By Grant McClung
In 2001 some 45,000 Christians gathered in Cape Town, South Africa for a unified prayer service for the nations. There the vision for the annual “Global Day of Prayer” was born (see www.globaldayofprayer.com). Considering the exponential growth from 45,000 then to the estimates of more than 45 million worldwide from 204 countries in 2007 one can expect a massive mobilization and participation for the 2008 Global Day of Prayer on Sunday, May 11 (Pentecost Sunday!).
Evidently, millions of believers, local churches, and entire church movements believe that prayer is a proactive and revolutionary force and that God does something when His people pray! What does happen when we pray for nations?
1. God is glorified as we are obedient to His command to pray for leaders, governments and nations.
2. We identify with the example of early Christian who made this a practice in their group worship and personal devotional lives.
3. An actual difference is made in the life and welfare of nations. Church history and contemporary life are filled with documented positive changes that have taken place in societies and nations when people prayed.
4. We are led beyond politics and geography to focus upon the people in nations. We begin to pray specifically, by name, for government leaders, opinion influencers, national leaders and missionaries.
5. We are brought into effective spiritual warfare, reminding Satan of Christ’s lordship in the world, pushing back darkness with the advance of God’s kingdom, power, and light.
6. Our hearts and minds are broadened with new vision and faith. Our personal horizons expand as we are transformed from narrow to broad views of God’s work in the world and our active involvement in it.
7. We are led to put “shoe leather to our prayers” in Christian activism and gospel proclamation. It has been said that every great work of God can be traced to a kneeling form. As we pray, the Holy Sprit leads us to concrete acts of witness, encouragement and service that make a difference in our world.
Let us pray, proclaim, and plant (the church of Jesus Christ among every people) until that day when the last prayer of the Bible is fulfilled, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22. 20)!
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(Dr. Grant McClung is a member of the Church of God International Executive Council. He and his wife, Janice, have led the Westmore Church of God Missions Prayer Group (Cleveland, Tennessee) in twenty-two years of unbroken intercessory prayer for the nations.)
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