Week of Continuous Prayer
Sunday 15 March to Sunday 22 March

The Year of Continuous Prayer is an initiative of Together for the Harvest (TFH). They organized Merseyfest a few years ago. The idea is that a church should volunteer to do a week and St Luke’s offered to do 15-22 March. You can find out how the Year of Continuous Prayer has been going in other churches by going to www.tfh.org.uk and following the links.

Even if you can’t come to any of the prayer events (see timetable), we hope that you will still use this prayer guide either on your own or with others. When you see answers to prayer, do let us know so we can thank God along with you! Use this in conjunction with our own monthly prayer diary.

The Prayer Space in the back room of the parish office will be open Monday to Friday from 7.00 to 8.00 am to meet together (‘come when you can, go when you must’). It will also be open from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon and from 2.00 to 4.00 pm for individual prayer. We are also inviting members of the community to write their own prayer requests and they will be placed here.

If people want to make a Prayer Request during our Week of Prayer there are a number of ways of doing so:

• email to ps@stlukecrosby.org.uk
• Text to 07590 690780
• Posting it in the boxes provided in Crossroads Café, the Bypass; Sunter Hair for Men, Cooks Road; Catherine Caddick Jewellers, Moor Lane

All such requests will be placed in our prayer space in the parish centre.

The Church will be open Monday to Friday evenings (see below for themes and times).

Prayer Walk round the parish boundary on Saturday afternoon after the Wildlife activity morning.
Meet at St Luke’s Church Hall at 2.50 pm with walking shoes and warm clothes. An opportunity to lift our Parish and its people up in prayer. Approximately four and a half miles. For more information contact Agnes Law 924 3448.

Below are some further suggestions for prayer, to augment what is already on your hearts to pray for. All of the issues that affect us nationally and regionally have their impact locally so we have tried to avoid repetition.

1 Prayer for the Nation (Monday 16 March from 7.00 to 8.00 pm)

• Let’s pray for all those who have lost jobs or are anxious about their employment prospects that they find sources of help and comfort.
• Pray for Christian business people to speak out to the nation about Christian values in business and industry.
• Pray for the Prime Minister and his cabinet wrestling with the credit crunch and all the other issues of government.
• Pray for those seeking to challenge the rise of racism in the UK as evidenced by growing support for the British National Party.
• Pray for those addicted to alcohol and drugs, those who are seeking asylum, those in prison, the homeless.
• Pray for those who work with them seeking to help them find a better way and for those who make policy on these issues.
• Pray for national Christian organizations seeking to alert us all to public issues so that a Christian voice can be heard.
• Pray for reductions in crime, particularly crimes of violence, remembering the issue of domestic violence, which represents 25% of recorded violent crime – particularly as people begin to feel the pressure financially the stress on relationships will increase.
• Pray for the elderly as they become a growing part of our population.
• Pray for children and young people often misunderstood. The Good Child report urged radical action to us as a nation as to how we look after them.
• Pray for parents and grandparents trying to work out how to bring children up successfully in an increasingly frantic world.

2 Listening to God (Tuesday 17 March from 7.30 to 9.00 pm)

We will come together as a church and listen to God. When we did this in October, it was much valued. At this time of re-building, it is important that we keep listening to him. You might also like to consider fasting today by giving up something like one meal or food for a period of time. Through fasting, people down the ages have found it

3 Prayer for the Region (Wednesday 18 March from 6.30 to 7.30 pm)

• Pray for the Local Authorities of Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Warrington, West Lancashire, Wirral and Sefton: for all the councillors, leaders, chief executives and all those working for them.
• Pray for wisdom and integrity in how they conduct their affairs.
• Pray for business leaders, that they survive the rigours of the current climate, and that redundancies and repossessions are kept to a minimum.
• Pray for those who have asked for prayer via TFH website.
• Pray for the success of the ‘Redeeming our Communities’ event at Liverpool Echo arena on 16 June.

4 Prayer for the Community (Thursday 19 March from 7.00 to 8.00 pm)

You might like to consider doing a prayer walk on this day: simply walking a particular route and consciously praying for those you pass and for what you see. Some will do this as part of our prayer tonight.

• Pray for Claire Curtis-Thomas, MP for Crosby.
• Pray for Margaret Carney, chief executive in Sefton and Tony Robertson, leader of Sefton.
• Pray for local councillors: Anthony Hill, Peter Tonkiss, Andrew Hough, Debi Jones, Martin Barber and John Gibson
• Pray for local schools: headteachers, staff, students, parents and governors especially St Michael’s - Yvonne Sharples and Pete Spiers (chair) and St Luke’s - Sue Kerwin and Jane Nurney (chair).
• Pray for local traders in Crosby village: Catherine Caddick, chair of Crosby Traders, and for Sainsbury’s working up their plans for re-development.
• Pray for those who work in the NHS: nurses, doctors, staff.

5 Prayer for the Church (Friday 20 March from 7.00 to 8.00 pm)

• Thank God that churchgoers increased in number in 2008, with 12.8 million adults (26%) in the UK attending church at least once a year – apart from weddings, funerals and baptisms. It was 21% in 2007. 7.3 million are attending church at least once a month – an increase of 2%
• Let’s pray for the Church to be at the forefront in offering help and support to the needy. Pray that the Church will become more and more outward thinking and geared up for growth in quality and quantity. Pray for the leaders of our churches nationally, our Archbishops (Rowan Williams and John Sentamu) and Bishops (James Jones and David Jennings). Pray for the appointment of the next Bishop of Warrington.
• Pray for the success of the 4Points Easter Campaign: 30 black cabs will carry the 4Points logo down each side with the slogan “What Easter is all about” on the back. Local churches are joining in with banners, posters and t-shirts. It is aimed to raise awareness and understanding of the Gospel and to help congregations to invite people to their Easter service.
• Pray for the leaders of our churches locally: Fr John Furnival (St. Peter and St Paul), Fr Peter Fleetwood (St Helen’s), Rev John Ritson (Moor Lane Methodist), Rev Michael Freeman (All Saints).
• Pray for Deanery of Sefton (roughly churches in Formby, Crosby and Blundellsands) as they plan mission together. Pray for Colette Thornborough and her family and all at St Nicholas as she undergoes treatment.
• Pray for In Another Place: assembly team, gospel choir, Mind, Body and Spirit outreach, plans for Narnia in December.
• Pray for St Luke’s as we approach Easter, hold our Annual Parish meeting in April (need to appoint new church warden as Gordon Lawrence retires) and as we prepare for Gift Day in May.

this page was last modified on 8 January 2011