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This article was originally published in Edition (5) of Prayer Magazine, Jan-Mar 2006. It’s that time of the year, when new announcements are made, and 2006 will be no exception. This edition signifies our first birthday as a magazine, and guess it also means we are making it. We’re a year older, a year wiser and we’re all a year closer to God’s plans and purposes in the Nation. 2005 was an unprecedented year in many ways. The third year of ‘the war on terror’, one of the worse years in history for huge natural disasters and a year when as in many developed nations, Religious Liberties are being challenged both in court and in Governmental Law (The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill). It’s was also a year of endeavour, as scientific research is pushing the boundaries of treatment to include stem cell research, nano technology, genetic manipulation therapy, genetically modified food stuffs and of course the whole issue of cloning. We are only a few steps away from some of these technologies joining our everyday life. Then of course we have the moral arena, which is also being stretched. Now in Britain we have legal civil union, the first ceremonies of which were held just a few weeks ago, first Northern Ireland, then England, then Wales. The laws have also been relaxed to allow gay couples to legally adopt children. We must not forget the assisted dying bill also passing through parliament. This bill is likely to allow and encourage people who are terminally ill, to prematurely end their life or give permission to medical staff to withdraw food when the illness borders death. And finally the Equality bill, which will try to force balance in all aspects of society. This bill making it effectively a criminal offence to express an opinion of something or someone, where the other person ‘might’ object or find the comment or action offensive. The Daily Mail, recently carried a story on the front page, of a couple who wanted to display some Christian Literature on a table alongside some pro-gay material in the local Town Hall. They were visited by the police and subjected to an 80 minute questioning of their beliefs to see if there were grounds to prosecute. The problem with a number of these rushed legal bills, is the police will be left in a quandary of interpretation. In one area of Britain that might have a high Islamic population inevitably the police are likely to interpret the law differently, than another area which might have a low ethnic diversity. So where I am going with all this ? Think about it, the last forty years has brought about huge changes to our society, and basically we’re not used to the increased pace of change. Our Government is trying it’s best to accommodate what it thinks is needed but often not called for, by implement a whole swath of new laws which directly and indirectly will affect the way Christianity exists within our Nation. A friend recently told me, ‘Christianity is the biggest lobby group in the country’. This statement is only true of course when Christianity speaks with one voice in unity. 2005 has definitely taught the body of Christ that we need to speak out and disagree with issues that adversely affect our faith and pray more than ever for our nation to experience a revival of faith. And that is where Prayer Force comes in. Through 2005 we started a process of connecting with national ministries operating in around 50 areas of society. We have started to ask each one of them for a list of negative issues that affect the area of society they operate in. We are still collating the information, but the results are absolutely staggering. My friends, I am convinced the only positive future Britain has is when it returns to it’s Godly heritage. So how will we get there ? IMAGINE, if the seven million people that attend church each week, were to pray for one or two of the issues that face us, each and every day. Would crime drop, would drug dependency and abuse end, would the media be opened up to Christianity ? IMAGINE, where there are examples of Christian projects, that already interact with the police forces of their area. If some of these ministries where highlighted to be examples to all of us, might we become more socially engaging. IMAGINE, When a disaster happens, that informed prayer could be immediately mobilised via email and mobile phone texting, how the impact of a disaster could be minimised. IMAGINE, When occasions like the Olympics are played out in London and Millions of people come to our Capital to watch and participate, if we prayed for next seven years that everyone there might have an encounter with Jesus – what might happen ? IMAGINE, if we started to pray for the 380,000 homeless people in the UK. That they would come across believers, who would befriend them and help them to a route of support – would there be 380,000 homeless people in a couple of years time ? IMAGINE, if we started to prayer walk our streets each month, would there be far less than 60 million crimes committed on those streets and in those houses this next year – crime would plummet if we prayed! IMAGINE, if you decided to at least join in, even if you don’t class yourself as a prayer warrior or intercessor. If today, you just said to God, I will pray, even if it was for five minutes a day – imagine what might happen for good – in our nation. Prayer Force seeks to mobilise one million people from all over the world to pray that Britain and Ireland would come into Revival. Every week, relevant and accurate information from all aspects of our society will be shared with the Prayer Force members and member churches, to make life easier and make the prayer needs of our society more understandable, to help us all come to a place of realising, we need God more than ever to help our Nation from slipping into confusion, control and calamity. Will you join Prayer Force and Pray for Britain and Ireland ? You can join by:- TELEPHONE – Phone 02920 512126 and let us have your details. EMAIL – send an email to prayerforce@prayer.tv and put subscribe in the subject line. WEBSITE – Visit the Prayer TV website and click the ‘To Join Prayer Force Click Here’ button on the left hand side. WRITE – Write to us at Prayer TV, PO Box 154, Dinas Powys, CF64 4WX. Remember, there is no charge to join Prayer Force, all we ask is that you will commit to pray every day (how long is upto you). You can choose to receive the prayer information we send out by mail or email. Email is the preferred option as it’s free and more date sensitive information is sent that way. Together in Prayer with God, we will make a difference in our Nation. If you like this article, why not subscribe to Prayer Magazine - Click here to Subscribe {LINK : https://www.prayermagazine.
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