Thy Kingdom Come – Reflections and Prayer from Ascension to Pentecost – WTandW

Dear All,

We are offering daily reflections from Thy Kingdom Come, starting tomorrow. They are written by Bishop Anthony Poggo, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. Click/tap on this link for a background to Bishop Poggo.

[https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2022/06/former-child-refugee-named-as-next-secretary-general-of-the-anglican-communion.aspx]

Each reflection is taken from the Thy Kingdom Come 2024 Novena, a cycle of prayer that traditionally covers nine days, though ours covers 11.

Today we present the introductory material, and the first reflection will come tomorrow.

Please note: the material contains embedded pictures and photos. Some mail systems will present them in the correct place, but others will place them at the end, or as attachments.

Thy Kingdom Come: Novena

(Written by Bishop Anthony Poggo)

Scripture quotations are from The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches in the USA. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved. Photos used with permission.

INTRODUCTION

‘Come Holy Spirit.’ This simple, profound prayer is at the heart of Thy Kingdom Come. This worldwide wave of prayer which has spread to over 172 countries around the world is rooted in the practice and experience of the earliest church as they obeyed Jesus’ command to wait for the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:14 tells us their mission planning was founded in constant, ground- breaking prayer:

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers

A new community had been born in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They had been given one task: to be Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth. Pentecost would show that in God’s plan of salvation there were to be no barriers of language or culture; everyone must hear the Good News of forgiveness and eternal life in their own tongue, a dialect they understood. It wasn’t that they had to learn the language of the church; but, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that the church was sent to learn to share Christ in words the world would understand.

The international nature of Thy Kingdom Come has a special place in the Novena this year. We are so grateful to Bishop Anthony Poggo, the General Secretary of the Anglican Communion, for taking on the challenge of being this year’s author. His rich African heritage, coupled with his ease at being at home on every continent, will help us all pray ‘Come Holy Spirit’ wherever in the world God has placed us.

This year we focus on the early chapters of Revelation for our daily studies. The troubled world in which we live has much in common with the setting of the last book in the Bible. Violence, oppression, abuse of women and children were part and parcel of life in the Roman Empire as they are around the globe today.

We lift God’s world to Him in our prayers and then focus that cry more personally as we each think of five people we know who are not yet following the Lord Jesus. We pray that they would come to enjoy the peace, love and eternal life that are found uniquely in Him.

Christians have often been distracted from fulfilling the Great Commission by focusing on things about which we disagree with one another. We hope that this year’s Thy Kingdom Come will bind us together in the truth of the Good News of Jesus and the task of taking that news to the whole world.

We hope you will join us as we pray ‘Come Holy Spirit.’

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell

With Blessings,

Paul