Pray for the nation
Our Bishops have joined with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and other senior church leaders, who are inviting Christians to pray for the nation over the next month of lockdown.
The call is participate in a collective moment of prayer at 6.00pm each evening for the 28 days.
Bishop Andrew welcomed the call to pray, saying:
“Prayer is a home we can enter at any time. The Lord is already there, praying for us, and welcomes us in."
Bishop Karen joined in the prayers, continuing with the daily live praying of our Renewing Hope Prayer that she began at the start of the first lockdown.
She said:
"As from tonight Christians are being encouraged to pray for our nation at 6.00pm each evening and from today during Lockdown 2 I shall be praying our Renewing Hope prayer live on Facebook sometime during each day."
There will be 7 key areas to pray for, based on a simply weekly cycle rotated over the month – see grid below. In short, who doesn’t want to pray for their family, loved ones, the NHS and frontline workers?
Churches are encouraged to ring bells and people to set alarms to remember to pray at this time.
While Christians are encouraged pray throughout the day, at a time and in a way that suits, this will be a chance to pray together as Christians across the nation.
There is a range of tried and trusted resources – from across traditions and denominations, ranging from simple prayers to litanies – resources we know have helped people throughout the year to pray at this challenging time.
These resources can be found at churchofengland.org/PrayerForTheNation or our new diocesan webpage.
There is a '#PrayerForTheNation' social media hashtag for sharing, and an introductory leaflet here.
The prayers will be given a daily theme.
| Day | Theme |
| Sunday | Family, friends and loved ones |
| Monday | Schools and colleges, children and young people |
| Tuesday | The elderly, isolated and vulnerable |
| Wednesday | Businesses, the workplace and economic wellbeing |
| Thursday | The NHS and other key workers |
| Friday | National and local governments |
| Saturday | All who are grieving and all suffering with physical and mental ill-health |
In the Chalke Valley, Team Rector Catherine Blundell has shared additional weekly themes of 'Prayer for the world', 'Prayer for our country', 'Prayer for our communities' and 'Prayer for ourselves'.
Their prayer for Week 1 is:
Grant us, Gracious God, to look as you do upon our world.
Help us to see the glory of your creation and where there is heartbreak and loss of hope.
To especially remember our friends in South Sudan and in the refugee camps.
We pray for your love to flow.
So that nations will be at peace,
free from fear, free from want
with no more pain or tears
in the assurance of your love.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen
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