Day 1 – Issue 16

Be Still Know

Acts 1:14 NLT

‘They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.’

I invite you to join with many others for a Novena of prayer. The word ‘Novena’ is from the Latin for nine and describes those days between the ascension and Pentecost when the disciples, together with Mary and others waited for the promised Holy Spirit.

We know it was nine days, because the ascension happened 40 days after the resurrection (Acts 1:3), and Pentecost was always celebrated 50 days after the Passover. The resurrection happened the day following the Passover, so we can do the maths: 50-40-1=9. In this period the fledgling Church called out to God for power from on high so they could fulfil Jesus’ command to witness to the very ends of the earth. They had a specific focus given by Jesus and so these nine days are for intentional prayer. In 2016 Premier invites you to join their Novena where we will focus upon ‘Mercy’, God’s gift of love and acceptance specifically directed towards those at the margins of society.

By committing to this Novena, we declare our serious intention to call upon God for his kingdom to be made manifest throughout the earth. That’s why I encourage each of us to say the Lord’s Prayer at the start of each daily prayer during our Novena.

This Novena also draws God’s diverse people into agreement and, with one united voice, to pray for the same objective – and there is great power when God’s people come together in agreement in prayer. I am praying that each of us having dedicated ourselves to pray over the nine days between Ascension Day and Pentecost (Friday, 6^th–Saturday, 14^th May 2016) we will experience a fresh visitation of the Holy Spirit and become more engaged in service to one or more of the groups for whom we pray. The following pages (Day 2 to Day 4) we will continue to prepare for this Novena.

QUESTION: Will you pray this Novena asking Jesus to send his Holy Spirit afresh to remove injustice, alleviate suffering and bring salvation?

PRAYER: Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, please hear my prayers on behalf of those who struggle through suffering and rejection, who feel themselves forgotten and without hope. Throughout this Novena hear the prayers of your faithful, draw people into your forever kingdom and strengthen each one of us in both our faith and our service.