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Why do I go to a Prayer Group?
Spiro Sueref reflects from wales reflects on his first experience of going to a Prayer Group, seven years ago and why he still goes
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Twenty minutes into the meeting I saw my old university lecturer, John, walk in. I wondered what he was doing there. I felt so embarrassed I wanted to hide. Sitting there, however, and watching and listening to them I knew deep within my heart that God wanted me to be there and that had nothing to do with my feelings or the strangeness of it all. Since then I have seen the Lord do so many wonderful things that no-one can convince me now that prayer groups do other than serve a very good and practical purpose in God's plan. There have been many times along the way that I have been half tempted to stop going, particularly when I'm feeling lethargic myself, or when my family make comments like "Do you have to go every week?" and "It's okay if you miss some meetings" or "So long as you go to Mass and say your daily prayers, it's OK". But the deep conviction I received that first meeting has helped me keep going and I have found that the meetings I didn't want to go to have often been the best. A year after I joined the prayer group, the leader, Sr Eleanor O'Brien, was moved to a convent in Kent. When she left, she handed me the hymn books, several tapes and the responsibility for the prayer group, of whom there were only five of us. We were all very sad to see her go. Gradually the rest of group, mainly through ill health and old age stopped coming and two years ago I found myself sitting on my own in the hall. This did raise a lot of questions in my mind and I was really tempted to quit altogether. There didn't seem any point. But one day as I sat there all alone with the Lord I asked in my prayer "Lord, why am I here?" I received the clear thought "You are here because I want you to be here." As I prayed the Lord made me realise that we come to prayer groups for him not ourselves and that it's His prayer group. He inspired me to start simply praying for the needs of the parish and to create a leaflet encouraging people to join the prayer group, which I left at the back of the parish church. Each week I would check to see if any of them had been taken. At first there was no response, and this was a period of patience, but I knew I wasn't alone. During this time the Lord inspired me to imagine how the prayer group might be conducted with 10 or 20 people. This got me thinking, hoping, expecting growth. Eventually people did start coming. Now we average between 10 to 20 a week. Although not everyone comes every week and not every one sticks at it, we have continued to grow ever since. We have been through challenging times together, and leamt to bear each other's burdens. We have also seen great conversions and healings which have continued to inspire us. Just think what I would have missed if I had given up all those years ago. WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE OF PRAYER GROUP?
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When
I first went to a Charismatic prayer group almost seven years ago, I
didn't have a clue why I was there. It all felt so strange. 1 wasn't
even sure I wanted to be there and felt like a fish out of water with
six elderly people around me singing and praising God. At first I thought
they were more like a music group because they were singing with all
their heart, one song after another.