaning of these words. Also, you can observe the prayers of people like Moses, David, and Solomon in the Old Testament and Paul in the New Testament and reflect on the ways in which they prayed.