The Bishop of Lancaster, Jill Duff, says she is praying that the pandemic will cause more people to turn to God. 

She told the Evangelical Alliance's 2021 Leadership Conference that while the pandemic has brought "waves of pain", there has also been "an incredible time of acceleration" and especially an "acceleration of the Gospel". 

"I find that my conversations accelerate towards speaking about Jesus and praying for healing faster than ever before," she said. 

There has also been an "acceleration in technology", which has led to more people than ever before, especially the young, connecting with the Gospel through online platforms.

The bishop went on to say that God works through those who have suffered through the difficulty of confinement or hardships, and that the "brokenhearted" were the very ones He would use to rebuild the UK after the pandemic. 

"Throughout Christian history, confinement has been deeply, deeply fruitful," she said.

"In confinement, we don't know what to pray, we are limited, but the Spirit of God is not in lockdown. He groans and intercedes for us in accordance with the will of God."

Citing the example of the midwives in Exodus, the bishop said she was praying "that in our confinement, Jesus will be calling out spiritual midwives across our nation to groan in the secret place of prayer to catch and nurture the children of promise when they're born".

"In the techtonic pressure of this pandemic, I am praying that God will call out His army from the underground - the poor, the brokenhearted, the prisoners, the captives whose hearts are so broken that they are so full of His grace and the impossible rescue miracles that they have seen, that they will go on to rebuild, restore and renew the ancient ruins of our land," she said.

The conference can be watched in full below: