I just wrote these reflections on our past year of prayer in Guildford and thought you might like to read it.

As I sat in the prayer room at the Undercroft last week, my mind began to wonder back to the places we have prayed in each month over this past year.

It all started in January at St Saviours, with a launch as part of the UK 24-7 Prayer tour, before moving to the oldest building in Guildford, St Mary's church, in February. In March we joined in with the Salvation Army and their brilliant prayer journey through the story of Jesus as part of Easter week. April was hosted by the YMCA and May was in the vestry of Christchurch. June was in the main sanctury of St John's Stoke and July was in the Matrix Trust offices at Albany House. August saw us have a break before we came back with a bang in a tent on the Campus of the University of Surrey as part of freshers week. October was hosted by URC Westborough and the final week was in the Undercroft museum on High St during the busiest shopping period of the year.

In total, we have had 1,680 hours of prayer across 10 venues with an estimated 200 different people entering into these spaces. We have heard stories of healings (physical, spiritual, emotional), people praying for the first time (even those who wouldn't say they believed in God), others who have heard God speak to them and some of who have redicovered the joy and life that comes from spending time with their creator. I'm sure there are countless more stories that we aren't even aware of as a result of our prayers!

Our desire is to build on the momentum of this past year as we look ahead to 2009.

We hope that the church of Guildford will continue to come together for 2009 as we continue to ask, seek and knock that the Kingdom of God would be established on earth as it is in heaven.

"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." Matt 7:7-8

Who's got the world in their hands?

I was watching TV the other day, when a commercial for the Sony 'Playstation Portable' came onto the screen. The song they were using sounded very familiar, but at the same time, different. Then I realised what that difference was, they had taken the classic Sunday school song "He's got the whole world in His hands" and changed it to "You've got the whole world in your hands".

Now on the surface, this seems very innocent and a clever marketing ploy as they have used something that is familiar to sell their product, but sublimely there is a message here that goes right back to the garden of Eden.

In that garden, man fell into sin when they believed the lie that they didn't need God and that they were better off without Him. They sacrificed the opportunity to enjoy the world that God created, for the sake of chasing their own ideals.

Not too much has changed today, and everyday, people make choices that look to further their own kingdom as they chase the illusion of control and the idea that 'the whole world is in their hands'.

I'm not saying that Sony are the antichrist or that we should boycott their products (I quite like the PSP's), but this commercial was another reminder to me that we are confronted daily with the temptation to be something we can't at the cost of losing everything we could be if we acknowledge God for who He is.

He has the whole world in His hands!

I saw a great film recently, which had the theme of letting go of the perception that we are in control. It's called 'Instinct', and it's well worth a watch.