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The
S Chad Prayer Chain is being re-launched, after various changes,
and to reconcile numbers into one WhatsApp group. The
Prayer Chain is aimed at mobilising a good number of people to
pray immediately, usually for an emergency request, and is
confidential.
There will be a new WhatsApp group, administered by Sally
Wilkinson, and if you were previously on the Prayer Chain and
wish to continue, or if you wish to join for the first
time,
please speak to Sally or Sybil Lamb.
We will still have provision for phoning landlines for those who
cannot access WhatsApp.
Read
Tearfund's latest prayer letter re ending global poverty by
clicking the image above
Prayer for peace in Ukraine
Holy
and Gracious God
We
pray for the people of Ukraine and the people of Russia; for their
countries and their leaders.
We
pray for all those who are afraid; that your everlasting arms hold them
in this time of great fear.
We
pray for all those who have the power over life and death;
that they will choose for all people life, and life in all its fullness.
We
pray for those who choose war; that they will remember that you direct
your people to turn
our swords into ploughshares and seek for peace.
We
pray for leaders on the world stage; that they are inspired by the
wisdom and courage of Christ.
Above
all, Lord, today we pray for peace for Ukraine.
And
we ask this in the name of your blessed Son.
Lord
have mercy.
Amen
Praying through the darkness:
prayers of faith for 2022
We’ve been here
before – seeing in the New Year in the midst of a global pandemic. But
even in the most difficult times, we know we have a God who never leaves
us nor forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:6). In the biblical story of Ruth, we
can find fresh encouragement for how we can look to 2022 as a year of
hope.
The book of Judges tells us
about the challenges that Ruth would have faced. It was a dark time,
filled with famine, war and poverty. The book of Ruth begins with Ruth
being widowed.
But hope is found in a
friendship – in a bond between two women who felt broken and alone
after experiencing deep loss. And that is where the love of God shone
brightly and transformed everything. And it’s that same love that
radiates throughout the world today.
Faith
It’s not always clear what
the path ahead looks like. Ruth could have stayed in Moab and gone to
live with her family after her husband’s death. Instead, she decided
to travel with Naomi, her mother-in-law, to Bethlehem to start her life
afresh.
‘Don’t urge me to leave
you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay
I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.’ (Ruth
1:16)
It was a decision made in
faith – Ruth put her trust in the God Naomi worshipped, not knowing
how it would turn out.
Today, for many of us, the
path ahead also looks uncertain. What do we see before us? Plans put on
hold. A pandemic with seemingly no end in sight. And that is before the
individual challenges many of us are going through.
The book of Ruth can
encourage us to take a leap of faith and put our trust in God to make a
way for us. Jesus tells us we only need faith as small as a mustard seed
(Matthew 17:20). So let us begin.
Pray
with us
-
Write down some of the things you
are struggling with at the moment.
-
Find verses in the Bible that
celebrate God’s faithfulness towards us and the love he has for
us. For example: Deuteronomy 7:9, Psalm 46:1, Zephaniah 3:17, Romans
8:38. Write these down next to your struggles.
-
Lift your list up to God in
prayer and ask God to make a way for you through these struggles and
disappointments. The Psalms show us we do not have to hide our
feelings from God, so open up and let your emotions flow free to a
God who listens and cares for you.
A longer version of this reflection
is available on Tearfund website – including more prayer activities to
help you connect deeper with the God of love and the plans he has to
heal our broken world.
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