Displaying items by tag: prayer

The Bishop-designate of Doncaster hosted a Wall of Hope in the cathedral over a three day period last year and was ‘overwhelmed’ by people’s response when over 10,000 people visited the wall to post a prayer. This year, Churches in Portsmouth Diocese are planning to host Hope Spaces in schools, village greens and shopping centres across the diocese during and after Thy Kingdom Come (21-31 May 2020), giving thousands of people who don’t know Jesus a chance to experience his love and hope for themselves. 41% of practising Christians say that a spiritual experience or an experience of the love of Jesus was a key influence in their coming to faith – so if we help more people to experience God’s love and presence, more of them will come to know him for themselves. To find out more about Hope Spaces click the ‘More’ button.

Revival is happening in Tennessee. People from various denominations, by praying and fasting together, are seeking to ignite the fire of God to transform lives in a thousand churches across the state. ‘Awaken Tennessee’, a prayer and fasting initiative from 26 January to 23 February, is described by Pastor John Butler as ‘a concentrated prayer effort across the state for true revival in our churches that triggers an awakening in local communities, the state and the nation’. The initiative started last year when 400 churches in Nashville came together to pray for every single resident of their city. This was a huge success, so this year organisers invited churches across the state to participate. Award-winning singers / songwriters Terry and Barbi Franklin, using their prayer network, contacted churches to take part in the initiative. Pastors are reporting that their services are exploding with revival services as a result of the Holy Spirit showing up and taking over.

Please watch this short and agonising video from China, a woman's desperate cry for help in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic. It confirms reports of the government suppressing news and ignoring doctors' warnings. From last week’s international prayer call, including a Christian leader from Wuhan, we heard that Chinese Christians are taking communion daily as protection from death, as ancient Jews did in the first Passover, and standing against the spread of coronavirus in prayer. Let's continue to pray with our Chinese brethren for the end of what could become a pandemic and for people everywhere to be protected. We know that the Lord in His redemptive love and wisdom can utilise bad things to bring forth good outcomes. May He use the current health and related economic crisis to bring real reform to the communist government of China so that the people finally obtain the human rights and freedoms they have longed for, so poignantly expressed in this brave woman's cry.

Let us pray that, as the Commonwealth members enter a new season of advancement, the ‘wealth of these nations’ will be revealed and released in God’s own timing. May He reveal His Isaiah 60 glory in the Commonwealth, and draw on all righteous heritage in the spiritual, governmental, and economic dimensions. May new trade partnerships as well as new quangos be formed to expedite heaven’s plan, and new interdisciplinary committees formed to develop areas of growth, with national governments working together. May this be a new day for the nations of the Commonwealth as a group and as individual nations: not empire-building as in the past, but growing healthy, interdependent partnerships which benefit each member nation. For the full text of Passion for the Nation’s declaration for the Commonwealth, click the ‘More’ button.

A baby born in Wuhan was diagnosed with coronavirus thirty hours after birth. It is unclear if the disease was transmitted in the womb or after birth. Medical experts believe the infection could have been contracted in the womb. Pray for God to place a blanket of security and peace over the families and relatives of the infected who are currently living in isolation and fear. In China alone, there are 25,000+ confirmed cases, and currently 570+ dead with both numbers rising rapidly. The World Health Organisation says that there is a ‘window of opportunity’ to stop it becoming a global pandemic crisis. Pray for God to strengthen health workers and research scientists to do all that is necessary. May poorer countries’ leaders have the wisdom and funding to halt coronavirus spreading. May the love of Jesus spread more quickly and further than the virus, through active churches reaching every corner with His eternal hope. See

Please continue to pray for the success of thermal-imaging screening and other airport precautions to contain coronavirus. Over 130 people have died, and the total is rising daily; there are 6,000 confirmed cases, but due to under-reporting the true figure may well be much higher. Pray for those who have unwittingly been in contact with the virus to be discovered by investigating authorities, as only detective searches can bring this epidemic to an end. Currently there is no vaccine for the virus; may God help scientists make an antidote. Pray for His peace to surround the many frustrated people who are subject to limits on travel at home and abroad. Pray for the success of the information programme encouraging hand-washing. Praise God for a 1,000-bed coronavirus hospital , completed after 48 hours of construction, and for an even more ambitious hospital building project due to be completed by Monday. Pray for an equally speedy delivery of protective clothing for healthcare workers. See also

Many have been praying, and will continue to pray for Brexit in the lead up to 31 January. The following is an invitation from the World Prayer Centre in Birmingham: ‘You are invited to watch and pray. This is a day for those called to be watchmen for our nation and the nations. It will be a time to watch, listen, worship and pray. We will be focusing on praying for Brexit as we may be leaving the EU on 31 January - deal or no deal. We will also pray for other national and global issues that God reveals to us. Refreshments are provided, but bring a packed lunch. There are many shops and cafes nearby.’ For more details, click the ‘More’ button.

All the lists of candidates parties have now been submitted, and some parties have agreed to run together in this new election. There was a joining together of several left wing and some of the smaller right wing parties, yet polls show that there will be no clear victor. We cry out for mercy: ‘Lord, have mercy on Your people as Israel needs a God-given government. Since You are the One who raises up and pulls down, please raise up the one of Your choice to be the next prime minister, defence minister, finance minister, etc. We plead with You for a government which will do Your will for Israel at this time. Abba, show us how to pray and even give us specific people to pray for. President Trump plans a “Deal of the Century” peace plan that could impact the elections. May you reign over the timing and content of this plan.’ (Psalm 99:1)

The Lord has moved the hearts of workers in Saudi Arabia and Yemen to have a special prayer focus for the Khawlan people, a tribe with a unique Semitic language living in a region straddling the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia. During a special prayer gathering in Saudi Arabia for the Khawlan Tribe in October, those present sensed that God was encouraging a call for the global church to join in a five day prayer focus for these unreached people. Would you join in? People can pray at any time, and there will be a special prayer focus for this people group from 14 to 18 February. Click the ‘More’ button for a five-day prayer guide translated into various languages, including English, plus a video. 

Lord, we thank You for the life of Queen Elizabeth II, and celebrate her heart for You and her people, the wisdom, righteousness and integrity reflected in her life, and the respect she carries within this land. We decree that every change taking place at present will strengthen and support the monarchy, promoting and releasing a shift and moving forward in keeping with Your times and purposes. In this season of transition, we speak divine order into every aspect of the royal family. We release Your light into every place of confusion and misunderstanding, that wounds will be healed, relationships restored and solutions released. We speak life into every God-given purpose and call upon Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, that every gift and skill will be used in alignment with God-given destiny. We agree that the power of Kingdom purpose will overwhelm any plans of the enemy.

(Suzanne Ferrett)