Stories brought to you from Prayers on the Street

Rushing people in good moods; invitations given; prayers for healing for family members and praying in the prophetic.

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Walking down the street we met two guys, one American and both brought up as Catholics. They had two boxes of crispy creams and late for work! We started talking and they said we could pray for life, work, friends and family. They were very warm and it was great to chat and pray with them.

We met a friend of St. Peter’s and we prayed for him for more energy and asked him if he had more energy what would he do? He said he would want to pass on more joy around!

We met a lady who was very unhappy about her son who she felt was not doing well so we prayed with her for him and listened to her worries. We met another old friend of our community who we always stop and chat to and prayed for him.

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We were received by all but one person we encountered today. We met a man who was in his 60’s and who has lived here his whole life. He used to go to Sunday school as a child and we had a long chat with him about the estate and the architecture. Whilst we were talking one of our youth members then walked past and so one of us went and prayed with him and caught up with how we was doing. We then prayed for this man after a good time chatting and although being very casual when we offered to pray for him during the prayer he was visibly moved and touched by the words spoken, leading from what we had spoken about and so during the prayer it really felt God touched him.

Then we met one lady who was very business like, so it was hard at the beginning to connect with her. However, she asked for prayer for her mum who was in hospital. Earlier when we were praying in the prophetic one of us had a sense of her in management so we asked if she worked in management and she said yes, she did, she shared she worked in safeguarding and so we explained in a non religious way that sometimes when we pray we get a sense of God speaking to us about things. This changed the prayer encounter, so we prayed for her mum but through the prophetic it changed the encounter and brought it close as we prayed for her herself. She was passionate about her work and it was a great encounter.

We met a man who was originally from Saint Lucia. He was a lovely open man and we had a bit of a joke and then he shared about a broken relationship he had and I was able to share my own brokenness and vulnerability and about how Jesus gives us the desires of our hearts. Saying man looks on the outside but God looks at the heart. We invited him to come and join us on a Sunday celebration.

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We went to the river and met a guy with headphones who was off to the Doctors and who seemed to have a very heavy heart. He was not in touch with any of his family and asked for prayer for friends and building a community. We had a lovely conversation encouraging him and inviting him and we prayed with him for all the current things on his mind, in particular making friends.

We met a lady who was on her way to look after a boy in palliative care; she had lots of bags with toys. She asked for prayer for the boy but didn’t want to pray with us so we prayed for them both as we walked.

Then we met a man who is familiar with what we do on StreetSeed, and has faith himself. He said everything was fine and well but after pressing a little deeper he then shared that his grand daughter in Jamaica who was pregnant had had a very bad accident coming off her bike. We prayed for her, for healing, thanks for him and thanks for the safety of the baby.

One lady had a very sick daughter. She was a Catholic and she let us pray with her, for her and her daughter. We had a lot of people in a rush who were very pleasant saying things like, ‘I would love that but I can’t stop right now’.

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After one turn down we met a Mum we both know through Little Chefs who was walking along with her Aunt and daughter. She accepted prayer saying she was really stressed after finding out her son is autistic. She was comforted by the prayer which made her cry but she looked better afterwards as well. It felt like we were in the right place at the right time to bless her.

After that we prayed for a young woman with a girl in a buggy. She accepted prayer readily for her health – she has asthma and it is quite debilitating. She is Christian and we prayed for her healing.

We met one young male student who struggles with confidence and asked for prayer to help in that area. I was able to share my own story of struggling with confidence and how God had helped me overcome that. He shared about having depression but in a normal way like a lot of people and we talked about mental health in society and prayed for him for that too.

A story of healing and tears

Some encouraging encounters over the summer as we go out each week onto the streets to pray for people and share God’s truth.

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We came across a couple sitting on the grass and I actually knew her, and had just been thinking about her yesterday,  I hadn’t seen her in about 2 years and was wondering how they were so it was great to see them. One of us had some words of knowledge and prophecy who didn’t know her situation and the words really spoke to her and were very appropriate so they were hugely encouraged.

We met a man who suffers from depression so we chatted and prayed for him.

We then met a lady who we know and she shared about her son and worries and so we were able to pray with her about that which was lovely.

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We met a lady in red who was very friendly; she was a woman of faith and on her way to see a friend to celebrate a graduation. We had a word of knowledge about whether she wanted to be a beautician or anything in that line, and she said she had been thinking about wanting to be a make-up artist so that was very encouraging for her in her day.

We met a business man who was half continuing to walk as we chatted but was very up for us praying - he asked for prayer for his meeting and so we prayed as he went on his way.

We then met a lady who immediately you know God has put you there for a reason. She was sat on the side with her earphones in, not the most approachable but we did walk up to her and said, ‘sorry to interrupt’, she took her earphones out and we asked her if we could pray for her today. She just said, ‘ah, yes please!’ She shared that she had just quit her job the day before. As she spoke she was clearly emotional and started to cry. She had been so depressed with work, it was making her ill and so she had just gone in and quit. She had children and bills and was wondering how she could manage everything. So she was out that morning to have a think as she felt lost and didn’t know what she was going to do. She was very up for talking through everything and had some faith, and was open to the spiritual side of how God works. Some more tears were shed and she was thankful to have met us and couldn’t believe the timing as she’d come outside to do exactly some thinking. We talked to her for a long time a prayed a lot through the things she shared. It was one of those encounters where you just feel so amazed to have met them. Praise God for his timing.

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A very encouraging testimony from our StreetSeed over the summer is one elderly gentleman that we met, who did not have a faith, shared that he had prostate cancer. We prayed for him and parted ways. A number of months later, he came to the church building and shared with us that he had gone back to the Doctor for his next scan to see if he could get his whole prostate out. The doctor did the scan and said, ‘what are you doing here? You don’t have any cancer.’ There was nothing on the scans that showed the prostate needed to be taken out and no more cancer. Neither of them could believe it and the elderly gentleman told the doctor that he was prayed for and that must be the reason it’s gone. The Doctor said, ‘they’re doing a better job than we are!’ The gentleman is not a man of faith but came to the church to tell us and has spoken with us a few times about this. We have found this hugely encouraging and this is just one story of many, we are so touched that he came to tell us and thank us.

An update from June

An update from June as we went out onto the streets in Battersea to chat to people, pray for them and talk about the Gospel. Here are some individual encounters:

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We spoke to a lady who jokingly said she was trying to avoid us! She shared that she had lost her mother a few years back but felt very angry about it. She described the feeling of wearing a heavy rucksack and of feeling burdened. We spoke about being able to give that to Jesus, to be able to release her heavy feelings and in place have joy and peace. We spoke about feeling welcomed at churches and her not feeling dressed smart enough and how we should come as we are. We told her we all wear trainers to church which she couldn’t believe! She was open about her past and we had a great time of sharing about Jesus and praying, ending in big hug.

I had a long conversation with an elderly man. Who has been living in Battersea since 1960, he had been to a church a few times in the past. He did have faith in God but wasn’t sure about Jesus. I prayed for him, that Jesus would reveal himself to him, his love or him and that he is real. And then after the prayers he said, I’m not sure about the resurrection. I said that’s interesting and very important and asked if I could share about what I thought about it. I encouraged him to think about it. And then he said well it’s a bit like believing in something if you’ve experienced it. He spoke about the spiritual world. It starting drawing to a natural close and so I invited him to our Living Life group before he left.

Then I saw this beautiful African family coming across the grass. I had met one of the women a few months ago. She remembered me and as I speak French we all spoke in French together. I met all her family and we had a chat and I explained what we were doing, they very warmly received me and we all held hands and prayed together. They were very touched to be prayed for.

We met a gentleman who has dialysis and he had a faith and asked for prayer for his health. We prayed for him.

We bumped into a man who was doing work on the road who wanted a prayer for good weather and happy residents. We thanked him for the hard work his does and gave him an imaginary box of chocolates! He said he gets some residents who shout at him and some who bring him chocolates so he now had another one…

I bumped into a grandmother of a young boy I teach, I forgot that she doesn’t speak much English and I forgot I don’t speak much Spanish, after our attempt to have a conversation, it didn’t really end up working so I gave her a big hug and said see you later!

We spoke to three Lithuania workers who had been working on one of the local buildings. They had just left their job, not having had a good conversation with management, it sounded like they had not been treated very well so we prayed that they would quickly find new employment so that they could support themselves and their families and where they would find a new job that management would treat them well and fairly. On the way out, Didi blew them a kiss which was very much appreciated and they caught it!

We then moved on and met a gentleman who had some belief in God and we had a really good conversation. We heard his views, and we picked up on a couple of them. He said he was a bit like a scientist. He shared his sister had died and I shared a bit of my testimony about how I came to know Jesus. We talked about religion and relationship and we had a good connection.

We met a lady on the way to hospital and we asked if we could pray for her and she said I’m actually listening to UCB radio and she said thank you thank you, I believe, next time!

We went into a local shop and spoke to the owner who always receives us well and said we could pray for anything. So we prayed for his family and business.

I met a man who I engaged well with but wouldn’t let me pray for him.

We met a lady who was very open for prayer, believed and was about to meet up with a friend that could be a difficult meeting. She wanted us to pray for her friend she was meeting. She didn’t want us to pray there and then but as we left her we saw her meeting up with her friend so were able to pray for them as we walked.

I met a young guy who said that recently an ex-girlfriend of his had died so we prayed for that and for God to comfort him and her family and he was open to receive that. It felt very safe and that he was open, I asked if I could put my hand on his heart and he said yeah please do.

I went up to the corner and this young guy came by and the Lord had a word for me that he was from a Christian family but that he had fallen away. And he said yes, it is what it is. I said can I pray. He said he was going to a meeting. I said well can I just pray and he let me. It felt like a very powerful connection, spiritually it felt very powerful to pray for God to bring him back home and he was open to the prayer.

We met a man who asked for prayer for his family so prayed for this before he went on his way.

We had a brief encounter with a woman who asked us to pray for her health, she didn’t going into anymore detail.

We met quite a few people who said that’s very kind and received prayer but didn’t go into any detail and asked us to pray for general well being and for the world or country.

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We like to share not just the great stories but also the reality of approaching strangers and talking to them! We often get people declining to talk and those that just ignore us. We saw a talk recently about rejection and how the more you get it the less of a deal it becomes and the fear of being rejected diminishes. You will read some of these stories and find abrupt endings or very short encounters which we want to share to show the reality of street ministry.

'Come on, let's do it!'

We headed out as usual on Wednesday morning to reach out to local people and offer prayers. There was a trend of people heading to/from medical appointments and prayers for exams.

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We first spoke to a young guy in York gardens who had some exams next week he wanted prayer for. We spoke quite a bit about God, he had parents who were Christians but had lots of questions himself and we encouraged him to ask more questions and prayed about that

Then we met a man we know well and were able to pray for him. After a few rejections we approached a man on his way to his dentist appointment and at first didn’t seem that engaged but then asked for prayer for his appointment and journey, that he would get there on time and so we go to pray for him.

We came across an older lady who lives opposite the church and so has seen it go up over the years. When we asked what we could pray for she shared she had lost her daughter a couple of years ago and that she tried to get outside every day and go somewhere so that she is not inside alone. So we prayed for her that she would know God’s love and peace and told her about Living Life ministry.We then met a lady and said a prayer for her family, around a family member who is in the last stages of cancer, she asked for prayer that the girls could process grief well.

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We started off and approached a gentleman at the bus stop who new of the church and was happy to speak to us but didn’t want any prayer. So we blessed him on his way to an appointment. We then met a lady who was just on her way back from an appointment and we walked and talked with her. We had a lot of encounters walking and talking with people on their journeys this morning. This lady asked for prayer for her husband who had recently had a leg amputated. So we stopped and prayer for the clinic dealing with her appointments and her husband’s mental health and well being following this operation. She said we had made her day and shared that she was a Catholic and it was a lovely encounter.

We walked towards the station, and after a number of bold moves to people with earphones followed by quick rejections on their way to catch trains, we met a young man who was on his way to revise for some law exams. He was up for prayer, saying, ‘Come on, lets do it’ and held out his hands wide so we took his hands and prayed for concentration, and peace over the exams.

We then met a homeless man who was begging for money with a sign. He was from Roumania and didn’t speak English so through a lot of actions and nodding we had a conversation about his situation and prayed for him. We then went to the local cafe and got him breakfast and a black coffee, remembering we have the blessing of technology and smart phones so used google translate to communicate!

Helicopter prayers; flying and landing over Battersea

We headed out as usual in prayer to meet our local neighbours, a number of church family members, dog walkers and commuters.

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We bumped into a lady in York gardens walking her dog who knew St. Peter’s and who said her mum knew our vicar well. When we asked what we could pray for she said she was fine, life was level at the moment so we said can we pray for that to continue and she said yes, you can! We then got chatting about the old building and the different things it was being used for now, and the new loud drummers!

Then we met a gentleman who was struggling to find his destination for a meeting so we helped him out chatting to him as we walked, he was very friendly, said no to prayer and we parted wishing him a good meeting.

We were walking along the river and met a woman who was on the way for the doctors and when we asked if there was anything we could pray for she said her dad who has cancer. On asking for anything else to pray for she said her father in law was also ill, a double whammy she said, she didn’t want to pray there and so we said we would pray for them all.

On our way back we met a church family member who had been on his way to join us earlier but had bumped into another church family member out walking in what he called one of those ‘Godincidences’ ;) They were able to have a really good chat. We prayed for him and his family and for work, he said it was nice to be on the receiving end of prayer!

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We had a bit of a tricky start with meeting lots of people who weren’t very engaging. We then met a man who had a very firm, tough exterior but he did stop and chat to us. After we moved on we met a man at the station who worked on the platform and he let us pray for him.

I went over to two ladies who were handing out leaflets, their opening line to me was do you want to swap your coffee for a healthier breakfast!? I said yeah great, can I pray for you!? They were really lovely, and said they prayed themselves in the morning but if I really wanted to pray then I could pray for everybody, and take care of myself. They were a bit closed off to the idea of prayer in the way I was offering as they pray in a different way.

I met one of our church family members and his friend. We had a good chat, and I offered to pray for the friend. Because of the way the conversation had gone I asked them, ‘If you came before God tonight, would you get into heaven?’ They said yeah they reckon they are good enough to get in. I then explained about Romans that all have fallen short of the glory of god, no one is righteous and only on Jesus’ account will you get in. I felt he was open to that, he then let me pray for him and we prayed along those lines. He was very warm, very funny and amusing. Then we prayed for our church family member and for creating time for God, walking back the same way together.

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We first saw a church family member who was stressed out and we got to pray for her which was great. We continued walking and had a gentleman and a lady walking towards us… the lady was walking a little slower so we decided to approach her. It came about that her best friends son was a young man that had been stabbed last night in Battersea. It was then clear she had been crying and we prayed for the pain, and grief, her sister then joined us and I asked for permission and then just put my arms around them and prayed for them, for them to know God is there even in the saddest moment. We gave them our card saying we may not be your faith community but we are always here if you ever want to pop in. We went on and did a lot of prayer walking, met one man who said he couldn’t stop but wanted to know where we were so he could visit. We met a lady whose daughter has planted a bunch of churches; it was lovely to talk so in the end we just blessed her for more expansion because she was just really strong in the Lord. We tried to pray for a mother and daughter who were too busy going to an appointment so we gave her a card, she was really excited about Little Chefs. We said hi to a father and son who shot us a look so we let him be and then on walking back to the church building we realised we were walking behind them so from another look we changed direction as it looked like we were following him!

'Praise God!'

Stretching our legs and getting back out there with 2019 winter StreetSeed. With many greetings, conversations and prayers firing away, read on for this morning’s encounters.

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We walked through York gardens and started chatting to a couple of people. We said we were from the local church and she said she was a Christian but finding it difficult. She didn’t want prayer there and then so we prayed for her as we left. We bumped into lots of people who didn’t want prayer, but then we saw an old church family member who has been away and it was great to catch up with her and chat about things. We prayer walked around the estate praying for Brexit and the local area and possible impacts on the community. We prayed for the blocks as we walked past with families we know living in them.

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After having brief chats to the people at the bus stop who were friendly but didn’t want prayer, we headed down to the river. We bumped into a church family member and prayed for healing and work. It was good to be able to have a chat outside of a Sunday morning and the change to pray and encourage him. We spoke to a couple of other people who were in a rush before we then met a man with his headphones in and on taking them out and hearing that we were offering prayer, said ‘Praise God!’ He was so full of joy it was such a blessing. He worked locally but lived in Surrey and was part of a fellowship there. He let us pray for his back and for healing. We then met a young estate agent who was having a tough week and was open for us to pray for her, she was very touched and thankful and one of us had a picture and word of knowledge of how God see’s her. She was thankful and hopeful for the week to get better.

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We met a man who was a painter from Bulgaria. He had faith and didn’t want us to pray at that time as he was working but asked us to pray for health and family, so we blessed him as we went on our way. Then we met a lady from another local church with bright pink shoes! We were able to talk and connect over children and life and she asked for prayer for wisdom which we were able to do there with her. We had a brief interaction with a young man, who was very focused and on his way to a meeting. We met another young man and had a very long in depth conversation with him. He stopped and we shared what we were doing. He said he was an atheist but was open to be prayed for. He had also grown up catholic and I prayed that God would reveal his love to him. And then after praying we had a long discussion about life, death and eternity. He had really thought about things and had some really great questions. We had this incredibly connected conversation and he said, ‘You’re not going to convert me!’ and I said, ‘I’m just really enjoying the conversation.’ It came up that he had a shoulder injury and he had a really good question about how this injury had really become a part of him and whether it would go in heaven, would he no longer be him. So we had a conversation about what parts of you are you and how we will be restored and about resurrection. But it led to us being able to pray for his shoulder. And we both thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and went off in a good place. We gave him a card so he knows where to find us!

Content with a Cornish Pasty

So you may have noticed less StreetSeed blog posts recently, well, that is not because we haven’t been going out. Throughout this busy and exciting period and move into the new church building we have continued to go out every Wednesday morning to pray for people in our local area and have had some super encouraging stories.

This morning was no different with two teams heading out, despite the slight drizzle people were not put off.

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We met a lovely lady who lived in Sporcle court who was on her way to the GP, although at first she didn’t want prayer in public standing in York gardens, after we got chatting about faith and heard about her ongoing pain she had in her body due to an accident many years ago, she was happy for us to pray for her and was very touched and said it was good we had met her this morning. We felt it was no accident that we met her and got to give her some encouragements and reminders about how God loved her. She even invited us to come visit her and pray in her flat next week.

We then met a very joyful woman with her very friendly dog who remembered meeting another of us a few weeks before who had complimented her eyes. She was very chatty and although she went to another church was happy for us to pray for her arthritis. She was very thankful and it was such an encouraging encounter, it was a bonus to have some good dog therapy at the same time!

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We started our walk with meeting lots of people who were very happy and content with their lives! We met one young guy who was friendly and chatty, he was particularly happy because he was from Cornwall and was eating a Cornish pasty! He had heard an announcement in the station this same morning which said that small talk can save someone’s life. So he felt it was weird that we were then talking to him; it was a nice connection even though we didn’t get to pray for him.

We met a lady who was very happy in her life and couldn’t think of anything that she wanted prayer for so we wished her peace for her day. We had a good conversation with a Hindu man who didn’t want prayer but was quite happy to keep talking to us. Then we met a lady who asked for prayer for her car which had broken down and she needed it for the long school run. She seemed happy and thankful to be able to talk to someone about it and freely received our prayer. We finished our walk by heading into AJ’s corner shop and praying for them.

*...Should I stay or should I go..?*

This morning we went out with a full team and hit the streets and parks to chat to neighbours and offer prayer to people.

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We first came across a man who had earphones in (normally, for obvious reasons, an immediate challenge!)  We went up and introduced ourselves, asked him if he has faith, he said he didn’t really believe. He looked like he was on the edge of walking off to work and I said I don’t believe it’s an accident we’ve met you, a character in the bible with your name was a great leader. So when we asked to pray briefly at the end, and he let us, we said that he was created for a purpose, and God wanted to know him in amongst other things. He seemed quite touched, during prayer we could see a bit of a change, his body language changed. 

After chatting to a friend, we’ve met through StreetSeed before and talking about the new building, we then met a man who is quite vulnerable and who we’ve prayed for in the past. We asked him what he would say to Jesus if he met him. He said he would ask for healing. So we spoke very openly and intentionally and we prayed for healing. 

Then we ran after someone and scared them quite a bit! Moving on… came across a Polish man who was Catholic, and he was very matter of fact about having faith and belief in Jesus. When we prayed for him, he warmed up and we think it may have been the first time he’d been prayed for. He said we’d made his day and at the end asked if he could hug us? YES, we’re huggers! It felt like a very significant moment. I love the initial stand offish attitude and then at the end often the warmth and ending in hugs. 

We met a lady who I felt was Ugandan, and so I said, are you Ugandan? Yeah, how do you know!? And I said, I just felt, sensed you might be, they are often people of peace, you know the Lord you know? And it kinda touched her a bit… and freaked her out a bit as well! She was Catholic and didn’t belong to a church so we prayed for community and relationships and I asked if she was married, no, so asked if she would like a husband and she said no, I’m good! Anyway, it was a significant time of prayer and again a wanting to walk on at the beginning but at the end really touched and blessed. The Holy Spirit definitely moved. 
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We tried to talk to a couple of work men but they either didn’t speak English or just ignored us! So we moved on and met a lady at the playground who really didn’t speak English. We told her about Little Chefs and invited her to that, we think she understood! Then we met another woman who was a nanny with a couple of kids. She was initially quite closed off but we told her about Little Chefs too and she said she may come along and she let us pray for her. Then after that we bumped into a lady who has been to Little Chefs. Actually only yesterday I was looking through the register and saw she hadn’t been in a while so was thinking of her and then met her today so that was cool. She was worried about her mum and her brother so we prayed for her and for them and she said she would come next week so that was great to see her. We wondered around, didn’t see that many people and then stopped outside the centre and spoke to quite a few people who were running late for work.

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It was great some of the team made it to the playground as one of us had got a word of knowledge about the playground but we never made it ourselves. 

We met a man from doggy day care who was very friendly but didn’t want any prayer. Spoke to a couple of other people in passing but didn’t engage in conversation. 

We then walked into the park and I spoke to a young guy who we’ve met before and had prayed for his relationship with his girlfriend. We had a very good long conversation all about life and today’s society and world, covering lots of topics including pain and death, work, faith, money etc. I said but for all of that, for all the bad and suffering, there’s got to be hope, and something more and for me that is a relationship with Jesus. He talked about the negative things that today in modern life we live by and I responded that yes that exists but knowing Jesus is life changing. We’d talked about faith before and he‘s very knowledgeable. It was great to be able to talk in depth and openly about our views, both having a bit of a laugh at times. So at the end I said, what can I pray for, for you and he asked for positivity, and for people around him, that they enjoy his company and leave with positivity. So it was an awesome time to be able to talk and connect again and have a deep conversation about life. 

We went to the library and there were two ladies and a baby, we introduced ourselves. We had a really good conversation and they want to come to Little Chefs and possibly Life. We got to pray for them, one lady asked for prayer for her son. We had a couple of prophetic words for them and got to pray for work for both of them and shared some personal stories of encouragement with that and they received us very well. They knew someone who has come to the church before; I’d met her at Make Lunch so great to be able to connect in that way and we invited them to the community BBQ on the 23rd. 

When we had first walked into the park there was a man in shorts we had wanted to speak to but he was too fast and far away. However, on our way back through he was sitting on the bench with a friend so we rushed over and they were very friendly and open to talk. So we chatted, told them what we do and asked them if there was something we could pray for. They both wanted prayer. One man was having struggles with work and alcohol addiction and had been told he was incapable of work. That struck me and I felt that word is too strong, so I said, you are not incapable of that you’re just not ready for that. His friends name had a wonderful meaning, so we talked about that and he is volunteering and has had no alcohol for four years. They are close friends and clearly a good support to each other. So we prayed for them each before heading back. 
 

Litter picking and prayers

Today we decided to bless the community by litter picking and praying for people we encountered along the way.
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So we set off and came across a lady who knew the church as her daughter was involved and she knew it from a few years ago. She was very positive about the fact that we were litter picking and was very happy that we were doing something good for the community. We offered her prayer and after a little confusion she said yes so we blessed her and prayed that she would get to know Jesus. She was very happy to meet us and we all left feeling slightly more elated at the brief but smiley encounter. We carried on walking and collecting litter around the estate. We were keeping an eye out for an L & G worker we knew who was looking a little down earlier in the morning but didn’t see him so we prayed for him. We then met a lady in York gardens who was open to be prayed for. She was on her way to a graduation event so we prayed that she would have a day of celebration and know the presence of God close to her. She seemed very grateful and blessed and gave us all a big hug after. 
 

'I think we should learn Spanish!'

We headed out on this hot sunny summers day to offer prayer for people going about their day. Asking people what they would like pray for if they wanted it and for them to know Jesus.
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First of all we were walking up to the station and on Winstanley Road we met a lady from Colombia. After speaking too quickly we realised she didn’t understand English so we slowed down, threw in some Spanish words mixed with Latin as well. She then did understand mostly what we were saying and so we prayed a prayer of blessing over her. She was a believer and asked about the church so we invited her and said she is always welcome.
We then met two work men sitting under a tree, and we had a really positive encounter with them. We explained who we were and offered to pray for them and they were open to this. They looked like father and son and said everyone said this! They were working on a building locally so we prayed for the first man and asked the Holy Spirit to come. He said that he his skin tingled and he felt the Holy Spirit touch him. He said it reminded him that there were times in his life when he has felt Gods hand on his back or a hand on his back protecting him - when something has fallen on a building site and just missed him. So he said he was reminded of this during being prayed for. They really had a bed rock faith they talked about the first church in Syria that is under threat but that is still standing. As I was praying you could really see the other man was listening, we prayed for him next, his English was not so good. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to touch him inside and to reveal his love for them and to guide them that they would be able to trust him. They seemed really touched and blessed. They were warm, salt of the earth kind of skilled labourers. We also got to pray for healing in his neck from cramps that he gets.
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We started by calling the council to report a burst pipe! We met one man and offered prayer which he kindly declined. We then walked through the estate and met an L&G worker who was laughing as we approached. We then realised he was on the phone to a friend and was very friendly to us. He has met some people from St. Peter’s before out praying. He was a very joyful man and he asked for prayer for health, long life and wealth. We had a good laugh and chat and got to pray for him and his friend who was still on the phone listening. We then met a lady from our church family and got to pray for her day with a meeting happening and current things in her life. It was lovely to be able to see her at the beginning of her day and start it with prayer and thanks. We then met another L&G worker cleaning the streets who didn’t speak much English (Spanish speaker) but we managed to communicate enough. We found out he was Catholic and he said he was quite busy but next time when he is less busy we can pray. As we were walking back we prayed for the estate and the buildings, the people effected by the fire recently and for protection over everyone.
 

'That meant the world'

This morning we went out in two groups, one to the new church building site and one to the river to offer prayer for people we encountered. 
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We went to the building site this week. The first guy we met after offering prayer responded, ‘You’ve already done me twice!’ but he was still open for more prayer. We prayed for peace over him and his family, for his son who has an operation soon. We felt the Lord saying that he was a joyful and happy man, and not to withhold that. He responded saying people say he is a moaner, which was surprising and so we recognised that he was actually naturally in spirit a joyful man, so we declared that over him! We then came across two Muslim men who were giggling a bit as we prayed for them because we asked them to open their hands out and they said they’ve never done that before, we asked for Jesus to reveal himself to them in their dreams, and that was the first time anyone had prayed for them. We prayed for another man who believed in God but not of one faith so we prayed for him. 
We prayed for a carpet layer and spoke encouragements to him in prayer over his work and enthusiastic attitude and then we prayed for two men who are involved in the electronics which also ended in laughter as we said to one that was a bit awkward for you but your friend was more open! So it was a gentle prayer and we affirmed them in their good work. 
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We walked through York Gardens where there were a few people sitting on their own. We went to talk to one lady who didn’t speak much English and was a bit uncomfortable so we prayed for her as we walked away. The next lady we spoke to was Spanish who said she likes to pray more privately so we prayed for her as we continued walking. We then walked down the river and met a lady who was on her way to work and is also writing a book. We prayed for her creativity, the on goings of her book and the success of it. She was really touched and said that is was really touching that we stopped her to pray. We then spoke to a woman who was quite surprised to be stopped and who was interested in more love in the world and quite open spiritually. So we prayed blessings for her and for the world. We got a word that she was creative person but perhaps doesn’t get to express it much and affirmed that God loved her creativity and that he has placed that in her. She responded by saying that meant the world to her.
 

'That was better than a cup of tea!'

This morning we went out with the intention of praying in the spirit and waiting on the lord to guide us who specifically to talk to, even if we spoke to less people. It was a real time of quality conversations over quantity.
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We went out walking where we felt the Spirit was leading us. I saw this guy pulling up this pipe and had this sense that it was quite stressful and maybe we should pray for it, so I went up to him and I said is there something quite stressful at the moment and he said no its all fine! So we left him, carried on praying and came across three guys who were on their break. As we were chatting they were larking about a bit about the fact they had biblical names and said can we not take them to a café for breakfast! When we mentioned a bible verse they finished the verse for us! So we prayed for them each and afterwards one said, ‘that was better than a cup of tea!’
So we felt we should go back to the playground and wait for somebody but as we got there, we saw a woman sitting on the curb side. So we went up to her and said that we’re from the church is there anything we can pray for. She said, yes please pray for me and she shared some problems in her life going on so we sat down next to her and prayed for her. And that felt really significant, just being able to encourage her that the lord loved her and various encouraging things. And it just felt very significant and really well received.
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We went up to one lady who looked stressed and she sped on by as we asked her if she was ok, and she hurried onto work which was ok.
We then met a lady by the river, and it ended up being the most amazing encounter.  We asked if she had a pain and she didn’t but when we asked if we could pray for her, she almost started crying. She had a faith in the lord and said she would love prayer. She had a lot of decisions to make currently, had just started a new job. She said if I had left home a minute later she’d have missed us, she had a short time before a meeting so thought to come out to the river for a moment and then met us. She was so thankful and we all really felt God’s timing is amazing. She was so touched and we felt we were definitely put there to talk to her, encourage and bless her. She was totally blessed and we were equally totally blessed by the encounter. We were reminded about a couple of weeks ago when we were out to pray for businesses and we walked through the area of those businesses where she now works. It was a good reminder than prayer is powerful, and far more is happening than we realise. 

Let yourself be redirected

StreetSeed stories from this week. A few of us headed out to offer prayer to people. 

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This morning we went out and bumped into a lady with her daughter who kindly declined prayer. Walking through the park we met a lovely man and his dog. We asked him if he wanted prayer and he said for happiness and so we prayed for him and his dog. It felt like a nice connection and right for the time. It was a great encounter and it showed us God’s sense of vulnerability as he directed one of us back towards him. 

We then met a nurse waiting at a bus stop who was open to prayer and asked for prayer for her son. We had a prayer time praying for her work, day and her son, for protection for him. She said as we left that we had made her day. 

We met another lady who was just a few minutes from needing to be at work and although she said she wasn’t a believer she let us pray for her as she went. 
 

Sowing Seeds

We went out in groups to offer prayer and to sow some seeds.

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We went on the building site; the professionals were all on site for our meeting later. We managed to pray for one man on his own, off to the side and they often start with prayer requests for the project and building but we try to push a bit deeper to more personal things. So we prayed for his future and family. We saw another man who we’ve prayed for a couple of times and we had a bit of time with him. He said he had been able to see his kids more recently which is a breakthrough as we’ve prayed for this in the past and he let us pray again for the communication with the mother and thawing in relationships with her and the kids. He was very receptive and open to pray with us as we’ve now as we’ve seen and prayed for him regularly. Upstairs we prayed for a couple of guys and it was a positive encounter. And then we managed to pray for a few other guys before heading back. Being sensitive to them we prayed for business and health and ended in a big hug!

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We had a couple of rejections declining prayer. We then had a great encounter with a lady on a bench with her headphones in, however on approaching her she was so open, and enthusiastic to chat to us. She was touched that we were offering prayer and when we asked if there was anything specific we could pray for she said things were going good right now. So after asking we prayed thanks for that and blessings. As we stood up to walk away in conversation with her she then said she was starting a new job that day and that’s why she was early so we were able to  pray more for that, for office relationships, her skills and gifts and blessings on her work and day. She was so friendly and happy to receive prayer, we felt very blessed to meet her.
 

"Don't keep God waiting, hurry up!"

This mornings StreetSeed we decided to go to local businesses and offer prayer to them.
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We went to a nearby cafe and we asked if we could pray for the business and he said they didn’t have a prayer space here but you can sit on the table over there! So we asked if there was any way we would pray for him, not sure he quite understood us so we spoke blessings over him, sat at the table and prayed for the cafe. We continued on, and bumped into a man who declined an offer of prayer. We then walked down plantation wharf. Decided to go into one of the businesses and the guy was talking on the phone, whilst we were waiting in the doorway, the guy on the phone got up and opened the door for us to go! So we sort of felt like we had been kicked out! So we said a prayer and continued walking. We went into another business, and we said we wanted to pray for good vibes for this place. He offered us a tour and showed us round the whole place! So we were able to pray for that place and the people that work there and use the spaces.
(Later a couple of staff went for lunch at the café. The man behind the counter was the same from the morning and he said your friends are welcome to come back and pray any time it’s been so busy! – Praise God!) 
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We went into a local shop and chatted to the man working there, he received us really well, talking about different faiths and believing in God. We were able to pray for him, with a hand on his heart and ask that Jesus reveal himself to him. He didn’t seemed the bit concerned that a customer walked in whilst we were praying! 
We went into another place where we spoke to the owner who said that business was going great so didn’t need prayer. We offered to pray just a blessing which he said yes to and so we said a prayer for thanks that things were going well and prayed that God would exceed expectations with business. Him and his employee seemed slightly surprised and were thankful. 
We then went to the next shop and it was empty but the guy was on the phone so we lingered around the Quinoa crisps. As we were almost on our way out he paused his conversation and asked if he could help us. When we explained we were from the church and were offering prayer he hung up on his phone conversation! We had a good conversation about the church and past connections between us and prayed for favour, protection and blessing on them. It was kind of conversational blessings but he was touched – this all happened whilst a customer was also buying a kinder bueno! 
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We went on the building site and we prayed for the guys doing the windows. Then when we went inside, found more glazers and started praying for them, one was coming all the way down from his perch on the scaffolding. As he came down from the scaffolding his friend shouted, ‘Don’t keep God waiting, hurry up!’ We then met some more guys working and talked to them about the meaning of their names and prayed for them, another couple of brothers, and we ended up standing in a circle underneath the scaffolding praying for the men. We met another man who was dealing with stress and difficulties and were able to pray for healing for him and for restoration for grief that he has taken. We were able to bless and thank another worker with his work and he seemed very touched. We then ran into another man on our way out who believes in Jesus and were able to pray for him too. One guy we were able to talk to and he was up for a chat but we could feel his resistance and didn’t want to receive prayer. Overall we managed to pray for many of the guys working on the site, many of whom believe in Jesus and a few quite emotional with the prayers. It was very touching and such a blessings to pray for and bless these guys. 
 

Prayer for a wife!

This morning we went out for Street Seed in two small groups. We went to bless people in the area and offer prayer to those who want it. 
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We went to York gardens and met a woman we’ve seen before and after offering to pray she asked for prayer for her husband, so we prayed a blessing over him and prayed for her day. Later we met a nice lady who was quite busy with children as her husband was away but she asked if we could pray for her as she was going about her day so we did that after she left. We then met an older lady who was on her way to her church for their mid week communion service. She has bad arthritis in her leg so we prayed for that and a general blessing over her. She was very touched that we stopped and prayed for her and it was a lovely gentle morning.
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We went to the new church building site. We prayed for a man who we had also prayed for the week before and prayed for his family back in the Ukraine and for a wife, he was quite touched and amused! We then met two brothers, who are carpenters and doing all our wood work in the church. We managed to thank them for all their work and explained who we were and that it was our church they were working on. They hoped we like it as they said they have tried their best and they were very touched that we had come to say thank you and offer prayers. They have a faith from their Catholic upbringings and so we prayed for them each in turn, for them to experience the Holy Spirit and for their wives and sons back home which they received gratefully. Finally we prayed for two more men, who didn’t speak much English. There was a wonderful moment where they lowered themselves down to the platform we were on, from their lift, and there was a translating congress as phones, google translate came out and we called over the previous man to translate the meaning of their names. We prayed over them and again managed to say thank you for all their hard work. 
On our way back to the church we ran into a couple who have come to the church previously and their friend. They are going through a trickier time, so we managed to pray for them, for God to touch them and their work and family. They talked baptisms of their children and exciting coming church events. It was great to see them again and get to talk to them.
 

"it was really good that you prayed for me"

A good group of us went out to pray in the local community once again, expectant of what God might have in store. Here's some of the stories:

We headed to the river and we approached lots of people who were very friendly. But we had some great chats. There were some ladies who didn't speak much English, so they thought we were asking them where the church was! But when she understood did ask to pray.  The second lady who was Spanish asked for prayer for her son.

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First of all we met a lady who was a believer and wanted us to pray a prayer of thanks for a new job she had - she was very joyful.  We spoke to a man doing some work on the estate who didn't want prayer and then headed towards the Kambala estate, which was very quiet. But we then met another lady who was a believer, but was struggling with immigration issues for the last 15 years, so she was very anxious. So it was amazing to be able to pray for her and was hoping to come to one of our women's groups. We then talked to a guy who wanted prayer to win the lottery! We manage to engage him in a deeper conversation after that which was good. 

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First of all we prayed for a man who was a believer and he wanted prayer for his son who was in hospital and for his own health. He was encouraged as he'd not been able to get to church recently because of work. We then approached a couple of cabbies and one of them wanted prayer for an Aunt who'd recently died and they were very grateful. We then met a lady at the station with little english who wanted prayer for her son and her bad back. She said she would know it was later at work when she was lifting things. We then offered prayer for a lady who straight away said she was feeling anxious but didn't know why. We prayed for her, told her about the peace and love of Jesus and she said she was really blessed and happy to be prayed for.

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A couple of us went to the building site again, and we had some amazing encounters! Our first connection was with a few of the Polish and Romanian guys who all gathered round us with one of them translating! We prayed for them and led a prayed for all of them to join.  It was like they were at church, which in a way they were! Then we met a man who was installing some doors and he said he didn't have faith but wanted prayer and we asked Jesus to reveal himself to him. And finally we had a really significant encounter with one of the guys we'd prayed for last week. He really opened up to us and said 'it was really good that you prayed for me last week, cause something's happened'. He shared some personal struggles he was facing and we empathised with him and we prayed for the situation.  Then afterwards he asked about faith and what it was - so we were able to share about Jesus and how we rely on Him and when we pray Jesus is with us by His spirit. We asked if he sensed it and he said he did. Quite a powerful encounter. 

Must be talking to an angel

Another week heading out to bring hope to our local community in prayer:

We had a really great encounter this morning. We went near York Gardens and did a 'light jog' to catch up with her. It turns out the lady had been along to St Peter's a very long time ago. She wanted prayer and then shared about some night terrors she'd had the night before, which she'd not suffered for a very long time. She said she had actually prayed in the night and saying sorry she had been far away from God, so she found it amazing we'd approached her. 'You're like angels' she said. So we prayed for her dreams and she was so thankful. We then stopped a man with a big dog and he asked us to pray for his dog to be smaller!

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Another group of us went to the building site to pray for the builders. We were able to pray for the site foreman who wanted prayer for his family.  Then we prayed for a young electrician who said he made his own way in life but believed that the world wasn't created by an accident. We had a little chat with him and he was very open to prayer, so we blessed him and prayed he would have a revelation of Jesus.  We spoke to one guy who we prayed for on site and he said he'd been ill since so didn't seem super keen to be prayed for again! We then prayed for one of the carpenters who had lots of kids. We prayed for his family and shared a prophetic picture with him to encourage him. He had a lovely way about him and received us well. 

Here comes the Son

It was a beautiful sunny day with lots of people around, so we headed out onto the streets to find people to pray for.

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We met a lady who thought we were looking for the local church, so a bit of a language barrier there! Then we chased down a lady who turned out to be a believer and wanted prayer for her son, which was a lovely moment. Then we bumped into someone from St Peter's and went to Penethorne house to pray for that block. 

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We prayed for a lady who was working for the police and said there was a lot of stress in her work. She said she was Catholic and open to prayer. After praying she said it was really lovely, it was like of being back at school! And she seemed a lot lighter. We then went into York Gardens and spoke to an Italian lady who couldn't understand a word we were saying! Then we spoke to some of the folks hanging out on one of the benches in the sun. We had a good conversation with them and she said she knew some of the people at St Peter's. They said life is really hard. We prayed for one of them as he said he was looking for a companion. 

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We went onto the building site of the new church building. We asked our foreman if we could pray and he asked if he could gather the guys round, but we said it was fine we go round and introduce ourselves individually!  He said we could preach to them another day! We came across one of the joiners who was from Poland, who spoke very little English, but was happy to be prayed for.  We then came across some of the professional team working on site so we told them we were going round offering and prayer and what could we pray for them. They were totally open. Initially, they wanted prayer for the building project but then after asking what they wanted for themselves and they shared some personal things about family. So it was a real privilege to pray for them and a powerful moment.  We then approached some of the guys who had been watching and we had a good laugh with them but they were open to pray. We prayed blessing on them and their family. And we even got a great view of his family because they'd been tattooed on his back!

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We met a lady that one of us had actually prayed for last week, so it was great to see her again and she said she was hoping to come to St Peter's next week. Then we met another woman who had earphones in but was happy to be disturbed. She seemed spiritually open and we prayed for her and shared an encouragement. We then approached a young man who looked a little intimidating but then turned out he used to go to church and was talking about trying to go on an Alpha course with some of his friends, so he let us pray for him and that was really cool. We then bumped into someone with a name we'd heard in prayer earlier so that was cool and we got to pray for him. 

Searching for 'treasure'

We spent a bit of time in listening prayer before we went out this morning to see if there were specific people or places God wanted us to pray for. So we headed out on the lookout for what we'd sensed in prayer. Here's a summary of what happened:

Before we went out we got a picture of someone in a red or pink coat, and then someone in a brown hat and a scarf with a bit of yellow. With that in mind after we'd prayed for someone a lady with a pink coat walked past us so we darted after her. She was a Christian and she asked for prayer for favour and being able to know Jesus more. She was really encouraged that she was the one God had put on her heart for us to pray for. She said it was an amazing way to start her day.

And just as we were finishing that prayer we saw someone in a red coat walking the other way so we ran after him. We joined him and asked if he wanted prayer and he said 'no thank you, wrong Parish!'. Clearly the Lord had it in mind because when we looked up we saw someone with a brown/black hat standing outside the barbers. He was on the phone but we apologetically interrupted his phone call, but he was fine with it. His partner was about to give birth in a month and it was an amazing time sharing with him and encouraging him and we've got an ongoing connection with him.  It was a significant encounter.  

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We had a sense to go to the libary but when we got there it was all cordoned off. We offered prayer to a lady close by and she said it wasn't 'her bag'. So we went towards the square. One of us had a green cardigan and we saw a chap with a green jumper and ended up talking to him for ages. We prayed for him a couple of times, including for a migraine. He knew the area well and had a very colourful past! Really amazing encounter.