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Largely thanks to campaigning Christians, one of the most wicked proposed changes in the law ever to have been conceived in this country has failed to win approval. An amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, intended to legalise abortion for any reason up to birth, has been withdrawn after being selected by the Speaker for debate and a vote. Jesus has the victory over death and destruction, and is right beside those who promote justice, righteousness, life, health and peace to a very sick society.
Praise: God that this extreme amendment has not been passed. (Ezekiel 20:31a)
More: https://prophecytoday.uk/comment/editorial/item/2263-snatched-from-the-fire.html |
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‘This lady was in deep despair when I first met her. She came to a local church foodbank seeking help to feed her four children. Thanks to God, volunteers, donations of daily needs, and gentle support, Tahreen gratefully received practical help. She also heard the gospel, and by God’s grace, she found new life in Christ!’ For further details, click the ‘More’ button.
Praise: God for the wonderful work of foodbanks across the nation. (Matthew 25:35)
More: www.youtube.com/watch |
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Praise God for an operation this week that brought a young family, including four children, out of bonded labour. One of IJM’s partners discovered an 11-year-old forced to work at a sheep farm and then, by interviewing him, learned that the whole family was in bondage at a nearby brick kiln. Many families like theirs are being left vulnerable due to Covid-19 and a lack of dignified work.
Praise: God for IJM and its partners as they protect vulnerable communities – pray for this family as they begin recovering in freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
More: mailchi.mp/7e5ec6aa930f/ijm-prayer-update-pray-for-6-children-now-free-665436 |
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Financial data released by the Church of England shows that each bishop costs almost £120,000 a year, in addition to receiving £46,000 per year as a stipend. ‘As a member of General Synod for over a decade I have questioned the cost of bishops’ lavish lifestyles and opulence at the top while parishes up and down the country struggle to meet their bills, and even close their door,’ said Sam Margrave, a lay member of General Synod and a former local councilor, in a written statement submitted before last weekend’s synod meeting. The CofE spends, on average, £70,800 on the ongoing maintenance of each bishop’s house; 26 bishops live in houses that have more than six bedrooms.
Pray: for every bishop, priest, deacon, and layperson to maintain a community presence drawing attention to successful ministries not the financial costs they incur. (Matthew 5:16)
More: www.christianpost.com/news/church-of-england-bishops-criticized-for-lavish-lifestyles.html |
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England and Italy players took the knee at the Euro final. Priti Patel publicly opposed this at the beginning of the Euros, saying that she did not support ‘people participating in that type of gesture politics’. Asked if she would criticise fans who booed England players taking the knee she said, ‘That’s a choice for them, quite frankly’. After they missed penalties in the final, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were targeted by racist abuse. In response Ms Patel tweeted that she was disgusted. Tyrone Mings said, ‘You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘gesture politics’ and then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing happens which we’re campaigning against.’
Pray: for social media platforms to do more to combat racial abuse. May we have a better future where everyone is seen as equal parts of one humanity. (Acts 10:34)
More: www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-53098516 |
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The CofE has abandoned a proposal to appoint 42 ‘racial justice officers’ across the country, one of the recommendations from its report on tackling racism in the institution. In April 47 proposals were made to address institutional racism and improve diversity in an attempt to end a ‘rut of inaction’ spanning several decades, with the Archbishop of Canterbury conceding that people of colour had been ‘bullied, overlooked, undermined and excluded’ within the Church. With the taskforce warning a failure to act against racism would convince people the Church was ‘not serious about racial sin’, one suggestion was for paid, full-time racial justice officers to be employed in every diocese for a five-year term. However, the idea was scrapped. The Archbishop of York said, ‘The Archbishops’ Council has concluded that it cannot support this recommendation in this formulation at this time, given the need to reduce costs in diocesan and national administration.’
Pray: for Church leaders to curtail runaway expenses while supporting racial justice. (Acts 17:26a)
More: premierchristian.news/en/news/article/church-of-england-scraps-plan-for-racial-justice-officers-due-to-costs |
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Police reported ‘significant increases’ in stalking in England and Wales during the pandemic; over 80,000 incidents were recorded last year. However arrests struggled to keep up – growing at half the rate of the rise in offences. Chris has been stalked for six years by a man she met briefly in a team meeting at a previous job. He has inundated her with messages ever since, and contacted colleagues about her over 2,000 times despite them both leaving the company. She made around fifty separate calls to the police during the pandemic. One visit the man made to the offices of her current employer was even captured on CCTV while current colleagues have recorded obscene calls he has made asking to speak to her. Despite her passing this evidence to the police and reporting at least fifty incidents, the man has never been charged. She is one of many feeling let down by the police.
Pray: for a stalking register to be initiated, as is the case with sex offenders. (Psalm 82:3a)
More: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57407353 |
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Society has been shaken over the past year, revealing that we need wise leaders in the church and in the public arena more than ever before. The Evangelical Alliance is inviting Christians working in the arts, media, academia, business, education, civil society, politics, healthcare and all other sectors to enrol in their Public Leaders Course. A public leader is a Christian who is intentional about bringing their faith to their leadership wherever God has placed them. The ‘public’ element means they are open about their Christianity and their leadership role is not internal to the church. The ‘leadership’ refers to where they have influence: workplace, local community, online, a social group. We can pray for filmmakers, writers, entrepreneurs, educators, health workers, civil servants, lawyers and all in the secular workplace to hear God’s call on their lives to live out their faith and draw others into God’s kingdom.
Pray: for God to bless expressions of faith outside traditional church circles. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
More: www.eauk.org/what-we-do/initiatives/public-leadership/public-leadership-course/the-public-leader-course-faqs |
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Kristie Higgs, a Christian pastoral administrator, was sacked for two of her Facebook posts that raised concerns about transgenderism and sex education at her son’s CofE primary school. On 14 July she won the right to appeal her case and will challenge her dismissal at an employment appeal tribunal. She will argue that her dismissal breached her freedom of speech. We can pray that this appeal will successfully raise important issues on the approach currently adopted by tribunals regarding demonstrations and expressions of beliefs. The judge directed that the appeal be listed in ‘Category A’, which means the case will be heard by a full three-member panel because it is complex and raises points of law of public importance.
Pray: for the team preparing the appeal and for Kristie to have God’s peace at this time. (John 14:27)
More: christianconcern.com/news/christian-school-worker-fired-for-facebook-posts-wins-right-to-appeal/ |
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Record rainfall in parts of western Europe has caused major rivers to burst their banks In Germany; at least 33 are dead and dozens missing after record rain left homes and cars washed away. The Rhineland-Palatinate state chief described the flooding as a ‘catastrophe’. At least six have died in Belgium. Liège city urged all residents to leave. The Netherlands is badly hit, with more deaths and many houses damaged in the southern province of Limburg. A number of care homes had to be evacuated. More rain is forecast for these areas.
Pray: for the relatives of the dead, those still in danger, the emergency services, all who have lost homes, businesses and possessions; those whose houses are in danger of collapsing, and stranded people on hills and rooftops. (Nahum 1:7)
More: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57846200 |
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The 2 July ‘Joint Declaration on the Future of the EU’ represents a significant endeavour by Eurosceptics to oppose efforts by European federalists to transform the EU into a godless multicultural superstate. The leaders of sixteen European political parties have announced an unprecedented alliance to defend the sovereignty of European nation states, protect the nuclear family, and preserve traditional Judeo-Christian values. The leader of Spain’s conservative party said, ‘The EU’s “Conference on the Future of Europe” has already written its conclusions. It seeks the forced federalisation of the EU against the true will of European nations and apart from the national parliaments. We do not want a federal Europe in which all decisions are made in Brussels. The EU is becoming a superstate carrying out cultural and religious transformations without tradition and attempting to change moral principles.’
Pray: for all EU nations to come away from what they said they would do and return to God’s purposes and strategies for each country. (Jeremiah 44:17a)
More: www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17558/european-union-superstate |
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Over a thousand festival-goers caught coronavirus after attending a 20,000-person event in Utrecht, leading the city’s mayor to apologise, saying it was ‘an error of judgment’. Health authorities say the disease spread over both days of the outdoor music festival, leading to the highest count of infections that could be traced back to a single event. It was a ‘test-for-entry event’, meaning visitors were allowed if they presented a vaccination card, held a negative coronavirus test, or had had Covid-19 recently. Authorities now believe that the time frame (40 hours) for negative tests was too long. Dutch caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte apologised for his government’s quick relaxation of safeguards, admitting what they thought was possible was wrong after all. Cases jumped fivefold in one week.
Pray: for all organisers of outdoor events to take notice of these results and have heaven’s wisdom when considering the timing and safeguarding needed to move forward. (3 John 2)
More: www.politico.eu/article/coronavirus-1000-people-infected-in-dutch-festival/ |
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The following is from a report made with the help of seven pastors and a bishop in South Africa: ‘Please pray against a spirit of violence and disruption threatening the country’s peace and stability following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma last week. The root of the ongoing situation is criminal rather than political. KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng provinces are hotspots of riots and looting sprees, and it may spread to other regions. 45 people have died and 757+ arrested in 5 days. Forces fire rubber bullets and live ammunition to deter Johannesburg looters, Durban has unrest and shootings. Shops, businesses, schools and farms are looted and destroyed. Road traffic is attacked and they are on the crest of a third Covid wave. It is believed that this is a backlash to a lot of evil and corruption being exposed over the past year as well as Kingdom breakthroughs. Pray for South Africa to step into her prophetic destiny, with peace on every street.’
Pray: for calmness to replace fear, aid be given to the needy, vaccinations restored, government to stand against corruption, and Churches to proclaim and live by God’s Word. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
More: www.ipcprayer.org/eu-news/ipc-news/prayer-alerts/item/14338-south-africa-looting-and-civil-unrest.html |
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In South Africa a woman is killed every four hours: ‘Our bodies are crime scenes’. Ornate advertising posters of men accused or convicted of murdering women cover the walls of Argentina’s capital. The word FEMICIDA -woman killer- screams out in large black letters under each name. The posters, and thousands of protesters outside Argentina’s Supreme Court in February, reveal the rage over rampant levels of violence against women. In Turkey’s cities last year thousands rallied, demanding the government does not withdraw from a landmark treaty to prevent and combat violence against women. Globally, trends of female journalists being threatened with physical violence, rape, kidnapping. and other abuses are rising. In Spain’s strawberry fields, migrant women face abuse from bosses who routinely sexually harass and exploit them, when they are attempting to support themselves and their families back home. Also see
Pray: for police, medical authorities and other agencies to compile accurate and reliable data-collection systems of suspicious or dangerous situations, to prevent further femicide and achieve more convictions. (Habakkuk 1:3-4)
More: www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/10/in-spains-strawberry-fields-migrant-women-face-sexual-abuse |
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Francis, and Church of Scotland moderator Jim Wallace have written to South Sudan’s political leaders on the tenth anniversary of its independence. They said that the anniversary calls to mind past struggles and points with hope to the future, and that the nation is blessed with immense potential. They encouraged leaders to make even greater efforts to enable their people to enjoy the full fruits of independence. They also said, ‘When we wrote to you at Christmas, we prayed that you might experience greater trust among yourselves and be more generous in service to your people. Since then, we are glad to see some small progress. Sadly, your people continue to live in fear and uncertainty, and lack confidence that their nation can indeed deliver the “justice, liberty and prosperity” celebrated in your national anthem. Much more needs to be done to shape a nation that reflects God’s kingdom.’
Pray: for South Sudan’s leaders to perceive new fresh ways to serve all the people in humility and work in unity to achieve God’s purposes. (2 Corinthians 5:17,18)
More: www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/news-and-statements/archbishop-pope-and-church-scotland-moderator-write-south-sudans-leaders |
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Mecca: the holiest city in Islam, reputedly the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad and the destination for Muslims on the sacred hajj pilgrimage. This year, the hajj is from 17 to 22 July. Although the pilgrimage has Covid limitations, Mecca is still preparing for 60,000 pilgrims. The city of Mecca has 1.5 million residents. You have to be a Muslim to get in the city limits. Entering Mecca as a non-Muslim could result in fines, deportation, or worse. How could anyone there hear the Good News that they have a Saviour who loves them? How could the Gospel possibly reach such a closed city? The Holy Spirit and prayer are not limited by borders or bans.
Pray: for the Spirit of God to dwell among the pilgrims as they fill Mecca’s streets. (John 14:26a)
More: prayercast.com/mecca.html |
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For months, Ethiopia’s civil war has raged in Tigray, demolishing infrastructure and threatening famine. Despite talks of ceasefire, no end to the violence is in sight. Most concerning is the involvement of Eritrean soldiers in the conflict. Pastor Eric Foley says they have destroyed two refugee camps in the Tigray region. ‘They took people who had escaped from Eritrea and were living in the camps back to Eritrea and imprisoned them. Those who escaped the raids fled further into Ethiopia. The Tigray Church is a beacon during all this chaos. People are gathering in churches, grieving at the churches, bringing dead bodies to churchyards to bury them in mass graves. The Gospel is still making a way for people to have hope. The Christians are opening their homes and doing all the things that Jesus taught us to do.’
Pray: for God to strengthen His Church as they minister in war-torn areas. (Psalm 27:5)
More: www.mnnonline.org/news/eritrean-soldiers-destroy-two-tigray-refugee-camps/ |
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As all eyes turn to Tokyo for the Olympics and Paralympics, Japanese Christians are inviting the global Church to unite for one million hours of prayer for the spiritual transformation of their nation. An international prayer movement (Japan1Million) is led by the Japan international Sports Partnership and the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association. Their partnership is driven by a vision to see the Church in Japan grow to ten million people by 2024. Working towards that vision, they had hoped to reach a million Japanese people during their Olympic outreach year. Covid closed those doors, but one door remained open; the door to prayer. With less than 1% of its population of 126 million attending church, the Japanese are the world’s second largest unreached people group. Most people in Japan have not been to church, read the Bible or encountered any Christians. Committed prayer is needed for a significant spiritual breakthrough.
Pray: for millions of Christians to register on their website, join Zoom gatherings, receive information about Japan and pray with one voice for Japan to be reached for Christ. (Matthew 9:38)
More: ausprayernet.org.au/japan-asks-for-one-million-hours-of-prayer-over-the-olympic-games/ |
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A new survey reveals Americans who identify as having no connection with religion has declined slightly. The survey was part of ‘American Values Atlas’, based on phone interviews with over 50,000 Americans throughout 2020. One of the biggest takeaways from the survey is that the rise of the ‘nones’ has slowed. The term ‘nones’ describes Americans who do not identify with a particular religion and includes atheists and agnostics. Even with this slight decline, religiously unaffiliated Americans constitute a larger share of the American public than the three most prominent religious groups in the US: white mainline Protestants (16%), white evangelical Protestants (14%), and white Catholics (12%). All other religious groups accounted for less than 10% of population, including Christians of colour, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.
Pray: for a mighty wave of God’s power to flow into the Christian denominations, releasing rivers of living water into every community, covering the land, drawing millions into God’s Kingdom. (Ezekiel 36:26)
More: www.christiantoday.com/article/rise.of.the.religious.nones.is.slowing.study/137096.htm |
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Prayer Alert is produced in partnership with
The World Prayer Centre, PO Box 17971, Birmingham, B2 2NY, United Kingdom.
The views expressed in Prayer Alert and on our website are those of the authors, organisations and websites named, and are not necessarily those of the Prayer Alert Editorial Team, the Prayer Alert Steering Group or the World Prayer Centre or any of its employees or trustees. While we try to ensure that the information we provide is correct, mistakes do occur and we cannot guarantee the accuracy of our material. If you do notice any mistakes then please let us know.
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