Weekly Prayer Points
Week commencing Sunday 23rd June 2024
Why is it that Christians, united in our faith in Christ and destined to share heaven together, can often find ourselves on wildly different sides of the political debate, especially when it comes to choosing the political party we want to win in a fortnight? Indeed, some of us will choose not to vote at all.
Of course, our prayers can, will and should be "Thy Will be done", not in pious resignation but as our deepest heartfelt desire. However, without a miracle, it is clear that none of the mainstream political parties are planning to follow a path of resolute reverence for God, His Word and His Gospel; indeed, to varying degrees, they all advocate policies and practices which will fly in the face of our Father's wishes for mankind.
Whether or not you believe in adding VAT onto school fees, controlling immigration, empathizing with self-identification, or commiting to net zero, it would appear that there will continue to be very real challenges to our Christian faith and behaviours, whoever is in power on 5th July.
Let's unite in prayer therefore, regardless of our personal "party-political" persuasion, that God's grace might continue to rest on our country as a whole, and over us as His children, especially.
Lord we rejoice that we can affirm that You do all things well, Your Will is sovereign and, whatever the world may throw in the way of Your people, You remain our constant companion and protector, and the Greater Power over anything that might come against us.
And so we pray for
- all peoples across the world who are subjected to evil and who are forced to flee for their lives. For Christian children and families in such peril, we especially pray, and we thank You that we are spared in the UK from such fear and flight;
- those children who are exploited and abused in such circumstances, and we ask that You will frustrate the evil plans of child traffickers, smugglers and abusers in particular;
- all Christian parents and children who have selected independent Christian schools because they want to have their children educated in an atmosphere which honours You, but who may be priced out of that market in days to come and forced into schools which take an unsympathetic, even hostile, position towards You and Your Word;
- the owners and/or governors of these independent Christian schools and the decisions they are preparing to make in the light of any threat to their existence which new laws might bring;
- much more effective legal constraints on social media and other outlets which expose children to humiliation, intimidation, fear, sexualisation and addictions online; and
- protection for young people, especially the psychologically vulnerable, from misinformation, manipulation and falsehood with regards to (trans)gender ideologies which contradict Your Word and cause deep and lasting damage.
Lord we thank You for Christians abroad and in the UK who are providing shelter, support and comfort for 'the sojourners in our midst' (Leviticus 19:33-34) and we pray that our government will retain a genuine heart for those who seek safe refuge from harm.
Lord we thank You for the desire of so many young people to care about the planet on which we live. Please help us, as Christian educators, to point them both to the Creator behind that creation and to the opportunity to find everlasting peace with You as opposed to the preservation of a finite world which ultimately has no eternal future.