The Importance of Prayerful Support

By Chris Hardy

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18 (NIVUK)

When we hear the words charity and support in the same sentence, we usually think of money. After all, charities everywhere rely on the financial generosity of supporters in order to keep reaching their goal of helping people.

But as Church Army, a charity with Jesus at its centre and His message of hope and salvation at the core of our vision, support for our work also includes the vital element of prayer. We have supporters who give financially, others who pray faithfully, and many who pray as well as give. If any of these describes you, then thank you so much. Through praying and giving, your support is making a difference to real people in countless situations of need around the UK and Ireland.

Why We NEED PEOPLE TO PRAY

As a Christian charity we believe that prayer is essential to what we do. We believe that Jesus transforms lives and that through prayer we are equipped to be His hands and feet in reaching out to people in desperate situations of need. If you use our daily Prayer Diary, we delight in being able to join with you each day to pray for those in our communities or involved in an aspect of our work.

Using Our Pray Diary

As an evangelistic charity, our work is not limited to just one type of need. We train evangelists who follow God’s call on their life to work with people and communities with any number of practical, mental, or spiritual needs. Through our centres of mission, we work closely with dioceses to identify the needs of an area and then begin the gospel-work of meeting those needs, whether
it is homelessness, deprivation, debt, crime, employment or anything else. Many evangelists are not employed by us but work alongside local churches and other projects. This means we have thousands of people engaging with our vision all over the UK & Ireland (and some even further afield). It is our earnest desire to cover all these people in prayer, as Paul instructs us to pray for “all the Lord’s people” (Ephesians 6:18). Being such a widespread charity that is constantly adapting to changing needs, we don’t know every single way in which many of our community are engaging with gospel-work, but we believe that as we raise up their names
to God in prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes and equips them powerfully as they serve the vision we share.

Thank you for joining with us in prayer and let me encourage you, as you faithfully pray for the names of the Lord’s people, many of whom will never know that you are lifting them up; pray in confidence that this is making real and lasting changes for the glory of our God in their lives and ministries.