This Saturday, friends of Bibles Societies around the world will join together in an invisible but powerful web. May 9 is the day set aside by United Bible Societies for supporters to meet under God in deep Christian fellowship to pray for the spread of the good news in the Scriptures.

It was on May 9, 1946, in a town in Sussex, England, that 13 Bibles Societies decided to form a global partnership. When in 1980, UBS called for a worldwide prayer day before a council meeting, the response was overwhelming. Many wanted to make such a coming together of the global Bible fellowship a tradition. So May 9, the birth hour of UBS, was chosen and the first World Day of Prayer was held in 1983.

Prayer was and remains the key to open doors that are otherwise locked against the Bible. Prayer by friends united in their concern for the unreached remains central to the determination of the Global Mission Team to overcome whatever obstacles they face. And this is a dialogue with God which we are sure he will respond to, as we heed Jesus’ call to to take his saving words to the ends of the earth.

The challenges may be different 32 years on, but the motivation to ask God to bless the ministry of Bible Societies has not changed. So please consider different ways in which you could mark the Day of Prayer? Why not:

• Talk to colleagues over the next couple of days about setting up a prayer chain.
• Organise a lunch or afternoon tea and invite Bible Society supporters. It doesn’t have to be this Saturday if there is not enough time to organise an event.
• Post some prayers on Facebook or Twitter.

This special prayer has been provided by the Swedish Bible Society, which is celebrating its bicentenary this year.

Bible Societies’ Day of Prayer 2015

Our Lord and Saviour, We come to you full of gratitude and joy because we belong to you, our sins are forgiven and the promise of eternal life is planted in our hearts. We thank you for the Church, your body here on earth, united through the atonement of Jesus Christ and full of diversity through the gifts and abilities you have granted to us. Lord, we want to surrender anew to the common mission to make you and your gospel known. Let your kingdom come and your will be done. Renew us with your Holy Spirit and let your word always shape us. We bow in prayer before you and recognise that you alone are God. Together with our brothers and sisters throughout the world, we put our hope in you. We trust that you are the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. In Jesus Christ we pray, Amen