We want to encourage you, as part of the World Prayer Centre family wherever you live in the world, to support The Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for Christians to join a wave of prayer across the UK and around the world. WPC will be providing resources and updates and will be working with church leaders in Birmingham to provide prayer points and prayer events in the city.

It’s not complicated – Thy Kingdom Come are simply asking people to pray in whatever way they want and with whoever they want for others to come to know Jesus Christ.

• Everyone is asked to Pledge2Pray by visiting www.thykingdomcome.global where there are resources to help and inspire. You can sign as an individual, family, church group, church, group of churches or organisation
• As Thy Kingdom Come falls in half term week in England resources are being prepared to help families engage wherever they are on holiday

The aims are:
• For people to pray with God’s world-wide family from 25 May – 4th June - individually, as a family or as part of a church

• For prayer events to be held across churches in the UK and the world. This will culminate in many larger ‘beacon’ events in cathedrals where communities gather to worship and to pray for the empowering of the Holy Spirit for effective witness.

• For people to be transformed through prayer by the Holy Spirit, finding new confidence to be witnesses for Jesus Christ.

Last year in May 2016 the Archbishops of Canterbury and York invited people to join a wave of prayer between Ascension and Pentecost. The response in May 2016 was overwhelming as hundreds of thousands joined in from churches of many denominations and different traditions around the UK and across the world.

For 2017 the vision is even bigger. The hope is to see at least 80 per cent of Church of England churches and cathedrals taking part as well as many other denominations and the churches of the world-wide Anglican Communion. Leaders from the international Methodist church, the Free churches, the Roman Catholic Church, Pentecostal churches and several of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches in the UK have all signalled their support.

“This is not a Church of England thing, it's not an Anglican thing, it's a Christian thing! “ World Prayer Centre see this as a very significant element in a fresh call to pray for our nation and expect a great move of God.
What can you do?
We would love people to champion “Thy Kingdom Come” at a local level. In February 2017, further resources and information will be available on www.thykingdomcome.global including tips and materials to download on prayer and details of prayer events and how to organize your own. Please look at these and ensure local clergy and church leaders are aware. Encourage them to engage.

UsePledge2Pray and you’ll be kept updated on new resources and information and if you’re on Facebook or Twitter reminders will be posted there.

Pray for a great wave of prayer to hit our nation and your local area. This is a really important time to keep praying – “Your Kingdom come, your will be done.”

“Jesus prayed at the Last Supper that we, those who follow Him, might ‘be one that the world might believe’. We are invited to make a lasting difference in our nations and in our world, by responding to his call to find a deep unity of purpose in prayer.” Archbishop Justin Welby

As more information becomes available we will keep all WPC family updated. It is a privilege for us at World Prayer Centre to partner with Thy Kingdom Come and for me to serve on the national steering group.

Jane Holloway National Prayer Director

Britain has a key role in the peace of Jerusalem. 100 years ago in late 1917, the British Army commanded by General Allenby entered Jerusalem and liberated it from the occupying Turkish and German forces. This then enabled the Balfour declaration issued earlier in the year to be implemented leading after many years to the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. Psalm 122 tells us “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem may those who love you be secure.” Having seen a significant change in the military struggles in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks, attention is now turning back to Israel.

President Trump is significantly more pro-Israel than his predecessor and is planning to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This would be highly symbolic as Jerusalem is in disputed territory whereas Tel Aviv is in the land allocated to Israel in 1948. Until 1967 the city was divided with East Jerusalem in Jordanian hands, but the city was reunited in the six day war. The UN and most nations do not recognise the legitimacy of Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem. For many Muslims the status of Jerusalem is more important than the issue of the Palestinians. Jerusalem is their holy city.

Jerusalem is an emotive and controversial issue. Any changes to its status will have consequences. There have been recent terrorist attacks on the city but with Muslim and US relations deteriorating, changes to Jerusalem could create many serious issues.

So we go back to the scripture - pray for Jerusalem. Pray for God’s sovereign purposes, for His will for this important city and pray for the city’s safety in these increasingly uncertain times.

America and new President Donald Trump has been hitting the news headlines repeatedly in recent days. He lost the popular votes but won a majority of States through the electoral college system. America was deeply divided under President Obama and remains so under President Trump. It is not simply a political divide, there are divides across the age groups, rural voters v city voters and deep divisions on ethnic lines.

From a Christian perspective we believe unity is high on God’s agenda. Many American cities are working hard to bring the churches together so people around them see one body. Globally we believe there is a spiritual special relationship between the USA and the UK. We are both called to take the gospel to the world.

So at a time when Christians are arguing vehemently on Facebook and Twitter that Donald Trump is the Lord’s anointed, and others that he is just plain dangerous, we recommend three pray points:

• God bless America - we believe America has a key role in showing and communicating the gospel and we pray for God’s hand on its government and President - give them wisdom and may God’s will be done.
• God strengthen our links - at a time of great disagreements we pray the UK and USA might stand together as servants, ready to do what you call us to do.
• Bring healing - the disagreements are so fierce but God says He wants His church to be one so that the world will know Him. Disunity is the enemies strategy. Lord, we pray for the Holy Spirit miracle of unity, heal the hurts, enable your people to disagree but stand together.