29th February, 2016
The Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York have written to every parish priest in the UK, inviting churches to join in a "great wave of prayer" in the lead-up to Pentecost Sunday.
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, have asked Christians to be praying for the "evangelisation of our nation" over the week of 8th to 15th May.
They say they longed to see "a great wave of prayer across our land, throughout the Church of England and many other churches" which they hope will see Christians deepening their relationship with Jesus, having confidence to share the Gospel with others, and responding to the call of Jesus to follow Him as disciples, to live out the Gospel and to daily seek God’s kingdom.
The week of prayer will culminate in a series of ‘beacon events’ being held at Anglican cathedrals over the Pentecost weekend.
In their letter, the archbishops said that at the heart of the prayers will be the words of the Lord’s Prayer and referred to a recent controversy in which an ad featuring the prayer was banned in cinemas around the UK.
"It is impossible to overstate the life-transforming power of the Lord’s Prayer," they wrote. "It is a prayer that is reassuring enough to be on the lips of the dying and yet dangerous enough to be banned in cinemas. It is famous enough to be spoken each day by billions in hundreds of languages and yet intimate enough to draw us ever closer into friendship with Jesus Christ. It is simple enough to be memorised by small children and yet profound enough to sustain a whole lifetime of prayer. When we pray it with sincerity and with joy, there is no imagining the new ways in which God can use us to His glory.”
The archbishops have suggested a range of ways in which churches can take part, include holding a day or week of continuous 24×7 prayer; saying special prayers in Sunday worship; prayer walking; or handing out prayer cards.
Organisations partnering in the prayer initiative are 24-7 Prayer, HOPE, the World Prayer Centre, the Neighbourhood Prayer, Network, and the National Day of Prayer and Worship.
