Year of Continuous Prayer 2011

JANUARY YEAR OF CONTINUOUS PRAYER 2011

Tuesday, 04 January 2011 Dear Leader/Prayer Leader Welcome to the first Briefing Document for the Year of Continuous Prayer 2011. The challenge of the year ahead provided by the severe economic cuts on the one hand, and the tidal wave of secular humanism and Islamic extremism on the other, makes united prayer as important as it has ever been. Global Day of Prayer London Convener Jonathan Oloyede said “This is the time for leaders to lay down their titles, brands and denominational labels and unite together at the cross in prayer. If we can truly covenant together in unity we will see restoration, renewal and revival in our generation”. It is a reminder that what we are doing in the Year of continuous Prayer 2011 is a crucial contribution towards seeing harvest and transformation in our region and beyond. As we have seen over the last two years the plan of passing the baton from church to church, as each church covers a week in prayer, it has deepened our sense of partnership and unity in the Great Commission. It has also aimed to develop the prayers of the saints – the grass roots Christians in our churches. It is our prayer that a third year of prayer together in this way will continue to strengthen both of these things. One of the distinctive for this year is that a number of groups of churches, such as churches in Toxteth, Halton, St Helens and Bootle, are each taking a series of consecutive weeks in the year, as you can see in the attached schedule for 2011. This is helpful in building local unity and in praying together for the local areas where the churches are situated. It also makes it easier to pass the baton over from one church to the next. It also means that there will be a new section in the Prayer Briefing, called “Focus On...” and in the January Briefing it will be Focus on Toxteth. Because Toxteth Churches are taking weeks 1 to 6, this issue of the Briefing will cover those six weeks. So, here goes: 1. FOCUS ON.... TOXTETH

Psalm 24:1 says "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it”. At the Launch Event in Toxteth Tabernacle Baptist Church we declared this to be true for Toxteth. Toxteth belongs to Jesus! Please pray the Lord’s Prayer for Toxteth: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done” A. Pray For The Church In Toxteth

Pray for: the unity of God's people in Toxteth. The enemy comes to divide - to bring division between God's people, as he did at the beginning between Adam and Eve. Jesus comes to unite us to the Father. Pray for: the leaders of the churches in Toxteth that they will successfully model the love of God to the people of Toxteth. "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13vs 35

There are at least 60 ethnic churches in Toxteth. Give thanks for all that God is doing through them, as well as the mainstream denominational churches. Here is a list of some of the churches that I am aware of – please add in others that you know of:

Chinese Gospel Church; St James; The New Life Centre; Deeper Life; Christian Life Centre; St Cleopas; St Gabriel; St Philemon; Toxteth Tabernacle; Dingle Mount (City Mission); Belvedere Road; Christ Church; RC Churches; St Clement; St Bede; David Street (Brethren).

Pray: that during 2011congregations in Toxteth will grow in numbers. Pray for God to bless and use Christians living in Toxteth who worship elsewhere, but who are committed to demonstrating the presence of Jesus to their neighbours. B. Pray for the People of Toxteth

Pray for: The need of this varied and mixed ethnic population to be met. For the various professional agencies, health, social services, education, etc., to be effective in helping the residents of Toxteth to find meaning, purpose and to contribute to the common life of Toxteth. In particular pray:

1. For the Homeless Within the community of Toxteth, there are a large number of homeless people/sofa surfers who are struggling with addictions to drink/drugs. Pray for: those working in the community for the good of this group of people. Pray for: Chris Ferns and Anne Doyle of the Liverpool City Council with responsibility for the homeless,and Guy Elsmore who leads the "Streetfaith Network" and all those who work for the good of this needy section of the community.

2. About Crime There are consistently high rates of crime in this area, particularly in the areas of vehicle crime, drugs and gun running. Pray for: Godly leadership within the police force in the Toxteth area, a restoration of confidence within the community and partnership working with the police and the various agencies in Toxteth who are working together for the good of the community and to see God's law and order restored.

3. Recreation/Development Pray for: proper recreational facilities for the people of Toxteth, and for the use of Princes Park and Sefton Park for the good of the whole community.

Praise God: for the building of the largest Tesco Supermarket in Liverpool on Park Road. Pray that it brings employment and inward investment into the area.

4. Political Picture The parliamentary constituency of Liverpool Riverside includes Toxteth, which makes up just over 50% of it.

The MP is Louise Ellman who represents the Co-operative Party - a Labour party affiliate whose candidates stand as "Labour and Co-operative".

The council ward is Princes Park and it has three Labour councillors:

Allan Dean Timothy Moore Anna Rothery

Please pray: for the MP and councillors, that they will be able to fulfil their respective roles diligently and with integrity. Pray that the needs of the community will not be neglected for party political reasons. Pray for these public servants, for protection for them and their families. 2. CHURCHES PRAYING THIS MONTH

The churches praying in weeks 1 to 6 are: Toxteth Churches:

Jan 2 to 9 1 Toxteth Tab Jan 9 to 16 2 St Philemons Jan 16 to 23 3 CLC Jan 23 to 30 4 Dingle Mount (provisionally) Jn 30/Feb 6 5 Chinese Gospel Church Feb 6 to 13 6 TNLC

Other churches: Jan 9 to 16 Frontline Church Jan 23 to 30 St John’s Widnes; Grace Family Church Please remember these churches in your prayers. 3. REACHING THE LOST

A. The Narnia Experience 2011

Praise God: for the timing of this great event at St George’s Hall 7th to 19th February. The release of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” has meant more publicity for the local event. This is a marvellous opportunity for a very public event in the centre of Liverpool in an iconic building at which the good news about Jesus will be spoken into many lives. Give thanks: that approximately 500 people are now involved in delivering the programme from over 35 different churches and community groups; that the budget is a little lower than anticipated (now expected to be £49,000 not £55,000k); that the finances will break even if the event is 50% full or more. Pray for: smoothness in the booking system which has been causing some problems. The technology for this at St George’s Hall has been causing problems and delays. Please pray for an early resolution of this, and that all who want to book will be able to do so without any difficulty. Pray for: the training of stewards. Fifty people have volunteered for this. Please pray for more people to join up, especially as dryads, the Narnian guides Pray for: all the parts to be filled: just before Christmas there was still a need for 2 more professors and 5 more Mrs Macready. Pray for: all the practicalities, the juggling of programme design, rotas, costume details etc. Pray for: all those involved in the In Another Place team, that in the midst of their busy schedule leading up to February, then will know the peace and presence of the Lord. Annie Spiers asks us to pray for Christians to become excited about friendship based mission. Let’s pray that many Christians take this opportunity to invite their neighbours and families to this, and that it creates a stir in the region. B. Youth For Christ

Praise God: for the work of Youth For Christ on the Wirral, in Liverpool and in Warrington. YFC have 3 fantastic resources which can help our churches communicate the Christian message to young people through regular term based sessions. The resources cover all secondary school ages and can be used with young people from a Christian or non-Christian background. These are: Rock Solid: full of fun, relevant and exciting sessions to assist in reaching out to 11-14 year olds who have not heard the good news of Jesus; RS2 – Bible based fun and exciting sessions for 11-14 year olds who want to deepen their understanding and relationship with Christ and Mettle, which Is designed to help 14-18 build up Christ-like qualities of courage, spirit and character. Please pray that these resources will be used by many churches to improve their impact with young people across the region. C. Scripture Union

Scripture Union are organising Training in Schools Work, for those involved in working in schools. The aim is to better equip people to present the Christian message in schools. It takes place at Bridge Chapel on three consecutive Tuesdays, starting on 25th January. Pray that: this will result in more young people hearing and responding to the Good News; that it will inspire children and young people to find out more about God through the bible and it will equip local churches to develop partnerships with their local school. Pray that many churches and individuals take part. D. Children’s & Youth Work

Please pray for all the many activities and organisations aimed at reaching young people and children with the Gospel, and discipling them in an ongoning way. Here are just some of them – add others that you know to the list and pray for all of them that they will know God’s guidance and provision in 2011, and that the ministries will be really fruitful. As well as YFC and Scripture Union, there are: Youth with A Mission; Young Life; Y Kids; YP2; Merseyside Christian Youth Camps; And the many Kidz Clubs around the region. E. Alpha Course

Pray for: the many Alpha Courses that will start this month. 4. THE ECONOMY

Let us pray about the economy and the time of austerity that is facing us in this year. For many there is the threat of losing their job. Others, particularly those on a fixed income, face increases in taxes, heating and fuel costs, and higher food costs. Many will be affected by deep cuts in Council spending in the next year. It is quite a threatening time. Please pray for: protection for our region. Pray for: businesses to start up that will bring an influx of new jobs. Pray for: established companies to expand and be able to employ more people, particularly those made unemployed by council spending cuts. Pray for: wisdom for local councillors as they wrestle with how to maintain essential services with significantly less money to go round. Pray for them as they have to consider what to cut, that they will be given wisdom about how to protect the most vulnerable in society. But also pray that those affected might turn to God in this time. One lady (not a church-goer) facing a bleak prospect turned up at a prayer meeting and prayed. The very next day her situation changed completely. She is now looking to go on an Alpha Course. Let’s pray for the Church to “be there” for the people of our region. 5. THE BIG SOCIETY

A new survey reveals that evangelical Christians have been carrying out volunteer work to the value of at least £3m every week. Prompted by the Prime Minister’s call for a ‘Big Society’, the survey of 17,000 people in Evangelical Alliance member churches found that congregations are giving over half a million hours of their time to good causes in the community. If they were paid just the minimum wage, these volunteers would cost over £150m per year. Ninety per cent of respondents believe their faith demands social action, and six out of ten give at least ten per cent of their income to their church or a charity. EA General Director Steve Clifford commented that evangelicals ‘would be sorely missed if we weren’t getting on with our voluntary work’. Praise God: for churches in the Mersey Region who are serving the community in this way. Pray: for more churches to be demonstrating God’s love to those around us 6. AND ANOTHER THING.....

Churches in Arizona are also doing “Continuous Prayer”. The ‘Torch’ is a non stop prayer journey across Arizona that has impacted all levels of society, bringing unity and decimating crime rates. It was launched on Dec. 31st 2008 by 15 people from 13 churches committed to fill 2009 with continual prayer by 52 prayer teams each covering one week of non-stop prayer within their community of churches. As one team finished their week of prayer a person from the host church travelled to the next host location passing on a cheap camping lantern. The new hosts started their week with the lantern and a time of worship and sharing stories of what God has done and is doing. This non-stop prayer continued through the following two years. The police report amazing crime rate decrease and the churches have seen incredible fruit including salvations, deliverances, new jobs and family reconciliations. The Torch will have been in almost 40 cities by the end of 2010.

This briefing document is sent to all churches participating in the Year of Continuous Prayer 2011. A modified version is also emailed as a bulletin to individuals who pray regularly for the region and have asked to receive the bulletin. Please consider inviting members of your congregation to sign up for this by emailing TFH on [email protected]