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A prayer vigil – a time devoted to expectant listening and communication with God.
To individuals who do not have a religion, the importance of a vigil can really feel like a little bit of a thriller. Why would somebody select to sit down or stand for generally prolonged intervals of time, usually in silence?
But as Christians, the significance of this apply brings us again to The Bible. The Bible repeatedly tells us in regards to the energy of prayer (Matthew 17:21, Acts 1:14, Ephesians 6:18-19), and Jesus himself provides the instruction a number of occasions to “watch and pray”.
The most notable event being the night time earlier than his crucifixion, within the Garden of Gethsemane. When Jesus is about to face his greatest hardship, he prays and asks his disciples to maintain watch with him. When Jesus sees that his disciples haven’t achieved this, and have as a substitute fallen asleep, he’s saddened.
As the world turns into an more and more troublesome place, the problem of spreading the excellent news turns into tougher. As the local weather disaster wraps our brothers and sisters world wide into growing determined life circumstances, it may be troublesome for folks to see God by the struggling.
This was by no means made clearer to me than when a girl in a area devastated by drought requested me why God hated her. The ache in her face was evident. But it was not God inflicting her struggling, however the greed of these people set on creating an more and more hostile world.
The UK can also be beginning to really feel the consequences of environmental breakdown. The frequency of storms hitting our shores have elevated, and nonetheless a gas-fuelled cost-of-living disaster is squeezing folks’s budgets additional than ever earlier than, with some having to decide on between consuming or heating.
It’s simple to really feel helpless, when corruption and lies are one thing we come to anticipate from our leaders and multinationals appear largely to be unaccountable and to perform above the legislation. But as disciples of Jesus, our instruction stays the identical – “watch and pray”. Only then can we actually take part within the renewal of God’s creation and the bringing of the Kingdom.
So this Lent, we’ve been leaning on our most historical of traditions – prayer. The No Faith In Fossil Fuels Vigil is happening from the 14th to the twenty fourth Feb 2024. Christians from throughout the UK are coming collectively to sit down in prayerful reflection outdoors the gates of energy – parliament in Westminster. A complete host of organisations are concerned on this: Christian Aid, Tearfund, CAFOD, The Salvation Army, JPIT, Student Christian Movement, A Rocha, Green Christian, Operation Noah and extra.
Bishops have been concerned, MPs have been concerned, church buildings, small teams and extra. And there’s nonetheless time so that you can take part. Stay for an hour or a day. If you imagine within the energy of prayer, be a part of us in prophetically reimagining this world into one thing stunning.
