Christians called to prayer during November
As communities face further Covid-19 lockdowns, calls for a day and a month of prayer in November have been made to Christians and churches across the UK.
The Evangelical Alliance has called a UK day of prayer on Friday November 13 and is working with networks, denominations and churches to bring people together to pray. Communities across the UK are facing further restrictions and lockdowns and many churches have been forced to stop their in-person gatherings.
Gavin Calver, CEO of the Evangelical Alliance, said: What a challenging time we live in with the Covid-19 pandemic. There are so many ways people respond but at the EA we believe that the first response of all those that love Jesus should be to fall to our knees and to cry out in prayer for our nation at this time. {Praying for our leaders and the least the lost and the lonely, praying for the vulnerable and the marginalized. Praying for the NHS, praying for the church that she might rise up in this time and make Jesus known in a powerful way.”
We are calling on UK churches to pray on Friday November 13 when we can focus our prayers together and see a breakthrough in the UK and see an end to this virus and see the church making a huge impact on the four nations of the UK.
Find out more at: www.eauk.org/dayofprayer
At the same time the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and Bishop of London have called the Church of England to prayer for the nation throughout the month of November.
“We call upon the Church of England to make November 2020 a month of prayer for our nation. We know that we are in the faithful hands of the risen Christ who knows our weaknesses, tiredness and struggles and whose steadfast love endures forever,” they wrote.
“We are writing to share our belief that whoever you are, and whatever you happen to believe, you are loved by God. Beyond measure. We also want you to know that we are praying for you, particularly asking that Christ’s love will comfort us, calm our fears, and lead our nation and our world through this terrible pandemic. Starting this week, we have asked every church to pray each day at 6pm. We invite you to join with us.”
Find out more at: www.churchofengland.org/resources/call-prayer-nation
Call to Prayer in Norwich have joined in the call and offered a resource to help. It says: “We are all no doubt feeling a renewed urgency to pray for our nation and for all those suffering in these very turbulent times. Our booklet Your Nation Needs You, with 40 days of scriptures, prayers, declarations and blessings, is a wonderful resource to inspire us and build up our faith as we pray for His Kingdom purposes to be released in our nation.
“You may already have a copy of this - if so we would encourage you to get it out and start using it again. If not, they are available @ £3 plus postage from our web shop. These booklets have gone all over the UK and it is so good to think of many of us praying in unity. You might like to buy one for a friend.”
Craig and Hannah Deal, pastors of Gateway Vineyard in Norwich said the church is joining Vineyard churches across the UK in a day of prayer and fasting.
“As a church we are joining together with churches everywhere on Friday November 13 for a day of prayer and fasting, uniting to pray for our nations. We'd love for you to join us in this, so please take a look here for full details and to sign up to receive the prayer list with updates on how you can pray throughout the day.”
The Vineyard Churches UK and Ireland leadership team said: “As a movement, we are joining with this day and want to encourage you to set time aside to pray and fast on November 13, as we intercede as the church in the UK and Ireland for our nations. This isn't an event, it's a moment in our story to bring the movement together in prayer at a time when our nations need the hope that only Jesus can bring.”