With the U.K.’s General Election taking place on Thursday (July 4), evangelicals are being encouraged to both pray and vote for the future of their nation. Research by the Evangelical Alliance (EA) of the U.K. suggests nine out of ten evangelicals in the country intends to vote.
The EA has called on Christians to engage with the election and provided online resources to help believers in their prayers and decision making.
“In the run up to the election I'm often asked how Christians should make up their mind [on] how to vote,” said Danny Webster, EA Director of Advocacy in a LinkedIn post. “Our political engagement should be prayerful and thoughtful, and here are six ways you might be considering in deciding where to put your cross.”
These six pointers are: vote for the party policy platform, vote for the leader who will be the best prime minister, vote against a party you don’t want in power, vote based on a specific issue or policy area, vote locally and vote tactically.
“Voting is an obvious way in which we can engage in the upcoming general election,” stated the EA in another section on its website headed Prayer Points for the election. “Nevertheless, as followers of Jesus, voting isn’t our only or even primary means of engagement. Followers of Jesus are people of prayer.
“Be it on our knees by our beside or standing in a gathering with our church family, prayer reminds us that our ultimate allegiance is to Jesus our king, and that our ultimate hope within and beyond this election is to see His kingdom come ’on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:10).”
The EA produced the helpful Prayer Points resource to guide evangelicals in praying for the election. It can be used in both private and public sessions of prayer.
“As we pray these prayers, it is our hope that they will be used by the Lord to both shape outcomes in this upcoming election, and also to shape our hearts into His likeness, making us those who together seek the good of our neighbor and the spread of the gospel in this nation.”
The EA has also produced an article providing, “Three guiding principles for Christian women ahead of polling day” by Alicia Edmund, head of public policy.
“I foresee that women across the UK and across different demographic groups will play a significant role in determining who the next prime minister will be,” wrote Edmund.
Christian Daily International reached out to the main political parties, asking them why evangelicals should vote for them and will update this article once a response is received.
Polling booths to vote are open from 7am until 10pm on Thursday and vote counting begins once the polls are closed.
