UCB Broadcast September 2008

Daniel Webster takes part in regular parliamentary prayer update with UCB.

12 September 2008

UCB Broadcast – September 2008

Hello and welcome to the Parliamentary prayer update, my name is Daniel Webster and I work for the Evangelical Alliance in their public affairs team.

Debt

The past few weeks and months have seen repeated indications of the worsening economic situation in Britain. House prices have dropped over 10% in the last year and there are fears that a further 600 000 people could lose their jobs by Christmas. The rise in world food prices has led to higher shopping bills at a time when people have less money to spare. For many people debt is now becoming a crippling reality.

Please pray for the Government and the Bank of England as they seek to find ways to address these growing problems, pray that they will have wisdom as they make crucial decisions.

Please pray for churches who are engaged in debt counselling, pray that they will have the necessary resources to deal with the increasing numbers of people who need their help.

HFE Bill

The final parliamentary votes on the Human Fertility and Embryology Bill will take place once parliament returns in October. Many amendments have been proposed that would liberalise the laws regarding abortion, including removing the need to have two doctors’ authorisation, and furthering the availability of abortion on demand. Another amendment proposes extending abortion law to Northern Ireland where currently it is prohibited.

Please pray that these amendments will not pass. The Speaker of the House has the choice which amendments are called, please pray that he will not call those that threaten the lives of unborn children.

Please contact your MP asking them not to vote for any of these measures.

Micah Challenge

In 2000 the leaders of countries across the world agreed to the Millennium Development Goals. These are targets seeking to halve extreme poverty by 2015. At the current rate of progress these targets will not be met. Micah Challenge is a group of people from across the world who are heeding the call of the Old Testament prophet Micah to speak out against the injustice of Global Poverty.

As world leaders meet at the UN on the 25th September please pray that they will take decisive action.

Please pray that God will prepare their hearts and minds to be alert to the urgent need to act, and for them to give a clear and bold timetable for achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015

In the ten days leading up to this meeting Micah Challenge are taking part in Think:Fast, an initiative to encourage churches and Christians to pray and fast for the most needy in our world. The 19th October is Micah Sunday this is a great chance to raise awareness of global poverty and what your church can do.

To get all the information you need to take part in Think:Fast or Micah Sunday please visit www.micahchallenge.org.uk

Finally

Finally, please pray for our Members of Parliament as they take part in their party conferences this month and as they prepare to return to Westminster.

Further Prayer and Action

For further insights on these and other issues The Evangelical Alliance Public Affairs department produces a monthly parliamentary magazine, PQ, and a monthly ‘Prayer and Campaigns’ action and prayer sheet. Both of these are available on our website www.eauk.org along with topical political briefing material. If you have any questions please e-mail the public affairs team at:- pub-aff@eauk.org.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Daniel Webster