Monday: Innovation
Key Facts To Guide Your Prayers:
- Oxford University has created 300 new companies since 1959, with over a third of these created in the last five years. 2023 saw new companies birthed in the areas of the life sciences, green technologies and AI-driven innovation.
- Since 2011, £6.3billion has been invested in Oxford companies, with a combined estimated economic impact of £3.4billion a year.
- Examples of world-changing breakthroughs in innovations that have emerged from Oxford include portable DNA sequencing, the world’s first full-body MRI scanner and the Oxford-Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
- Outside of the University, there are multiple other institutions dedicated to advancements in innovation all over the city including the Oxford Centre for Innovation, Oxford Innovation Space, The Innovation Gateway and the Oxford Science Park.
Prayer Points and Scriptures To Inspire Your Prayer Time:
- Thank the Lord for the world-changing breakthroughs that have emerged from innovation in Oxford (Ephesians 2:10)
- Pray for innovation in our city that reflects principles of God’s Kingdom- companies that are ethically and environmentally conscious and aren’t exploitative to their staff or consumers (Romans 14:17, Galatians 5:22-23)
- Pray for new ideas and advancements in innovation to arise from believers spending time with the Holy Spirit who knows the very mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-11)
- Pray for breakthroughs in cancer research, dementia treatment, heart disease, diabetes and other diseases currently without a cure- pray for the Lord to make a way even where there seems to be no way (Isaiah 43:18-19)
- Pray for these innovation spaces across Oxford to be centres where scientists come together to ask for wisdom from the Lord (James 1:5)
- Pray for the Lord to purify our motivation for innovation, and pray that the ultimate driving force behind innovators will not be personal profit or selfish ambition but instead, a desire be glorify God (Mark 12:30)