Womens World Day of Prayer - March 7th 2014

7th March 2014 is the International Women's Day of Prayer (as opposed to International Women's Day which is held each year on March 8th). It is held on the first Friday of March each year.

The World Day of Prayer is a global ecumenical movement which brings Christians of many traditions together to observe a common day of prayer each year. Through preparation and participation in the worship service, we can come to know how our sisters of other countries, languages and cultures understand the Biblical passages in their context. We can hear their concerns and needs and can feel ourselves in solidarity with them as we pray with and for them. In this way, it is possible to enrich our Christian faith as it grows deeper and broader in an international, ecumenical expression.

The motto of the World Day of Prayer movement is Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action. Through our participation in the World Day of Prayer, we affirm that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence on the world.

This year the theme is "Streams in the Desert" which has been compiled by WDP Egypt.

Egypt: A place where history flows across every location like the Nile River flows through its land. A place where history speaks to us calling us to remember our past. Egypt has been both a place of exile and a place of refuge. It is a place where streams flow through desert lands bringing with them the fertile nutrients needed for plants, trees, and all forms of life to flourish. However these streams are not only the physical rivers that we can dip our feet into. In the 2014 service we are invited to seek the streams of living water which Jesus offers.

We come to sit by a well in Samaria where a woman will meet Jesus and, in meeting him, will meet God. It was at this well that she was offered the life giving waters that became “in her a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” It is in her meeting that we too are offered this living water. Come, let us dive into those waters and see what may come of our encounter

We are invited to think about our own lives and where we recognize streams in our own deserts; places and moments where God is actively at work. To reflect on times when we, like the Samaritan woman, have gone to the well looking for one thing and then discovered Christ offering us what we never expected. We will come not only to learn what this spring of living water is, but how we can, like the Samaritan woman, carry it back to our communities. To see the transformation that can happen when we share our stories of encountering the living God. 

So come, drink your fill of the waters that God has to offer. “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves...”

 You can find all the Irish services here (click on services, choose your province and county).

In Limerick:

 - Methodist Church, Adare at 10.30am.

- Kilmallock St Peter & Paul's Church, Kilmallock, 8.00pm

- Rathkeale St. James Church, Cappagh 8.00 p.m

 Information:

• World Day of Prayer International Committee
• World Day of Prayer - UK