The Northern Prayer House: A wonderful prayer written in 1551,

Thursday, 13 October 2016

A wonderful prayer written in 1551,

This was probably written by Bishop Hugh Latimer at a time of economic crisis and the enclosure of common land.

It pulls no punches in the way it talks about landlords who exploit the vulnerable…"

We heartily pray thee to send thy holy spirit into the hearts of them that possess the grounds, pastures, and dwelling-places of the earth, that they, remembering themselves to be thy tenants, may not rack and stretch out the rents of their. houses and lands, nor yet take unreasonable fines and incomes, after the manner of covetous worldlings . . . but so behave themselves in letting out their tenements, lands and pastures, that after this life they may be received into everlasting dwelling places."..

Maybe we should pray like that today.

Greg Smith

Development Co-ordinator Together Lancashire

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What it's all about

The Northern Prayerhouse –handing on a basket full of prayers from area to area across the North of England.

Together Lancashire invites faith groups across the North of England to take part in series of prayer events and activities with a focus on tackling poverty and deprivation.

The North of England has a long history of being a House of Prayer. From the Celtic saints of Northumbria, the great abbeys, the Cathedrals and Minsters, the early, dissenters and Quakers, the Methodist revival in the midst of the industrial revolution, there has been a deep spiritual longing to transform the world as it is into the world as it ought to be.

Christian organisations and networks are addressing challenges of poverty. As austerity measures continue to bite, faith groups continue to respond, ever more stretched through lack of resources, and burdened by the higher expectations from the public sector that we can pick up the pieces.

We wish to recognise the hard work, the pressures being faced by those who care and those we care for, and the resilience and expertise of people in local communities who are at the sharp end. At the same time, we wish to highlight areas of injustice and to appeal to decision makers and to God for change.

Each area will offer prayers from your neighbour as well as your own. Your prayers will be easily transferred via an electronic ‘basket’ to a neighbouring area; there is scope for those who would like to be “pilgrim heralds/angels/messengers” to make journeys to neighbouring centres in person in the real world.