Prayer For the City

Jesus was born into and died in poverty. When he was a young child his family was forced to flee the country of his birth because of atrocities perpetuated by those in authority. This passage in Luke, is where Jesus uses this passage from Isaiah to lay out as his manifesto for his earthly ministry at its inception in the synagogue at Nazareth. In it he proclaims good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, the release of the oppressed and 'the year of the Lord’s favour'. While there are definite spiritual implications to all of these things (we are all sinners in need of his mercy and therefore spiritually poor etc) defining these things purely in spiritual terms is too narrow and doesn’t fit in with the rest of the Bible. Jesus himself preached the importance of the kingdom of God over earthly wealth and influence. He also spent time with those excluded or shunned by mainstream society, paying very little attention to those in power and authority, both temporal and spiritual. Jesus cared deeply about the economically poor and the spiritually poor.

As Christians we are called to imitate Jesus. At St Mary's we show our care for the spiritually poor by praying for and having conversations with friends, family and colleagues about Jesus (and maybe even inviting them to an event such as The Life Supper, which is looming as I write.) We show our care for the economically poor and oppressed by things we do directly (e.g. homeless meals or mentoring at local schools) and by joining in with local charities (e.g. Westminster Food Bank, Westminster CAP centre or a safe house for trafficked women. If you would like to be involved in any of these areas then please go to the social action tab on the church website and you’ll find out all the different ways that you too can bring good news to the poor.