ENGLAND

Right across every part of the British Isles and Ireland, prayer has been offered by Christians for centuries. We pay tribute to the men and women in the religious communities, in the ancient houses of prayer, retreat centres who continually offer a sacrifice of praise and prayer to our Lord. In the last 20 years, we have seen a remarkable rise in the number of Christians who are being called to pray across our family of nations and around the world.

Here in England:

• There are many individuals, churches, networks, organisations and ministries who are dedicating all or part of their time to the work of prayer. Prayer is being mobilised in every county and across every area of society.

• There is a network of leaders with a heart for prayer called ‘For England – together’ which links around 250 leaders. We meet together once every two years for a forum and exchange updates via newsletters.

• We have:
  

• Regional networks which include: Cumbria, East Anglia, the Midlands (Heartland), the South East of England and the Thames Valley Gateway.
  
• County networks, e.g. Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Kent and East Sussex.
  
• Many cities and towns run their own prayer and mission initiatives.

• The Global Day of Prayer has been taken up by a number of different places in the last three years. In 2008, we had 60 locations in England organising events in parks, churches, cathedrals www.globaldayofprayer.co.uk.

• There are seasons of prayer emerging: Lent Month of May linking with the Global Day of Prayer and incorporating Prayer Week and other days, eg National Day of Prayer for Police Ramadan Advent

• Many villages, towns and cities have a foundation of united prayer, which has proved to be a significant springboard for mission during Hope08 www.hope08.com.

Jane Holloway
World Prayer Centre, Birmingham