This will be the last FWW Prayer Guide, at least for the time being. It has been sent out each month for the last five years, starting as a response to the COVID lockdown. For most of that time it has been written by me, Dick Johnson, and this will be my final guide before I start a new job with the Mission to Seafarers in Yokohama, Japan. I am grateful to all who have helped write and distribute the guide, and to those who have joined the monthly online prayer meetings. I hope it has been useful to a wider community and their churches also.
The theme, in this final edition, is by way of a reflection on the guide, and its impact. We can be tempted into trying to measure the usefulness of our prayers by how they are answered. But that brings us close to the heresy of our prayers becoming a way of imposing our will on God. Our prayers, rather, should be judged by how closer they bring us to understand what God would have us be and do, to shape the world as God wills it to be. In prayer we are reminded that who and what we bring to God is already within God’s care and love; and needs to be within ours. And that includes the vital context and experience of work and the economy.
We have prayed for our chaplains, trustees and supporters, and for those at work we serve and meet in chaplaincy, and their workplaces and businesses. We have prayed for the larger economic issues and changes that make such an impact on ordinary lives and our planet, and for justice and righteousness in how we use money, and structure our economy. And our prayers need to continue, even if this guide does not. So please ‘pray without ceasing’, as St Paul has it,[1] and may God draw close to you and bless you in your prayers.
All knowing God, who prompts us in our prayers, and inspires us to love;
hear our prayers for those at work in shops and offices, factories and farms, that they may know your love, mercy and compassion through our ministry of chaplaincy.
Guide and strengthen Faith at Work in Worcestershire in the next chapter of its vocation, to proclaim in the economic life of our county the Gospel of Jesus Christ; in whose name we pray.
Amen
We pray for:
- The implications of the recent budget, as decisions taken affect taxes and public services, that our economy as a nation would be robust and equitable, serving the most vulnerable, and providing economic stability.
- A renewed urgency, following the COP30 conference, to structure our economy to limit adverse impact on our climate and the planet.
- Those parts of the world most affected by extreme climate events, as they seek economic recovery.
- FWW Chaplains, as they continue chaplaincy – Sue Brotherton (Alvechurch); Barbara Pugh and Albert Wilkinson (Kidderminster); Paul Lawlor, Sharon Forrest, Elaine Whitfield and Linda McRoy (Redditch); Stuart Sandys, Angela Gerrard, Christine Dodd, Cathy Cooper, John Podd, Emily Miller, David Oldham and Carol Sandys (Pershore); Brenda Williams, Sue Adeney, and Tim Richards (Livestock Market).
- FWW Trustees, as they lead the charity into its next chapter of ministry – Chris Harvey (Chair), Christine Dodd, Stuart Sandys, Paul Lawlor, and Martin Allen.
- FWW supporters, and partner congregations, giving thanks for their prayers and financial support.
- Dick and Yuki Johnson, as they move to Japan, and for the work of Mission to Seafarers, especially in Yokohama, and for the English speaking congregation at Christ Church Anglican Church, Yokohama, where Dick will be the Rector.
[1] 1 Thessalonians 5 v17
