Welcome to the woman's world air prayer all, of the country today in churches in rural villages towns

and cities women will be joined together to pray you can join them in the next hour pharisees
methodist women so you may recognize others you and not offer that contribution since dare prayer
all are women who have thought through their faith and make a significant contribution of the church
and the communities where they serve the approaches they're taken by each rules are different but
i love one thing in common and that is to level you in the next few minutes to enter into an encounter
with god thank you for joining us today it's good to have you sharing with us as women gather to
pray i spend time with god by the sea in the fresh air amongst god's creation
The theme of this year's women's world day of prayer is all god's creation is very good i'm just back
from a trip to durban south africa and this time last week i was with a group of women as they spoke
together about issues of gender violence the rates for gender violence in south africa are high on
average one in five south african women older than 18 has experienced physical violence and in the
poorest households it's one inthree and then there's the issue of fgm people call it female
circumcision but it's not that it's a mutilation of a girl's genitals and we don't like to talk about it
despite the fact there's no acknowledgement by the south african government that fgm even exists
in south africa that wasn't the experience of the women with whom i spoke all god's creation is very
good women and girls are created very good part of god's wonderful creation whole and beautiful
methodist women in south africa wear black on a thursday plot of a global movement of women who
do say including our own methodist women in britain they offer up this symbolic act as a prayer for
an end to the stigma and shame put upon victims of gender-based violence and for the breaking of
the power of silence. That prevents freedom for the survivor and exposure of the perpetrator so i call
on you today to link hands with our sisters and declare that all god's creation is very good and that
includes women and girls and maybe you might like to consider wearing something black on a
thursday representing your solidarity with victims and survivors of violence and calling for a world
without rape and violence wearing black on a thursday is an act of prayer it shows that you are tired
of putting up with the violence and it calls for communities where we can all walk safely without their
fear of being beaten up fear of verbal abuse fear of rape fear of discrimination so i invite you to pray
with me god of love unlock the secrets and release from shame all those broken by sexual violence
god of love unlock the taboos and release the truth for all those afraid to speak up god of unlock the
hurt and release from pain all those who need in the name of the one whose transformation attack
shield and brought new life
I've been thinking about esther recently it was my favorite book in the bible as a child because it had
all of my favorite themes and unknown commoner becoming queen's royal parties and bad guys
whose evil plots are foiled by the heroine he stepped up to fulfill her destiny for a time such as this
her cousin tells her her purpose was to be queen so that she could save her people looking gana
esther what strikes me now is that it is about a young woman who was underestimated king xerxes
cheese's hair is his wife because she had a lovely figure and was beautiful but when his cronies
plotted genocide to make the jesus takes his kingdom esther's passivity ends and she becomes an
agent for the liberty of her people when the men in court calculated esther's way as mainly the sum
of her beef tea and grace they underestimated him i'd argue that women have a long history of being
underestimated there was surprised when women successfully fought for the road 100 years ago
there was surprised when we said we wanted to sit in parliament and boardrooms and not just on
men's laps and somehow there are still those who are surprised that we've been shouting meeting in
courtrooms a twig in private and online we were all made in the image of a god of power and justice
and love and that's why we continue to surprise people when we reduce anyone to let them their full
god-given potential we are denying that in them that is of god and our god is more powerful than
sexism and racism and prejudice of every kind so when we realize that if it commands us to do several
things to spend time in prayer asking for god to reveal more of that in us that reflects god's will but
also to recognize that that of god in everyone and to fight against the structures and systems that
deny that this woman's will day of prayer my personal prayer is that we may each live out our own
god-given potential and recognize that of god in everyone else for such a time as this women's world
day of prayers of brilliant movement that's been going for years all around the world and it's not just
about one day of prayer it's about praying all the time so that really fits in well with our day-by-day
theme so let's take us through the five a day if you like it's my workout let's start by giving thanks i
give thanks today for the women's world day of prayer movement especially for the women in
suriname south america who have written this year service that's going to be used by three million
people worldwide be translated into ninety five languages and over a thousand dialects that's really
something to give thanks for and then we read and reflect and the verse the key verse for the service
this year is from genesis chapter 1 verse 31 which in the street bible word on the street says god
looks at everything god has made and says fantastic i love it as we reflect on that we're reminded that
we do live in a fantastic world a beautiful world a world full of creativity and wisdom and detail and
it's our job to look after that let's just take a moment to keep silence as we reflect on that and then
our five a day it encouraged us to pray and of course prayer is at the very heart of women's work day
of prayer that's what it's all about and we all have things to pray for today the women of suriname
are especially asking us to pray about conservation and to pray about the protection of wildlife
they're concerned about that where they live as we are here as our whole global community is so let's
do that create a god you created this world in love and filled it with beauty and wonder may we find
grace and courage to be stewards of your creation that your glory and your wisdom may be seen and
recognized by all people amen and prayer always leads to action so the last of our five a day is the
challenge to act and in this year's women's world day of prayer service the women of suriname have
asked everyone each of those three million people who'll be involved in a service to pledged
themselves to do something to make some change in their lifestyle that will help to preserve creation
and sustainability what would you do what will i do for me one of the most tender encouraging yet
challenging passages in the scriptures comes towards the end of the fourth gospel in john chapter 20
mary is weeping outside of jesus's tomb she turns around sees jesus but does not recognize him until
he speaks her name mary and then comes the challenge go and tell of us jesus says a seemingly simple
and small task yet we know in her world as a woman this was no small task she would have known
the likelihood that she would not be believed yet she simply and courageously did what jesus asked
and it was a task that would change the world we who seek to follow jesus today whoever we are
whatever our gender our identity our the fruit of mary's faithfulness and courage and today on this
woman's world day of prayer we too are being invited to follow in mary's courageous and faithful
footsteps and to become fully the person god has created and called us to be in the beginning when
god created the heavens and earth the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of
the teeth then god said let there be light and there was light and god saw the light was good and god
separated the light from the darkness god saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very
good thank you god thanks for beauty thanks for greening trees and frozen waterfalls stunning
buildings and flower beds in summer thank you god thanks for creativity thanks for bakers and
dancers and crossword compilers for spider's webs and city murals thank you god thanks for
abundance for seeds and raindrops for grains of sand and infinite galaxies thanks for seagulls
plantain and shoals of mackerel for wiggling worms and golden dandelions thanks for your world's
god and for our part in it thanks that you are a maker and that you made us make us to help us to love
creation as you loved it to take risks to value it as jesus did and draw us into the wildness and wonder
of your holy spirit today and every day i mean prayer has a really important part of the spiritual life
of methodists and for me that's been part of my life from being eleven years old when i joined the
methodist church and one of the ways in which methodists have prayed for over a hundred years is
by using the methodist prayer handbook and i've got an example of it here this is this year's prayer
handbook and it's been this year is jesus the first and the last and for over a hundred years methodists
have been using this in praying for our mission partners in churches around the world and praying
for those churches themselves so churches such as one i visited earlier this year in papua new guinea
and the solomon islands and on the 23rd of each month methodists in britain pray for the churches
in papua new guinea in the solomon islands so those people they know that thousands of british
methodists are offering them prayer so prayer really is global but it also means that methodists in
the uk are informed when they use the handbook about the situations that people around the world
want praying for the things they've asked to be prayed about of course prayer is the way that we
engage with god we share our hearts longings our desires with god but it's also the way that god
communicates with us i'm going to share now i have to put my glasses on first a prayer from the
prayer handbook first of all one of the ancient prayers and then one of my own prayers that was his
english years there we want to put my glasses on so the ancient prayer from polycarp of smyrna who
lived in around 155 ad and this is his prayer blessed be your name oh god for the glory of this hour
and the holiness of this day today we may drink from the cup of your salvation rejoice in the company
of your saints and offer you the sacrifice of eternal praise through christ our lord amen i'm coming
much more up-to-date thinking of that theme of jesus the first and the last creator god in the
beginning all was dull color had not yet been created all was bland and sterile and safe you spoke
into the tedium and called forth diversity primary colors emerged from nowhere giving birth to hues
shades hints and tings dancing together in a colorful chaotic dangerous dance of love from your
vibrant love a universe was born of infinite variety help us to seek new shades new tones sharing
your delight in all that you have made and folders in your rainbow promise of hope a new life for
love's sake amen for me poetry that reflects the wonders of creation is often a place where i feel i can
catch a glimpse of god and of the kingdom whether it's in our s thomas's bright field or emily
dickinson's dauntless stars lots of people know that one of my favorites is an otherwise rather
depressing poem by sylvia plath about insomnia because it contains these beautiful lines about the
night sky the night is only a sort of carbon paper blue black with the much poked periods of stars
letting in the light peep hole after peep hole a bone white light like death behind all things although i
don't think it was her intention sylvia plath poem speaks to me about the kingdom of god a kingdom
jesus helps us to imagine in his parables about wheat and fields and pearls and sheep a kingdom of
light behind all things i came down from which we are separated by the thinnest tissue of human
greed and selfishness and violence a kingdom that god is bringing about on earth day by day peep
hole after peep hole a kingdom that we can glimpse when god's will is done on earth as it is in heaven.