The following call for prayer and fasting was sent by the Baptist Churches of Ireland to their brethren in England in 1653, and has continuing relevance to us today.

The Churches of Christ in Ireland, walking in the faith and order of the gospel, do agree together through the Lord’s assistance, to set apart one day in every month, solemnly to seek the face of our God and by fasting and praying, humbly to mourn before him for the things following, which is also recommended to our dear friends the churches of Christ in England and scattered brethren in several places, who have obtained like precious faith with us.

1. Our little knowledge of and less trusting in the name of God in Christ so as to set Him for ever before our eyes that we may glorify Him both in our bodies and souls, which are His (1Cor. 6:20; Heb. 5:12).
2. Our little sincere love to the Lord and His people and our little knowledge of the office and proper place of each member as God hath set him in the body of Chirst, to the end that every particular member might be now effectually improved for the mutual edification of the whole (1 Cor. 12:21; Eph. 4:16).
3. Our little serious searching into the Word of God and not substantially acquainting ourselves with the foundation truths revealed therein (2 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 2:2; Rom. 10:16-17).
4. Our little faith in the great and precious promises of the Lord which are to be fulfilled in the latter days (Luke 18:8; 2 Pet. 1:4).
5. Our little pressing after the mark of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ and our inordinate affections after earthly things (Luke 10:40-41; Phil. 3:14; Col. 3:2).
6. Our little praying and praising frames of hearts, in particular for faithful labourers in the Lord’s vineyard and for all whom He hath set in authority over us, under whom we have much opportunity to practise the truth we profess (Matt. 9:37-38; 2 Thess. 3:1; 1 Tim. 2:2; 1 Pet. 2:14).
7. Our little sense of saints’ sufferings (Prov. 31:9; Rev. 17:6).
8. Our great aptness to forget the great things God hath done for us. And the abuse of the many precious mercies He hath multiplied upon us (Psa. 126:3).
9. Our want of spiritual wisdom to reprove sin plainly in all without respect of persons and to exhort faithfully, so as to stop the mouths of gainsayers and to give no just offence to any (Prov. 19:25; 9:8-10; 2 Tim. 4:2).
10. Our little mourning for sin both in ourselves and others (Ezek. 9:4; Hos. 4:1-5).
11. Our great ignorance of the deceitfulness of our own hearts (Jer. 17:9).

These things amongst others ought to be sufficient grounds of our being low before the Lord that His voice may lift us up in due time (Jas. 4:9-10) and supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).

Reproduced from the Gospel Standard Magazine, April 2026

Thomas Patient was one of the signatories of this letter. Patient had originally gone to Ireland as an army chaplain with Oliver Cromwell’s invading force. Read more about his life in this biography by Micah Caswell Thomas Patient – The Father of the Irish Baptist Church. Patient’s only surviving work was published a year later… The Doctrine of Baptism and the Distinction in Covenants (2 editions available) stands as one of the most significant defenses of credo-baptism from a Reformed perspective.