Pray24Brum:Thy Kingdom Come

As part of the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ season of prayer, a 24-hour prayer relay will take place in Birmingham from 9.00am on Friday 14 to 9.00am on Saturday 15 May. Pray24Brum:Thy Kingdom Come invites individuals, families, prayer groups, congregations and organisations to sign up to pray for one hour during the 24-hour period. Prayer can be conducted privately within the home; via Zoom, Facebook Live or other media platform; or in small groups in person, so long as the meeting environment is Covid-secure. Sign up to the Pray24Brum:Thy Kingdom Come prayer relay HERE. There is no limit on the number of different people or groups who are praying at the same time. The aim is to have as many groups as possible praying through the 24-hour period.

Since its launch by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2016, Thy Kingdom Come has become a major event in the Christian calendar, with participation by many groups and Churches in the UK – and in 170 countries around the world. Thy Kingdom Come builds on the Biblical passage Acts 1:12-14, which details how, following Jesus’ Ascension, the group of 120 disciples prayed constantly for nine days for the coming of the Holy Spirit to enable them to witness to Jesus (Acts 1:8), with the result that, when the Holy Spirit was outpoured on the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 people were baptised (Acts 2:1-41). Thy Kingdom Come encourages prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower the Church, and that people will come to faith in Christ. This vision remains as relevant as ever in 2021!

The Thy Kingdom Come website (Link HERE) contains many excellent resources to enable children, young people and adults to engage in prayer between Ascension (Thursday 13 May) and Pentecost (Sunday 23 May). These include:

• The Cheeky Pandas, a fun-filled, eleven-part series of videos for children, featuring the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bear Grylls, Steve and Charlotte Gambill and the Cheeky Pandas, all accompanied by downloadable activity packs (Link HERE).
• A 28-page, illustrated Prayer Journal, free to download HERE.
• A series of eleven video Youth Reflections, from young influential Christians across different spheres of influence, including Guvna B, former professional Rugby League player Jamie Jones-Buchanan and worship leader Elle Limebear (Link HERE).
• A 28-page, illustrated Prayer Journey through the Psalms, free to download HERE.
• A guide to setting up Covid-safe Prayer Stations, free to download HERE.
• A free app containing a fully interactive Family Prayer Adventure Map (Link HERE).

Thy Kingdom Come, in conjunction with the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, has commissed a new video of the 2016 song, ‘We seek your kingdom,’ written by Noel Robinson, Andy Flannagan and Graham Hunter. The hymn, which inspires us to see our daily work through God’s eyes and to live out the prayer ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ in daily life, is the 2021 Thy Kingdom Come theme song. The song, together with video, backing track, backstory and downloadable music, can be accessed via THIS LINK.