Thy Kingdom Come – 2022

Today we begin 10 days of prayer for the Coming of the Kingdom…..

26 May to 5 June

Introduction

In the time between Ascension Day and Pentecost, Thy Kingdom Come is a gift to refresh our faith, especially if we felt isolated from our community or our Church during this difficult time. In these days of hopeful waiting and praying may we all be renewed by the Spirit; made new in Christ.

These Prayers have been adapted from  Thy Kingdom Come Prayer Journal on their website

Ascension Day Thursday 26 May 2022

1 PETER 1:1-2

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, exiles, scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,  who have been chosen
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the
sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and
sprinkled with His blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance

To be a Christian is to be marked out as ‘different’. In his First Letter the apostle
Peter writes to an exiled people, communities who are living as strangers and
foreigners in Asia Minor. These people knew what it was like to be alien in their
society – harassed and rejected.
But Peter is also writing to a people who are exiled in a different sense: as Christians,
we spend our lives on Earth in exile, separated from our eternal home in Heaven with
the Father.
To be a Christian is to have been given a different identity to others: rather than
defining ourselves according to our family, our nationality, how much money we have,
or any of the other things we sometimes think make us who we are, we, the baptised,
are ‘in Christ’, a deep truth which is both given and yet to be fully realised. We are
called to find our identity solely in the person of Jesus Christ.
Peter speaks to those who are exiled but chosen by God. These communities may
be reviled on Earth, but they are sanctified – made holy – by the Spirit. Christians
are a people who do not consider earthly powers and leaders to be the ultimate
source of authority: we are obedient to Jesus.
All this is only made possible by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
As we pray fervently for others to turn their hearts and minds for Christ, let us start by
asking: how do we live in a way that marks us out as different? Does our witness make
people curious about faith, rather than resistant to it? How do I live my life differently
because of the Good News of Jesus Christ, and how do others see and hear that?
Peter speaks to real communities facing real problems, but he greets them in the light
of God’s abundant grace and peace. May you bring that grace and peace to all you
meet as you begin this journey today.

Additional prayer resources may be found on Thy Kingdom Come Website