Prayer for Interfaith Dialogue

Stephen Skuce offers some ideas from  a Headway  perspective

Headway welcomes the Methodist Conference call for February 2007 to be a month of prayer for inter-faith dialogue. We are praying people but at times we get caught up in the few areas we normally pray for. This call is welcome in that it reminds us of the need for prayer for inter-faith issues and timely in that it focuses our prayers on an area which is both topical and needy. Too often, evangelicals have shied away from this area and allowed other agendas to dominate. Rather than criticising others, this call to prayer is a challenge to us to bring a solidly Biblical and Wesleyan focus on inter-faith matters.

 

Prayer is actionL~
To support your prayers, can you do one or more of these other actions in February?

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Go out of your way to befriend a person/family from another faith background
2. Seek to participate in your local inter-faith group (or start one if necessary)
3. Look for ways to support individuals and congregations working evangelistically amongst other faith communities
4. Ensure local inter-faith issues are regularly considered on your church council agenda

 

There are numerous areas for prayer but it might be helpful to follow this weekly cycle during February to pray for these particular areas and encourage others to do so. So in February on the days indicated, could you pray for the following?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Monday
   greater contact, understanding and, where appropriate, joint action between people of faith in Britain.
2. Tuesday
   Elizabeth Harris, in her inter-faith work on behalf of the Methodist Church, and those who have district and local inter-faith responsibilities.
3. Wednesday
   the work of local dialogue groups, that people of every faith can freely share what is significant to them
4. Thursday
   religious freedom including freedom of worship for all, freedom to share faith, freedom to convert and freedom for alternative perspectives within the various religions
5. Friday
   local Muslim communities in their struggles with secularism and extremism.
6. Saturday
   against those who would promote a ‘clash of civilisations’ and seek to create division in society.
7. Sunday
   how your local church can engage with other faith communities to relevantly share the good news of Jesus

Stephen Skuce is a Postgraduate Tutor at Cliff College
Headline Winter 2006/7 p14