Praying for our parliament, supporting our MPs
God of love,
We pray for our divided country in this time of uncertainty and confusion.
We hold before you our prime minister, MPs and all in parliament,
that together they might seek a future
where the ‘other’ is privileged and listening is prioritised.
Help us to be ambassadors of your compassion.
United in the hope and name of Jesus,
we dare to pray,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen.
The Brexit debate has understandably led to heightened emotions and strong feelings about the right way forward in our society. As Baptists Together we speak from different geographical places and political spaces. We are made up of leavers, remainers and abstainers, British nationals, EU residents and global immigrants. We are a mix of generations. We are divided in our views on Brexit.
Yet this position is also our prophetic hope: we know that the love of God is stronger than what separates us. We know that our worldly divisions do not need to stop us working together and listening to the other. We are united in acting and praying for God’s coming kingdom. We therefore pledge that whatever happens in our nation’s future we will continue to offer spaces which foster community and conversation and where all are welcome.
As Christians, we do not have to agree with those who represent us to pray and to care for them (1 Tim 2:1-2). We think this is especially important as the tone of conversation in our current political climate has also become personally vitriolic. We know that MPs are receiving high numbers of hate mail, which can only have a negative effect on them and their staff in an already stressful environment. We value our democratic processes, and to have officials we have elected and can call to account. There is, we believe, a way to do this without aggression or intimidation.
As part of our call to prayer for Brexit this week, we therefore want to invite you to be part of changing the tone of the discussion and to contact your MP with words of compassion, letting them know that they are in your thoughts and prayers as they seek a good path forward. We offer the email template below, or you are welcome to use your own words. Click here to find out how to contact your MP.
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Dear
In this time of national uncertainty, we wanted to write to tell you of our prayers for you and all who work with you. We value having a democracy and we are grateful to all who work hard, both as elected officials and in supporting roles, to represent us in the parliamentary processes. We honour the personal cost and vulnerability that often comes with this exercise of power and we lament with you that the tone of current political debate has often been divisive and vitriolic, exacerbating the divisions in our society rather than helping us to listen to the other.
We appreciate the complexity of negotiating a way through Brexit that honours the different opinions of constituents, seeks the long term good of the country and deals with the immediate pressure to discern the right path.
As churches we speak from different geographical places and political spaces. We are made up of leavers, remainers and abstainers, British nationals, EU residents and global immigrants. We are a mix of generations and socio-economic classes. We are divided in our views on Brexit.
Yet this position is also our prophetic hope: we know that the love of God is stronger than what separates us. We know that our worldly divisions do not need to stop us working together and listening to the other. We therefore pledge that whatever happens in our nation’s future we will continue to offer spaces which foster community and conversation, places where all are welcome.
May you know the wisdom, courage and compassion of our Lord Jesus.
In the love of God,
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