Prayer for Dublin City (Ballymena House of Prayer)
Nickname: The Fair City
Motto: Obedientia Civium Urbis Felicitas = 'The Obedience of the citizens produces a happy city'.
Some background geography and history:
[source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin ]
The name DUBLIN comes from the Irish word Duibhlinn - dubh meaning "black, dark", and linn "pool", referring to a dark tidal pool. Old English Difelin, Old Norse Dyflin.
Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "town of the hurdled ford", is the common name for the city in modern Irish.
The population of the Greater Dublin Area is over 2 million, or roughly 40% of the Republic of Ireland's total population.
A settlement was established in the area by the Gaels during or before the 7th century, followed by the Vikings.
Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, currently occupied by Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church.
Dublin was the heart of the area known as the Pale, a narrow strip of English settlement along the eastern coast, under the control of the English Crown.
Following the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th century Dublin had prominence prominence as the centre of administrative rule in an Ireland where English control and settlement had become much more extensive.
The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest in the British Empire and sixth largest in Western Europe after the Acts of Union in 1800.
Dublin suffered a period of political and economic decline during the 19th century following the Acts of Union 1800, under which the seat of government was transferred to the Westminster Parliament in London.
The Easter Rising of 1916, the Irish War of Independence, and the subsequent Irish Civil War resulted in a significant amount of physical destruction in central Dublin. The Government of the Irish Free State rebuilt the city centre and located the new parliament, the Oireachtas, in Leinster House.
Following independence in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, renamed Ireland in 1937.
Dublin was also a victim of the Northern Irish Troubles, although during this 30-year conflict, violence mainly occurred within Northern Ireland. The UVF, bombed the city during this time – notably in an atrocity known as the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in which 34 people died, mainly in central Dublin.
Since 1997, the landscape of Dublin has changed. The city was at the forefront of Ireland's economic expansion during the Celtic Tiger period, with private sector and state development of housing, transport and business.
Following an economic decline during the Great Recession/Crash (2008), Dublin has rebounded and as of 2017 has close to full employment, but has a significant problem with housing supply in both the city and surrounds.
Thoughts and Prayer Requests sent through by a Christian leader in Dublin
· With Covid a lot of Churches went into survival mode. Many trying to figure out where they go next. Greatly reduced numbers – 25% decrease. Big effect on mental health of Church leaders – many tired – a number have retired. Churches looking for new people.
· Drug addiction has grown and alongside a growth in violence. Breakdown in law and order – with even police being attacked.
· Isolation: Pentecostal/New Churches are quite isolated. Little relationship with historic churches. Most churches are in survival mode and not Kingdom-focused.
· Please pray that believers be more Kingdom-focused, not just church focused and receive God’s heart for unity in his Body.
· Pray for bridge-builders. There’s a need for historic churches to understand the Pentecostal/New Churches, not fear them, and to build friendships. Need for the Pentecostal/New Churches to see that the Holy Spirit is moving in the historic churches and to build relationships where there is life – need for bridge-builders to build relationships between the different churches
· Pray that the Lord raises up Labourers in his harvest field.