Parliament needs our prayers August 9, 2010
Posted by connz in Uncategorized.add a comment
Visit http://uk.24-7prayer.com/parliament/ for the article in full…
“The Bible gives us lots of reasons why we should pray, but passages telling us exactly what to pray for are surprisingly few and far between. So when Timothy writes “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority” [1 Tim 2:1-2], we probably need to take it seriously!
24-7 Prayer in the UK has been involved in Parliament since 2004. During that time, we have felt a growing sense that for us, this is one of our ‘mission fields’, an area where we are called to go out and get involved both prayerfully and practically.
So what does that mean in practise?
• We pray with Christians in Parliament every Thursday lunchtime in Portcullis House (the new parliamentary building opposite Big Ben). This mostly involves Christians who work inside the parliamentary estate (support staff, researchers, interns, etc) and is all about supporting each other to be a witness in the jobs that they do.
• We help to organise the annual Week of Prayer for Parliament and Government. 24-7 Prayer has organised prayer walks around Westminster and Whitehall, provided prayer resources to churches all across the country, and led a worship service inside the Houses of Parliament itself. We’ve prayed with others in countless offices and chambers. We have even prayed up inside Big Ben, beside the bell and behind the clock faces!
• We support Christian political organisations who want to grow and develop in prayer. These have included The Christian Socialist Movement, the Conservative Christian Fellowship, the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum, and various churches and prayer groups who want to pray into this area.
• We are partners in a project called [Susa] (launching late 2009), which is all about encouraging and equipping Christians to get more extensively and effectively involved in public life, right across the political spectrum and from local to national level.
Can religion and politics mix?
God cares about just and righteous government, and calls his people to be ‘salt and light’ in this area. As South African anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it: “When people tell me that the Bible has nothing to do with politics, I ask them, ‘Which Bible are you talking about?’.””
