Prayer Guide For Parliament And The Nation

The coronavirus outbreak has claimed almost 40,000 lives so far and caused the greatest slump in economic activity since the Second World War. It is recognised that the UK’s testing regime needs increasing significantly to allow the country to start relaxing its lockdown restrictions. However, it is currently unclear when NHS workers are to be tested and when mass testing of the population will be rolled out. The UK is currently testing about 56,000 people a week. In contrast, Germany is testing about 500,000 of its citizens every week. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical company Gilead have started clinical trials on a drug, Remdesivir, to see if it can be used to treat people with coronavirus.

Pray that many more people, particularly NHS workers will be tested for the virus. Pray that clinical trials of this new drug will be successful.

Commentators and government officials have begun to openly criticise China’s response to Covid 19. China recently tried to blame the outbreak on an American military delegation that visited Wuhan in October 2019. This was dismissed by Washington. Also, live animal markets have been reopened where bats and scorpions are offered as traditional medicine. The UK government has talked of a “reckoning” with China once the coronavirus emergency is over. Many in the West are saying that China is culpable in creating the pandemic and, in the future, tougher action needs to be taken. There is speculation that Boris Johnson may now change his mind regarding Chinese involvement in the rollout of the UK’s 5G mobile network.

Pray that China will close the live animal markets where the virus is believed to have originated. Pray also that the UK and other Western governments will have wisdom in their future dealings with Beijing.

The result of the Labour Party leadership and deputy leadership elections will be announced on Saturday 4th April. The election itself has been largely overshadowed by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The winner will be expected to put together a strong team to scrutinise the government’s domestic agenda. In addition, many within the party believe the ongoing issue of anti-Semitism needs to be properly dealt with.

Pray that the new leader and deputy leader can unite the party. Ask that they will have courage and determination in deciding which new policies the party should embrace and which existing policies should be jettisoned.

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, which marks the start of Holy Week and the last week of Lent. Churches throughout the UK and beyond will be remembering Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. They will also recall how shouts of Hosanna! turned to cries of Crucify him! a few days later. It will feel different for Christians this year. This is because churches in the UK are currently shut for prayer and worship.

Pray for Christians around the world as they celebrate Palm Sunday and prepare for Holy Week and the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Here at the Nationwide Christian Trust, all our upcoming events have been put on hold, due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. We will update you with more information as soon as we can.

Please pray that the Lord will guide us in knowing when to restart our programme of events.


	The Alpha Course: 29 March-4 April Alpha is an evangelistic course that seeks to introduce the basics of the Christian faith, through a series of talks and discussions. It is based on hospitality, sharing and open conversation. Its organisers describe it as “an opportunity to explore the meaning of life.” The same Alpha content is run all over the world, by Christians of all traditions, who share the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. It started as a course for church members regarding the basics of beliefs commonly held by many believers in Christ but then began to be used as an introduction for those interested in the faith. Pray for the continuing success of the Alpha Course throughout the world. Pray that it continues being used to bless others and be a valuable tool for presenting and explaining the gospel.
News of the week The coronavirus outbreak has claimed almost 40,000 lives so far and caused the greatest slump in economic activity since the Second World War. It is recognised that the UK’s testing regime needs increasing significantly to allow the country to start relaxing its lockdown restrictions. However, it is currently unclear when NHS workers are to be tested and when mass testing of the population will be rolled out. The UK is currently testing about 56,000 people a week. In contrast, Germany is testing about 500,000 of its citizens every week. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical company Gilead have started clinical trials on a drug, Remdesivir, to see if it can be used to treat people with coronavirus. Pray that many more people, particularly NHS workers will be tested for the virus. Pray that clinical trials of this new drug will be successful. Commentators and government officials have begun to openly criticise China’s response to Covid 19. China recently tried to blame the outbreak on an American military delegation that visited Wuhan in October 2019. This was dismissed by Washington. Also, live animal markets have been reopened where bats and scorpions are offered as traditional medicine. The UK government has talked of a “reckoning” with China once the coronavirus emergency is over. Many in the West are saying that China is culpable in creating the pandemic and, in the future, tougher action needs to be taken. There is speculation that Boris Johnson may now change his mind regarding Chinese involvement in the rollout of the UK’s 5G mobile network. Pray that China will close the live animal markets where the virus is believed to have originated. Pray also that the UK and other Western governments will have wisdom in their future dealings with Beijing. The result of the Labour Party leadership and deputy leadership elections will be announced on Saturday 4th April. The election itself has been largely overshadowed by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The winner will be expected to put together a strong team to scrutinise the government’s domestic agenda. In addition, many within the party believe the ongoing issue of anti-Semitism needs to be properly dealt with. Pray that the new leader and deputy leader can unite the party. Ask that they will have courage and determination in deciding which new policies the party should embrace and which existing policies should be jettisoned. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, which marks the start of Holy Week and the last week of Lent. Churches throughout the UK and beyond will be remembering Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. They will also recall how shouts of Hosanna! turned to cries of Crucify him! a few days later. It will feel different for Christians this year. This is because churches in the UK are currently shut for prayer and worship. Pray for Christians around the world as they celebrate Palm Sunday and prepare for Holy Week and the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Here at the Nationwide Christian Trust, all our upcoming events have been put on hold, due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. We will update you with more information as soon as we can. Please pray that the Lord will guide us in knowing when to restart our programme of events.
The Alpha Course: 29 March-4 April *Please use these prayers both in your individual and church prayer times to hold the nation and its leaders before God in prayer and with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 2:1-4).* Our weekly emails are now accessible via the Blog page on our website. Catch up on any news you may have missed or return to emails at a later date. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Please consider making a donation to support our work in providing these emails and other resources.
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The Alpha Course: 29 March-4 April

News of the week

The Alpha Course: 29 March-4 April