During the week of St David’s day, leaders from different denominations, members of the Senedd from across the political spectrum, and representatives from over 20 nations were united in praying for Wales.
On the eve of the prayer breakfast was an evening reception at the Senedd, where the host of the events, chair of the Cross-Party Group on Faith, Darren Millar MS, announced that this year’s theme would be revival. Several other members of the cross-party group contributed, along with speeches from Bible Society and the National Library of Wales, with the Sound of Wales providing worship. Each contribution proudly declared the rich spiritual heritage of Wales and stressed the importance of the work that Christians continue to do.
After the conclusion of speeches, Darren took the opportunity to commemorate the Evangelical Alliance’s 175th anniversary in front of those in attendance. He subsequently deposited our recently produced resource Stories of Hope, a booklet that highlights some amazing work that our member churches and organisations here in Wales accomplish, into the Prayer Breakfast’s National Library of Wales archive. This was a real honour for myself and Danny Webster, head of advocacy for the Evangelical Alliance, who was also attending.
Once the formal speeches were made there was an opportunity to chat with those attending, and view the selection of books that the national library had on display, including the burned remains of Welsh revivalist Evan Roberts’ Bible.
"Each contribution proudly declared the rich spiritual heritage of Wales and stressed the importance of the work that Christians continue to do."
The evangelistic tone continued into the following morning, where the prayer breakfast was being hosted in the historic Pierhead building on the bay. Again, Darren Millar MS presided over the different talks that took place, including one from First Minister Mark Drakeford, who spoke about the notion of turning our “why?” into a “why not?”.
Amid the speeches from members of the Senedd and the brilliant worship, I reflected on how encouraging it was to hear Jesus’ name being glorified in such places as this, and how fortunate we are as a nation to express our belief in front of our nation’s leaders.
I had the privilege of leading the prayer to close the prayer breakfast. I prayed for the leaders in the room, for Wales and its people, its leaders and institutions, and that God might revive us. I also prayed for Ukraine, for God’s peace and that our nation’s leaders would have wisdom and compassion for the situation.
And so after our stomachs were filled with a three-course breakfast and a prayer breakfast goody-bag that included our Stories of Hope booklet in hand, the 2022 Senedd parliamentary prayer breakfast came to an end.
As I left the event, with speeches commemorating revivals past and current stories of Christians shaping communities still ringing in my ears, I was encouraged by the influence we can have in shaping our society. I was also reminded of Timothy 2, which urges us to “pray for all people […] for Kings and all who are in authority”. As God’s people let us therefore be bold in declaring our faith, knowing the good that God can do through us for our communities, and also that we might be consistent in praying for our nation’s leaders.
