Global Day of Prayer

This article was originally published in Edition (6) of Prayer Magazine,  Apr-Jun 2006.

The biggest prayer event the world has ever known.

Graham Power lives in Cape Town, South Africa and has been involved the real estate and highway construction business for his entire working life. Seven years ago he made a commitment to God to mobilize prayer, which has now turned into the Global Day of Prayer.

"the Lord touched my life and has turned it upside down, I had a vision (instruction from God) to hire Newlands, the rugby stadium in Cape Town, and get Christians from all the different denominations together for a day of repentance and prayer. That vision clearly showed that the next step would be the whole of South Africa, and then God just showed how He would stretch his arms out and out around the whole of the globe and pull it into his stomach like a mother would caress a little newborn baby." 

"So in 2004, the whole of Africa -- all 56 nations -- joined in the first-ever continental-wide Day of Prayer, and that day between 3:00 and 3:10 in the afternoon, everybody prayed the same prayer wherever they were in the continent; and of course radio and television took it throughout Africa and a few other parts of the world.

"(And) then came the big challenge, and that was for the rest of the globe to get involved. We were just so blessed to see that in 2005, on Pentecost Sunday, May 15, 156 nations, over 200 million Christians that joined together in that first-ever Global Day of Prayer. We're really trusting that in 2006 on the June 4, Pentecost Sunday, that we're believing that all 220 nations in the world will join, and that there will be, whether it be a hundred or a thousand or a million people interceding for that nation, that we will see all nations and all continents joining in this second Global Day of Prayer."

One of the Highlights of the 2005 Global Day of Prayer was seeing 120,000 people gather in a stadium in Genesia. The 5^th May signified the day that the 10 Days of Prayer was launched in Jakarta, and there were 120,000 people in that stadium. It’s a great opportunity to bring before God the various key needs around the world that are fairly generic are obvious, like the whole issue of HIV/AIDS, world poverty, unemployment,  etc.

Robert Bakke the groups executive Director, is beliving that all the 220 nations of the earth will join in the Global Day of Prayer this year.

“North Americans and Christians generally around the world are very wired to do events, to do something big and something creative and then sort of lose steam and have it peter out,” he said.

“The challenge for us is to eliminate the 'been there, done that' and the purely event-driven mindset of North Americans and say we don't want just events. We want a growing process in the cities and communities where dreams and real ministry transformation starts, emerging out of solid relationships and alliances from local, like-minded Christians.

“In other words, not just events, but that there is something dynamic that is happening in the heart of cities and communities as the result of this,”

The two key verses that have guided the planning around the Global Day of Prayer, are 2 Chron.7:14 "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" and Hab.2:14 "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

Here is the breakdown of the Global Day of Prayer three point strategy

1. 10 Days of day and night prayer before the event

25 May – 3 June 2006:  Like the Early Church in Acts 1, all local congregations, communities, cities and regions are encouraged to spend 10 days in prayer leading up to Pentecost Sunday, 4 June 2006, asking God for a fresh outpouring of His Spirit, the salvation of the lost, the un-reached and the healing of the nations.

Youth: Youth around the globe will be challenged to start the 10 Days of day and night prayer with an initiative called the “30Kd Challenge” where all believing students are challenged to join in prayer for 30 minutes in their schools and campuses on Ascension Day 25 May. The challenge will be repeated on 2 June 2005. Adding to this youth will be challenged to join the 10 Days of prayer in Boiler Rooms where they can express themselves in vibrant and creative ways, interceding for their generation around the globe. A further challenge during the 10 Days of day and night prayer is to live the L-10-T lifestyle of prayer evangelism wherever they hang out. These 10 days will really be an opportunity for the youth to make a difference in their communities in their own unique ways.

2. Global Day of Repentance & Prayer (The Day Itself)

4 June 2006: Towns and cities unite in repentance & prayer at stadiums, churches, market squares, etc. In "closed" countries creative Christians will make a way to pray together. Many television, radio and Internet services around the world will broadcast these prayer gatherings.

Youth: On 4 June the Youth will be challenged to join with all generations around the globe in a Global Day of Repentance & Prayer in their respective communities. This year Viva Network will join in the Global Day of Prayer through their World Day of Prayer for Children at Risk. Where possible, these events must flow into a youth prayer event where young people can express themselves through prayer and worship in their own unique way, but it must not be a separate event.

3. 90 Days of “Blessings”, after the Global day of Prayer.

“90 Days of Blessing” or Community outreach after 4 June 2006: Churches, communities and cities are encouraged to reach out to their neighbours and the community with acts of blessing and deeds of love. This will include practical help and support for the poor and needy, job creation, community development, literacy training, caring for the sick, etc. - being salt, light and hope for a broken and needy world.

Youth: Already on 3 June youth around the globe will be challenged to partake in a Global Day of Compassion, reaching out in their communities in any given way the Lord leads them. This is an opportunity to live what we are praying. After 4 June the youth globally will be challenged to live the principles of the PEACE-plan, partake in different compassion days and live the L-10-T lifestyle of prayer. Actually the challenge is to be Jesus’ hands and feet for the next 364 days of the year.

What is being planned in British Isles and Ireland in 2006

Following on from the events in 2005 in Belfast, the stadium in Lincoln and numerous other places, a number of networks and churches are wanting to pick this up across England, Scotland, Wales and the islands. We are encouraging churches to unite over the Pentecost weekend and not to be limited by just the Sunday.

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