HOW DO WE ENGAGE IN AND PRAY FOR THE MAY 7th ELECTIONS……?
One of our key prayer themes in The Mill Statement is a call to wake up. There is a well known painting by William Holman Hunt called The Light of the World – Jesus stands at an overgrown, under used door and knocks – waiting to be invited in. The wake up call starts with us. Jesus is calling us into a deeper relationship with him and so we are more aware of and responsive to what is happening around us. He calls us to be ambassadors for his kingdom. A wake up call is disturbing. We may want to deny we were asleep, we feel shaken up. God wants his church to wake up.
‘It’s not about them. It’s all about you. Not them. You. About you because a general election is one of those rare times when your voice counts as much as anyone else’s voice does. About you because you have the chance to help choose who represents you and your community in Parliament. About you because you can influence who will run the country for the next five years and, therefore, help shape what sort of country you live in. Rarely has there been a choice so wide or one with an impact which could be so dramatic.’ So writes Nick Robinson Political Editor of the BBC.
Firstly, we need to be informed about the issues, the process and the people. There are many excellent resources to help us and we would refer you to the Evangelical Alliance and CARE websites for in depth information http://election2015.eauk.org and www.engage15.org.uk
Secondly, we need to pray : So let’s ask God to wake everyone up to engage with this election campaign – starting with ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s pray we will awake to God’s invitation to work with Him in prayer for His kingdom to come and His will to be done in and through all that we take place in these coming weeks. We need to enthrone and worship Jesus as Lord; cry out for mercy, grace and favour; declare God’s word and release the blessing of Father, Son and Holy Spirit into the whole process – especially into the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament as well as everything that takes place in Westminster. We can stand guard in prayer over each of the candidates standing for election in our constituencies. We need to ask for God’s protection over our nation at this vulnerable time; that any who are planning destructive acts will be brought into the light; for special protection for the party leaders and their families and for wisdom and guidance for the police and security forces.
CARE has released a 5 week General Election prayer guide starting Sunday 12th April covering your local constituency, political parties and policy issues; the media, party leaders and candidates and after the election. Download it HERE
