Recently, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby urged his community to “stop wandering away” from Jesus Christ, while commanding them to return to Jesus today regardless of what they have done.
The archbishop, who heads the Anglican communion, launched the Thy Kingdom Come global prayer initiative in 2016 to encourage lost believers to return to Jesus. Since then, the event has growth into a yearly effort to unite believers and remind them of their heavenly calling.
Welby made his announcement on Ascension Day, which kick-started his “Thy Kingdom Come” initiative.
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“Come back to Him today. Turn around if you’ve been facing the wrong direction; turn that walk into a run if you’re already heading towards Him,” Welby tweeted on May 10, the first day of the 2018 initiative.
Today Thy Kingdom Come begins. Join me in praying for people we know to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Come Holy Spirit! pic.twitter.com/Ssy7YVRZmi
— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) May 10, 2018
He also urged believers to pray for those who haven’t given their lives to Jesus.
“Now, pray for those friends whose lives would be utterly different if they joined you in running to Jesus, instead of wandering away from Him,” he added.
In the Christian tradition, Ascension Day marks the start of the 10-day observance leading up to Pentecost. The Archbishop urged the church to pray “for more people to come to know Jesus Christ.” He called for various denominations to gather to join the prayer movement leading up to the day of Pentecost, May 20.
The Thy Kingdom Come initiative started in 2016, in order to encourage Christians around the world to pray for unbelievers. The initiative has three main goals, the first being that “people will commit to pray with God’s worldwide family — as a church, individually or as a family.”
Second, it encourages churches all over the world to hold “24-7 prayer, prayer stations and prayer walks, across the U.K. and in other parts of the world.”
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Lastly, the hope is that “people will be empowered through prayer by the Holy Spirit, finding new confidence to be witnesses for Jesus Christ.”
The initiative offers many resources to help people get involved and informed. They have a section dedicated to shining a light (literally) on those who are praying and where. Pledge2Pray shows a map of the world that lights up every time a church or individual signs up to be part of the Thy Kingdom Come initiative. If you look at the map now, you will see lights on in every continent!
In 2017, the initiative conducted a post-event survey that helped them see how effective their resources were. The survey found that more than 2 million people viewed their informational/promotional videos. They also concluded that more than 85 countries around the world participated in the initiative.
Another encouraging fact was that more than 500,000 prayer resources were delivered around the world.
Welby discussed the success of the prayer initiative last year:
“I cannot remember in my life anything that I’ve been involved in where I sensed so clearly the work of the Spirit,” he said, adding, “In praying ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ we all commit to playing our part in the renewal of the nations and the transformation of communities.”
If you want more information, or want to pass along information on the event, check out the website by clicking here.
The website has materials that you can easily send to friends or family as well as evangelism help.
“He will give us opportunities to witness to Him with the people we have been praying for. He will use us to invite people to know and experience the goodness of His Kingdom and to join His family. But we also know that most of us find speaking of our faith daunting,” it says. “We feel ill equipped. We assume someone else, maybe anyone else, is better suited, or we think that sharing faith is someone else’s job. All Christians are appointed as God’s witnesses. It is not a choice. The only choice is whether we are good witnesses or bad ones.”
(H/T: The Christian Post)