The 2009 Global Day of Prayer - every nation on earth participates!

We arrived in Hong Kong on the 28th of May to prepare the last few things before the Global Day of Prayer on Pentecost Sunday (31 May 2009).

This year is the first time in the 9 year history of this mementos event that every single one of the world's 220 nations registered events to form a part of the day of prayer. I feel that this is a truly historic and significant event in history - what humbles me most is the thought that this incredible movement that will involve well over 400 million people worldwide was started by a Methodist lay person (Graham Power) on the Southern tip of Africa - you can read the whole story of GDOP in Graham's book 'Not by Might, nor by Power'.

The first Global Day of Prayer event (then called Transformation Africa) was held at Newlands Rugby stadium in 2001 when Graham Power felt convicted by the Lord to call together all the Christians in that city for a day of repentance and prayer (in keeping with 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land".

The events that take place across the globe started as the dateline hit 31 May (the start of Pentecost begins in Tonga and Fiji and then moves through the time zones to Hawaii - a total of about 20 hours of daylight). During this time people gather in events ranging in size and character. Some of the events are quite similar to the first Newlands event - they are large stadiums in which Christians gather to worship, pray around specific prayer pointers, and be inspired and united in cause to seek God's blessing and transforming power for their cities and nations. In other places where this may not be possible people meet in Churches, some meet in homes, and in some places in Africa and India there are massive open air gatherings (the largest reported gathering was in India where over 500 thousand persons are reported to have attended a single event). Most nations have numerous events taking place - for example in South Africa there are 347 towns and cities that have registered events of various sizes.

The only request from the Global Day of Prayer organisers is that the events are eccumenical in nature (i.e., that they represent a broad scope of Christian heritage). The reality is however that GDOP does take on a different character in each geographical region (in North America it tends to be predominantly supported by mainline evangelical Christians, in South Africa it is much the same, in North Africa it is predominantly Orthodox believers, in Latin America there is a mix of evangelical and Catholic Christians, in Asia it is the mainline and evangelical Churches etc.) Second, the organisers ask that the Prayer for the world be said at each event at some point during the proceedings (I have put a copy of the prayer below for your interest - I would encourage you to pray through it today so that even if you're not joining in a large event perhaps you and your family might join the hundreds of millions of Christians in praying for renewal and transformation of the earth?)

We have been anchoring the Global Day of Prayer from different geographical locations for the last few years (last year was in Israel, this year we're in Hong Kong and China, and in 2010 we shall be returning to Cape Town, South Africa, where it all began in 2001). We set up a studio at an event (such as the one in Hong Kong this afternoon) and then bring in live feed from events and gatherings across the world that gets broadcast on GodTV for a period of about 8-12 hours. It is wonderful to catch a glimpse of the Christian Church in its variety and uniqueness across the globe! This year the primary feeds will come from Brazil, Hong Kong and the Ivory Coast with other inputs from Russia, North America and South Africa.

Please join me in giving thanks to God for His grace and mercy, thank God for the many faithful believers who have been fasting and praying for the last 10 days, for the many millions that will gather to pray for the world today, and for the many hundreds of thousands that will participate in the '90 days of blessing' that follow today. Please also thank God for Graham, his faithfulness, courage and sacrifice in bringing to Global Day of Prayer to reality and for the impact that his courage and love has had on the lives of so many individuals and communities across the globe as they have sought and found God's blessing.

Here is the Prayer for the World:

"They lifted their voices to God with one accord..." - Acts 4:24

Almighty God ? Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Together with believers all over the world,
We gather today to glorify Your Name.
You are the Creator of heaven and earth.
There is no one like You, holy and righteous in all Your ways.
We submit to Your authority as the King of the universe.
We pray with one voice to enthrone You in our hearts
and to honour You before the world.

Lord God, You alone are worthy of our praise and adoration.

Our Father in heaven,
Thank You for loving the world so greatly.
You gave Your only Son, Jesus Christ,
to die on the cross for our sins
so that we could be reconciled to You.
We are grateful to call You Father and to be called Your children.
Nothing can separate us from Your love.

Thank You Father, for adopting us into Your family because of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Lord Jesus Christ,
You alone are worthy to open the scrolls of history,
for You were slain and have redeemed us to the Father by Your blood.
We confess that You are Head of the Church
and Lord of all heaven and earth.
May people from every tribe and language become Your followers
so that Your blessing brings transformation among all peoples.
Let Your kingdom be established in every nation of the world
so that governments will rule with righteousness and justice.
And may Your Name be great, from the rising of the sun to its setting.

Jesus Christ, You are the Saviour of the world and the Lord of all.

Father of mercy and grace,
We acknowledge that we have sinned
and that our world is gripped by the power of sin.
Our hearts are grieved by injustice, hatred and violence.
We are shamed by oppression, racism and bloodshed in our land.
We mourn all loss of life in murder, war and terrorism.
Our homes are broken and our churches are divided by rebellion and pride.
Our lives are polluted by selfishness, greed, idolatry and sexual sin.
We have grieved Your heart and brought shame to Your Name.
Have mercy on us as we repent with all our hearts.

God of mercy, forgive our sins. Pour out Your grace and heal our land.

Spirit of the living God,
Apart from You, we can do nothing.
Transform Your Church into the image of Jesus Christ.
Release Your power to bring healing to the sick,
freedom to the oppressed and comfort to those who mourn.
Pour Your love into our hearts and fill us with compassion
to answer the call of the homeless and the hungry
and to enfold orphans, widows and the elderly in Your care.
Give us wisdom and insight for the complex problems we face today.
Help us to use the resources of the earth for the well-being of all.

Holy Spirit, we need Your comfort and guidance. Transform our hearts.

Lord Jesus Christ,
Because You were dead, but are now risen,
and the Father has given You a Name above all names,
You will defeat all powers of evil.
Tear down strongholds and ideologies that resist the knowledge of God.
Remove the veil of darkness that covers the peoples.
Restrain the evil that promotes violence and death.
Bring deliverance from demonic oppression.
Break the hold of slavery, tyranny and disease.
Fill us with courage to preach Your word fearlessly,
and to intercede for the lost faithfully.

Almighty God, deliver us from evil.

King of Glory,
Come and finish Your work in our cities, our peoples and our nations.
We lift our voices in unison with believers from Africa and Asia,
from the Middle East and Europe, from North and South America,
and from Australia and the Pacific Islands?together we cry:

Lift up your heads, O you gates! Be lifted up ancient doors so that the King of glory may come in!

As Your deeds increase throughout the earth,
and as Your blessings abound to all the nations,
they will seek You, asking, ?Who is this King of glory??

Together we will answer:

He is the Lord Almighty! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

Come fill the earth with Your glory as the waters cover the sea.
The Spirit and the Bride say:

Amen! Come Lord Jesus!