| Media personality fronts prayer day |
 FAMILIAR FACE: Simon Barnett thinks it’s important to pray for people who have a job where they can influence others.
One of a number of well-known faces fronting campaign Kiwi TV and radio presenter Simon Barnett has been one of the faces fronting the campaign for Media Prayer Day on August 5. Around 1000 churches are expected to participate and Mr Barnett feels it is important to pray for those in the media. “The Bible is very clear that there are no favourites and I’d be really embarrassed if it came across that people in the media had any special significance. But I think it’s important to pray for people who have a job where they can influence others; to pray that God will give them wisdom and discernment to be good ambassadors,” he says. The Team at Media Prayer Day have put together a list of five topics that people can pray for or they can use the suggested written-out prayer. “I trust that the Holy Spirit guides people on what to pray for so if individuals feel it on their hearts to pray for people in the media then I would encourage them to do so,” says Mr Barnett. “When you pray, God hears your prayer and something happens.” It’s not too late for churches to get involved with Media Prayer Day and they can find all the information they need from the website and Facebook page. Mr Barnett can be heard every weekday on the Christchurch MORE FM 6 to 10am show but in his early career he found success on TV through programmes such as Wheel of Fortune and spent four years as a presenter on the long-running children’s television programme What Now? His most recent television project was as host of the New Zealand version of the UK musical talent show, Stars In Their Eyes. “I found I had a lot of material possessions and trappings of success but I felt empty and I began to wonder what life was about. I decided I should try going to church so I did and I had a conversion at 30,” he recalls. “Coming to Christ has definitely changed the kind of work I’d be involved in; it’s been enormous and comes up most days. We are called to be in the world, not of it and I work in a very secular world.” Mr Barnett says he always tries to be the salt and light but not to judge others. “I probably initially handled this very badly. I was a bit of a hellfire and brimstone person but I’ve learnt to be more loving and kind; the Bible says that mercy will triumph over judgement. I try and keep God as my filter and I trust that God is incredibly good and merciful to me, and wants me to do well.” At the same time, Mr Barnett feels it’s really important for him to be involved in some things to share the Christian side and to help people think about things from another perspective. “It’s easy to sit and moan about the media but if that’s all you do it’s futile. Every Christian, when they pray, has a hand in shaping what comes on our radios and televisions and cinemas, and that makes prayer very powerful,” he says. By Gemma Margerison |
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