In a series of video messages released on 6th May 2020, Presidents of Churches Together in England are encouraging us to keep praying prayers of hope, because prayer makes a difference.
'We pray out of love to a God who is love', explains Archbishop Justin Welby. Pastor Agu Irukwu encourages us: 'we have a Father who hears our prayers and who answers our prayers. So please, keep on praying. Be encouraged that our prayers are not in vain.'
On 22nd March 2020, Presidents of Churches Together in England called for a National Day of Prayer and Action, which was taken up by tens of thousands of people across Britain, with the hashtag #candleofhope trending second on Twitter that evening. But we need to keep on praying.
'There are so many opportunities of acts of grace and kindness that we see the churches presenting to the world. But I'm also here to ask you to continue praying for our churches, for our Church, for our nation, for our world', says Archbishop Angaelos.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols agrees: 'It's God's work that we're involved in. And we need the help of God, and we need to pray for that continually.'
Revd Hugh Osgood concludes: 'Let's keep praying and be assured prayer does make a difference.'
The series of video messages is available below (with optional subtitles), and a transcript of each message can be found at the bottom of the page.
Pastor Agu Irukwu, Chair of RCCG UK and Pentecostal President of Churches Together in England
Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London and Orthodox President of Churches Together in England
Revd Dr Hugh Osgood, The Free Churches Moderator and President of Churches Together in England
Archbishop Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury and President of Churches Together in England
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and President of Churches Together in England
Transcripts
Pastor Agu Irukwu, Chair of RCCG UK and Pentecostal President of Churches Together in England
'Hi, I'm Agu Irukwu, I'm Pentecostal President of Churches Together in England. I really wanted to encourage to keep on praying. Our God in heaven, our Father, He hears our prayers and He has already started answering our prayers and He will answer the prayers that we're praying to Him. That is what the Bible tells us, that we serve a God, we have a Father who hears prayers, our prayers, and who answers our prayers. So please, keep on praying. Be encouraged that our prayers are not in vain. We serve a God who answers prayers. God bless you.'
Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London and Orthodox President of Churches Together in England
'Greetings to all. I'm Archbishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Orthodox President of Church Together in England. And I'm here to thank you for all that you're doing. There are so many opportunities of acts of grace and kindness that we see the churches presenting to the world. But I'm also here to ask you to continue praying for our churches, for our Church, for our nation, for our world, especially as we approach the Feast of Pentecost, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, empowering the Church to change the world. So too, are we here to be that change and that light. God bless you all. As you continue to do what you're doing so wonderfully. Please stay safe, for yourself and for others, out of a sense of Christian love, but also out of a sense of the stewardship over God's wonderful creation. God bless you all and I look forward to seeing you face-to-face once we are all through this time.'
Revd Dr Hugh Osgood, The Free Churches Moderator and President of Churches Together in England
'Hello, I'm Hugh Osgood and I'm The Free Churches President of Churches Together in England. I want you to stay safe, I want you to follow the government guidelines but I also want you to pray. On the 22nd of March we as Presidents called for a National Day of Prayer and Action and the take-up was amazing. The hashtag was actually trending second on Twitter that evening. But we need to keep on praying and when we look in Acts chapter 12 we discover that the whole church prayed constantly for Peter's release from prison. And Peter was released and right now we need to be praying constantly to see an end to the Coronavirus pandemic. For wisdom for our politicians and for God's hand on people's lives. Let's keep praying and be assured prayer does make a difference.'
Archbishop Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury and President of Churches Together in England
'Of course we pray, or at least of course we feel we ought to pray. Because quite a lot of us sometimes struggle to know how to pray. We look around in the middle of this pandemic and we see so much to pray for, it can be overwhelming. We pray out of love to a God who is love, whose love has been shown in Jesus, in His death, in His resurrection, in His ascension and in the sending of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit enables us to pray when we don't know how to pray. Even Paul says that in Romans. So even there were moments when he struggled. How do we pray? We pray out of love. What do we long to see? Pray for the whole person, pray for those who are caring for us, pray for those who are suffering, pray for those who are fearful, pray that your fears may be overcome by the love of God. Pray for the unanimity of our society, pray for the future of this world post-virus, post-pandemic. Pray for solutions. There's plenty to pray for. And how we pray is with honesty, with weakness and with love. So let's just pray.'
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and President of Churches Together in England
'As one of the Presidents of Churches Together in England, I'm glad to join in this call to remind you of the importance of prayer. This pandemic is terrible, it takes all our resources, all our human resources of courage, of ingenuity, of determination. But it needs prayer as well. It's God's work that we're involved in. And we need the help of God and we need to pray for that continually. Please join me with prayer every day that we get through this pandemic and are kept safe by our good Lord.'
Find a range of guidance, resources and stories in CTE's Coronavirus web hub.
