Why do you live where you live? Why are you with the people you’re with every day? Why are you part of those communities?

Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be the salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world… Matthew 5v13-14 (The Message)

Sometimes, I wonder if we Christians are a bit like salt in a salt-pot, or light bulbs in a brightly-lit room, all being salty and bright with each other. Sometimes, I wonder if we’ve forgotten what we’re here for… that is, to bring out the God-flavours and God-colours in the earth, to join in with God who is actively and already ‘at work’ in the lives of the people we meet every single day. Your neighbours, even the difficult ones. The other parents at the school gate. And the children too. That group of teenagers across the street. The girl at the supermarket till. The guy in the office. God is already at work in all of their lives, and God invites us to join in. God invites us to join in with the Kingdom coming.

You live where you live, you’re with the people you’re with every day, you’re part of those communities (at school, at work, in your street, at the gym/club, even at church), for this reason. To join in with God who is already at work.

The problem is we often don’t see or understand what God is up to. Just like Jesus’ disciples often didn’t. “Do you still not see or understand?” said Jesus. “Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?” Mark 8v17-18 (NIV)

But there is a solution – the key to learning to see and understand what God is doing in our communities, and therefore to how we can join in with God, is prayer.

As part of our ‘Kingdom Come, 2012’ year of prayer across the United Kingdom and Ireland, we want to encourage prayer for local communities. As the nations of the world come to us for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we’ll be praying for those nations. But we’ll also be praying for the communities where we live and work and go to school.

Here are a few ways to pray for your local community, to join in with God who is already at work where you are, to join in with the Kingdom coming:

1. Community circles. Get a big sheet of paper and draw a big circle for each ‘community’ that you are part of, i.e. the people in your street, the local school networks, people at the gym or other clubs you belong to, people you know ‘around town’, colleagues at your work place, etc. Fill the circles with names and begin to pray for them regularly
2. Praying for your street. Walk slowly up/down your street each day, praying a simple prayer of blessing over every house and family. Maybe you could design some prayer cards and drop them into each house, to tell that that you’re praying for them, or you could even knock on some doors and ask your neighbours what they’d like you to pray for every few weeks? You’ll be surprised what people will ask you to pray for. Maybe you could follow this up with an invitation to Alpha?
3. Healing on the streets. Since it began in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, ‘healing on the streets’ has spread to countless town and city centres. Gather some friends from your church (and other local churches if you can), and set up a simple stall in the centre of your town (or outside your church building, if it’s in a busy area), offering prayer for healing.
4. Community prayer groups. Meet regularly with a group of friends to pray for your community. Talk with local people – shop-keepers, teachers, the Police, local politicians, youth workers, parents, young people – about the needs of the area. Read local newspapers, and ask God for guidance as you respond in prayer.
5. Prayer walking. Walk the streets or your local area, praying for God’s Kingdom to come in every family, in businesses, in local politics and policing, in the arts and the local media, etc. Here are some prayer walking ‘top tips’ (and they all begin with ‘t’!):
• Team. Prayer walking seems easiest in teams of two or three, four at the most
• Time. An hour is a good length for a prayer walk. Enough time to really get into it, and
  not too long that you lose focus or get too tired. Try to go prayer walking regularly
• Topics. Sometimes it helps to agree a theme or a few Bible verses to focus around. Pray before setting out and listen for God to speak
• Territory. Aim to cover a small area. (If you are out with other prayer walking teams, perhaps you can agree to cover small areas each?) Take a map print-out with you to mark where you’ve been and anything that catches your attention. (prayer walking ‘top tip’ – keep your eyes open!) Pause and pray at key locations – banks and businesses, schools, government buildings, monuments, churches and other religious buildings, boundary markers, etc.
• Talk. Always make time afterwards to talk about what you’ve seen and prayed. Has God impressed upon you any issues, questions, Bible verses, ideas for what next?

“Be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” Matthew 5v16 (The Message)