Prayer for others has been a central part of what Christians do since the very beginning – it is an integral part of loving our neighbour. As Rowan Williams says, prayer ‘injects’ into a broken and chaotic world something that will heal it and pull it together. Prayer transforms us as individuals, but it is also a powerful agent for healing and change in our communities and world as it engages us with God’s creative and compassionate work.
Praying for the World
The following websites offer resources for prayer for places where there is conflict, poverty or natural disaster.
Praying for the Church
The Church needs prayer as much as individuals - and we have an example in Jesus’ great prayer for unity in John’s Gospel – that God’s people may be one and that they may be one with God:
"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
John 17: 20-21
Christians are called to be agents of God’s reconciling and unifying love in our broken world, carrying on the ministry of Jesus here and now. The following websites offer resources for prayers for the unity of the Church:
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
- Morning and evening prayer
- Prayer for the Unity of Christians
- The Anglican Cycle of Prayer
Prayers for Healing and Wholeness
Healing and Wholeness is Jesus Christ meeting us at our deepest point of need, offering us healing and restoring us to wholeness of life. This may involve being prayed for, worshipping, drawing near to Jesus and being in his presence as well as working alongside the miracle of all that the medical profession can offer in so many different ways.
The Living Well is the Canterbury Diocesan Centre for Healing and Wholeness. It is based at Nonington, near Canterbury.