Day 17 - World Day of Prayer

Changing names is hard. On our honeymoon, we went into a Building Society to take out a mortgage and when asked for my name, ON MY HONEYMOON, I gave my maiden name! AI reliably informs me that although X took over Twitter in mid-2023, until “X” surpasses its legacy as Twitter in the public consciousness, we will still hear journalists say or write “X formerly known as Twitter.”

I feel sure that I have been asked to write about prayer on the first Friday in March before, the day that the ”World Day of Prayer” takes place in over 170 countries around the world. But, to so many people, it is still the “Women’s World Day of Prayer”. When did its name change? A simple question with a rather complicated answer: Believe it or not, the international committee adopted “World Day of Prayer” (WDP) in 1968! Which is 58 years ago! But in New Zealand the word “Women’s” was dropped in 1956 – 70 years ago; contrasting with Scotland who only dropped the word in 1980.

Interestingly, WDP services are still written by women: the name change was to welcome everyone to join in the services, not to remove women from leading the services, nor to remove women as the focus of the day.

The WDP website explains what the prayers on this day should incorporate:

• Being more aware of other cultures

• Taking up the burdens of others

• Being more aware of women’s talents

• Showing that prayer and action are inseparable and both have influence

Let us pray:

Father God, Britain used to be a colonial power and tried to introduce ‘our ways’ around the world. Help us today to appreciate that, as Christians, there is far more that binds us together than separates us. Even though most areas of Britain are multi-cultural, there is much to be learned from lands far away; make us willing to understand where, literally, other people come from.

Jesus, You bore the sins of the world when you hung on the cross. Yet we are reluctant to take on more than a modicum of the load others carry daily; we parcel out our response to need, forgetting to follow in your footsteps and make ourselves more vulnerable to the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual needs of those we meet or hear about.

Holy Spirit, without you, following Jesus’s way would cause us to burnout. Enable us constantly to draw on your strength, not our own. Help us to spot when women in churches are being encouraged towards children’s work or catering chores instead of being encouraged to train for the ministry or enrol on counselling courses or… remind us, blessed Holy Spirit, that the list is endless, not limited.

Trinitarian God, we read in your Word: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17 NIVUK) Help us to ‘walk the talk’ and to ‘go the extra mile’ knowing that we always have more to give and share than we thought possible. Amen

Elaine Kinchin