Connect09 encourages us to build partnerships and one of the most fruitful of these partnerships has been that between the Mothers Union (MU) and the Connect09 team.

The MU has a longstanding commitment to pray for the Diocese and to call us to prayer. This is a pretty impressive aim for any of our fellowship groups and I congratulate and thank the MU for their wisdom and persistence.

Now can I encourage us all to fulfil our side of the partnership as well? This year the MU commitment in the light of Connect09 has been to enable us to join together and pray for the region as a whole. Our first prayer meeting was a great occasion and I am looking for the evidence of our commitment to prayer at the second. A number of clergy have said to me that they think that people are praying. Joining together visibly like this is a great encouragement as we see that we are in fact praying.

There are two other important points to make.

First, we have by now distributed thousands, indeed hundreds of thousands, of copies of the gospel. But as the parable of the sower reminds us, human beings have plenty of reasons for not listening to God’s word. We need to pray all the more now that the Spirit of God will awaken the hearts of readers and hearers of the gospel. This is not something which we can do. Our dependence here is entirely on the Lord.

Second, far from diminishing as the year progresses, Connect09 is about to speed up. The month of September is going to see the biggest media campaign about Jesus which has ever occurred. But it will pass without effect if we are not praying for the people who see it on TV. As well, we are about to launch an outreach to teenagers and in addition, a campaign in the CBD. In all this we should be praying for the Lord’s blessing.

Prayer is the chief way in which we exercise our faith in the Lord. We can be orthodox in belief but neglectful in practice and then wonder why things do not ‘work’. Let’s make sure that we do not neglect to pray in this marvellous year!