REV PAUL CHAMBERLAIN: We'd love to pray for you!

I wonder if you ever pray? Many people do.

According to a survey published earlier this year, over half of the British population prays sometimes, and 20 per cent of us pray at least once a month.

And we pray about many things, including our families, for healing, and for our friends, as well as global issues such as war and poverty.

In the survey, 40 per cent of people said they thought prayer changes the world, and similar numbers said that praying made them feel better.

If you pray, I wonder why you do so?

This week the Church of England and many other churches across the world, are involved in a ‘global wave of prayer’, lasting until Sunday, May 20.

This special period of prayer was started two years ago by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and is called Thy Kingdom Come – taken from a well-known phrase in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’

Thy Kingdom Come is all about praying for our world, for the places we live, and for our families and friends, praying for God’s help for humanity, and for us as individuals.

And, as the Archbishop of Canterbury has said, ‘In praying Thy Kingdom Come we all commit to playing our part in the renewal of the nations and the transformation of communities.’

At St Faith’s in Lee-on-the-Solent, we believe prayer makes a difference, and we are joining in with Thy Kingdom Come.

We have special prayer events across the week, with a range of different ways to pray, including 24 hours of prayer from 6pm on Saturday, May 19 to 6pm on Sunday, May 20.

We’ll be praying for our town, for the world, and for the needs of individuals.

During Thy Kingdom Come, we’d love to pray for you!

If you have a prayer request, please do get in touch with us – either via our Facebook page (search for St Faith’s Lee), or via our website.

Let us know what you’d like us to pray for, and we’ll do so during Thy Kingdom Come.

Go to stfaithslee.org.uk.