Praying & Campaigning…

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

Prayer is one of SPEAK’s core values; we see it as both a privilege and a responsibility1. By joining together as a network in prayer we can expect God to act powerfully and miraculously. In the Bible, Paul spurs on his readers in his letter to the Hebrews2 by reminding them of how by faith seas were parted, mouths of lions were shut, people were thrown into furnaces and not harmed, the dead were brought back to life and so the list goes on!

We can do nothing without having Jesus at the centre of all that we do. To be an effective network for God, we too need to faithfully pray and depend on God. So with this in mind here are some prayer ideas and key prayer points for the Big Dress Campaign – please keep praying with us…

Prayer Points
• Praise God for Jesus’ power to transform injustices in our world. Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help – for hope and strength to speak up for justice.
• Repent and ask forgiveness for our own selfishness, and for the selfishness of our government. Ask God for renewed compassion for those oppressed by companies’ activities around the world. Pray God will comfort all those who are suffering.
• Thank God that in the UK we can speak out against injustice. Pray God will protect all who are protesting in more dangerous situations.
• Pray for yourself – that God will show you how you can campaign and pray about these issues, and give you confidence to take action.
• Give thanks for the success of the campaign so far and the positive steps taken towards greater legal accountability of multinational companies in the Companies’ Bill. Thank God that our campaigning has meant more people are now aware of the need for corporate accountability. Pray for this awareness to continue to deepen.
• Pray for SPEAK’s Big Dress Campaign and Big Dress Tour to have a massive impact upon government, media and public awareness of the issues. Thank God for the creativity and prayer already sewn in and pray that together we will continue to inspire action and bring about real change.
• Pray for all those who are responsible for making decisions about how to make companies accountable for their social and environmental impacts (1 Tim 2v1-2) especially the Government and MPs. Pray that they will take account of the real injustice many communities and the environment suffer because of companies’ activities.
• Pray for more changes in the law to make company directors increasingly accountable not just to shareholders but for the impact their company has on people around the world and on the environment. Pray too that the implementation of the Companies Act in this area would be effective.
• Ask that God would give wisdom and boldness to those reviewing whether or not voluntary reporting standards have resulted in meaningful reports. Ask that God would touch their hearts on this issue and raise people up to challenge the way in which we govern our companies.

If you can make time pray through the multidimensional action points that follow as a way of going deeper in the campaign.

PRAYER IDEAS
You can pray on your own any time! SPEAK’s Pray & Post cards are a useful resource as well as any other information you have. Let the information, stories and statistics sink in, and let God show you how he wants you to respond.

Mobilise others to pray – be a catalyst! You can take more copies of the Pray & Post cards to a meeting you are part of. Ask for 15 minutes to explain the campaign and give people time to pray and sign the campaign card.

Hold a prayer evening or day. Use pictures to show the imbalance in world wealth, and products like rice and coffee to tell stories about the injustice in trade related to them. Let people read and reflect on the stories and statistics. Liturgy can help take people through asking for forgiveness for our part in unjust trade. Pray specifically for you own MP and other decision-makers. Invite other activists and use it as a space to draw strength for action.

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