World Day of Prayer

World Day of Prayer

keep praying, keep acting

The World Day of Prayer is a global, ecumenical women-led prayer movement, whose motto is ‘Informed prayer, and prayerful action’. The 2020 service, written by the Christian women of Zimbabwe, was on the theme Rise! Take your Mat and Walk.

In Exmouth on 6 th March approximately 70 people celebrated together in All Saints Church. To remind us that our prayers should not be restricted to just one day, participants were invited to write commitment cards, to be prayed over at a later date.

Nearly fifty cards from the Exmouth service were read and discussed a few days later at a coffee morning in the Baptist Church, Victoria Road. There were many inspiring prayers: calling for strength from the Lord for persistence; reminding us to stop making excuses; and resolving to ‘Rise and Walk’ and act. There were also suggestions for specific actions: writing to our MP about the desperate need for funding for social care, visiting the sick or housebound, strengthening ties between Exmouth churches, reaching out to the Deaf Academy opening here later this year.

And two simple actions which everyone of us can perform immediately:
• Be more aware: look out for lonely people and reach out
• Talk to someone on a bus or train – human contact is an antidote to depression. [But perhaps not until we can use buses and trains safely again!]

World Day of Prayer: Exmouth group