This prayer will be read in unison at every Global Day of Prayer gathering on Sunday June 12, 2011.

The Global Day of Prayer – Sunday June 12, 2011

“A Prayer for the World”

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 honor 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 Savior.

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 Savior 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!

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer, you may like to learn more about The Story of the GDOP.

DAY 10 – Saturday June 11, 2011
…for Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Glorify
• that signs of Christ’s kingdom will so fill the earth that many will be moved to celebrate the hope of His coming.
• that Christ’s power will be seen in the humility and compassionate service of His people.
• that Jesus would be honored openly, worshiped extravagantly and glorified globally.

Days 9 – 10
a call to REVEAL
“I will pour out my Spirit on all people… And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”    — Joel 2:28, 32

Read Joel 2:28-32 and consider how these promises could be fulfilled in greater ways than ever before. Turn to God with expectancy. He is about to advance His purpose to reveal His salvation globally. Even during days of dreadful shaking and difficulty, He will pour out His Spirit so that people all over the earth—elders and children, poor and rich, men and women— will resound with the call of God. From every race and in every place, people will hear and speak of God’s call. Many will be saved to the glory of His name.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

DAY 9 – Friday June 10, 2011
…but deliver us from evil…

Overcome
• that God would restrain Satanic powers, revealing the truth of the Gospel, liberating many people to follow Christ.
• that people would be delivered from idolatry, witchcraft, demonic oppression and depression.
• for Christ to break powers of darkness which corrupt and dominate businesses, governments and cities.

Days 9 – 10
a call to REVEAL
“I will pour out my Spirit on all people… And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”    — Joel 2:28, 32

Read Joel 2:28-32 and consider how these promises could be fulfilled in greater ways than ever before. Turn to God with expectancy. He is about to advance His purpose to reveal His salvation globally. Even during days of dreadful shaking and difficulty, He will pour out His Spirit so that people all over the earth—elders and children, poor and rich, men and women— will resound with the call of God. From every race and in every place, people will hear and speak of God’s call. Many will be saved to the glory of His name.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

DAY 8 – Thursday June 9, 2011
…And lead not into temptation…

Lead
• for Christians to be filled with such love and zeal to please God that they are unmoved by enticements of materialism and sexual perversity.
• for God’s people to continue walking in the light of His ways and wisdom in order to fulfill His purposes throughout the earth.
• that Christ would guide leaders of business, education and government so that the curse of corruption would be overcome throughout cities and entire economies.

Days 7 – 8
a call to CELEBRATE
“You will have plenty to eat and…praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.”    — Joel 2:26 (NASB)

Read Joel 2:23-27. When God’s people return to Him with all their heart, there is promise of tangible changes and great joy in their communities. Where there has been the curse of oppressive poverty, God desires to bring forth an abundance so that many will gratefully praise His name. An even greater spectacle will be God making His home in the midst of His people. He will act wondrously in both goodness and power, surprising the world by revealing His presence among His people.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

DAY 7 – Wednesday June 8, 2011
…as we forgive those who sin against us…

Reconcile
• to break the cycles of resentment, revenge and racism so that relationships are restored.
• for signs of Christ’s reconciling power in the midst of militarized conflict, revealing God’s desire to end all wars.
• to restore relationships between women and men, to bring reconciliation in marriages and to renew relationships of children with their parents.
• for those who suffer for the name of Christ to endure persecution in the Spirit and grace of Christ.

Days 7 – 8
a call to CELEBRATE
“You will have plenty to eat and…praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.”    — Joel 2:26 (NASB)

Read Joel 2:23-27. When God’s people return to Him with all their heart, there is promise of tangible changes and great joy in their communities. Where there has been the curse of oppressive poverty, God desires to bring forth an abundance so that many will gratefully praise His name. An even greater spectacle will be God making His home in the midst of His people. He will act wondrously in both goodness and power, surprising the world by revealing His presence among His people.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

DAY 6 – Tuesday June 7, 2011
…Forgive us our sins…

Forgive
• for the Spirit of God to move on the hearts of men and women so that they will be able to see how God is grieved and how their lives are being destroyed by sin.
• for the Spirit of God to empower people to abandon patterns of sin and find grace to renounce allegiance to powers of darkness.
• for recognition of and repentance from sins that bring about war, poverty and injustice.

Days 5 – 6
a call to HOPE
“Then the LORD will be jealous…and take pity on His people…Be not afraid…be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things.”    — Joel 2:18, 21

Read Joel 2:18-22. We can be zealous to repent because God is so jealous for His name and for His people. Because of God’s great love, our repenting should be bold and fearless. Our God will contend with the forces that devastate our communities. As great as the evil may be, God will do even greater things. Such hope brings joy as we sincerely turn to God, knowing that He desires to bring great goodness throughout the earth, transforming our cities, restoring our economies and healing our lands.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

DAY 5 – Monday June 6, 2011
…Give us this day our daily bread…

Provide
• for the basic needs of food, water and health care for the poor, for the sick, for refugees and for children.
• that God’s people would become, by His Spirit’s help, agents of healing and change, bringing forth the abundance, justice and peace that God desires.
• for God’s people to break patterns of poverty in their communities, fulfilling God’s promise of blessing amidst all peoples.
• for Christians to act with compassion and persistence to eradicate diseases and to serve well in the aftermath of epidemics such as HIV/AIDS.

Days 5 – 6
a call to HOPE
“Then the LORD will be jealous…and take pity on His people…Be not afraid…be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things.”    — Joel 2:18, 21

Read Joel 2:18-22. We can be zealous to repent because God is so jealous for His name and for His people. Because of God’s great love, our repenting should be bold and fearless. Our God will contend with the forces that devastate our communities. As great as the evil may be, God will do even greater things. Such hope brings joy as we sincerely turn to God, knowing that He desires to bring great goodness throughout the earth, transforming our cities, restoring our economies and healing our lands.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

DAY 4 – Sunday June 5, 2011
…and may Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…

Transform
• for God’s people to bring the influence and blessing of Christ into every aspect of commerce, arts, education and governance in ways that bring lasting transformation.
• for God’s wisdom to be upon our government leaders, bringing changes that increase righteousness and justice.
• for the righteousness, peace and joy of Christ’s kingdom to be a reality by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Days 3 – 4
a call to GATHER
“Gather the people…and let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O LORD…’ Why should the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”    — Joel 2:16-17 (NASB)

Read Joel 2:15-17. To repent as a people we must come before God together. He wants to encounter us as a people. That’s why He’s summoning us to break normal routines in order to assemble before Him in gatherings large and small. It’s a time to interrupt daily habits of life, fasting from our normal diet, even moving from familiar rituals of worship to assemble in special ways. Why this urgency? Because something great is at stake for God’s glory. Let’s allow our hearts to be grieved by what we, as God’s people, have done to bring shame upon His name. To the watching world, it can appear as if we have no God. Consider what brings sorrow to the heart of God, and pray that He will transform us to bring Him the glory He deserves.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

DAY 3 – Saturday June 4, 2011
…May Your kingdom come…

Rule
• for many to be drawn by the power of the gospel to submit their lives to Jesus Christ, in order to love and follow Him as King.
• for Christ’s followers to walk in the fullness of God’s Spirit so that they can live in the likeness of Christ.
• for the Lordship of Christ to influence every part of our cities and societies.

Days 3 – 4
a call to GATHER
“Gather the people…and let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O LORD…’ Why should the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”    — Joel 2:16-17 (NASB)

Read Joel 2:15-17. To repent as a people we must come before God together. He wants to encounter us as a people. That’s why He’s summoning us to break normal routines in order to assemble before Him in gatherings large and small. It’s a time to interrupt daily habits of life, fasting from our normal diet, even moving from familiar rituals of worship to assemble in special ways. Why this urgency? Because something great is at stake for God’s glory. Let’s allow our hearts to be grieved by what we, as God’s people, have done to bring shame upon His name. To the watching world, it can appear as if we have no God. Consider what brings sorrow to the heart of God, and pray that He will transform us to bring Him the glory He deserves.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

It’s Day 2 of the GDOP season of continual prayer. You can find the topic here: www.gdopusa.com/june-3-2011

The prayer points are all about the uppermost passion and purpose of God: That He would be known so that He can be loved. Ask God to do something great for His name in your city, in the lives of your friends/family, in the relationships and work of missionaries, and really, just about everywhere.

You’ll notice after the points that there is a selection from chapter 2 of Joel. A couple years ago, the circle of people giving leadership to the Global Day of Prayer in different parts of the world kept hearing about movements that the Holy Spirit had focused on Joel 2. So we put some things together from Joel 2 with the idea of praying our way toward a greater Pentecost. Remember that Joel 2 is the prophecy that Peter said was being fulfilled, in part, on the first Pentecost morning.

To make the best sense of the words we wrote about Joel, read all of the verses for the day (Joel 2:12-14), not just the verse that we had room to print in the prayer guide. Well, I guess I can make that easy for you today. Here it is:

From Joel 2:

[2:12] Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; [2:13] And rend your heart and not your garments.”
Now return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil.
[2:14] Who knows whether He will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him, even a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

May God bring about a “Yet even now” moment of turning for many. Repentance is a wondrous gift. It is not a ritual or procedure that produces automatic results. Verses 13-14 reveal the relational marvel of our God: He never fails to be gracious and abounding in love, but we cannot make Him out to be an automatic forgiveness machine. He chooses the times and ways of restoring His presence and the and magnitude of His fullness that He will bring. At least that’s how I read verse 14. You may wonder about the grain and drink offerings. What’s that all about? These kind of worship gifts were often offered to celebrate the abundance and blessing of God. So Joel is saying that God may go way beyond merely forgiving us. He may overwhelm us with fresh abundance that enables us to worship Him with abundant, unfettered joy of being near the One to whom we belong. When Joel says, “the LORD your God” it’s a reference to belonging to God in close bonds of covenant love. He’s not just the Lord. He’s the Lord your God. And we shall be near Him as His people. This reference goes back to Exodus 6:7, echoed in Leviticus 26:12 and many other places.

Yours in hope,

Steve Hawthorne

DAY 2 – Friday June 3, 2011
…sanctify Your name…

Reveal
• for the truth of God’s character to be exalted and honored.
• for God to distinguish Himself from every false god and to expose every false thing spoken about Him.
• for the word of God to be proclaimed in every people and place across the earth.
• for the Scriptures to be translated and made available in every language.

Days 1 – 2

a call to RETURN
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting and weeping and mourning.” — Joel 2:12 (NASB)

Read Joel 2:12-14 aloud. Consider how the present hour could be a critical moment as in Joel’s day, a “yet even now” moment. For different reasons, many of God’s people have drifted away from Him. But now He is calling us to return with all our hearts. Returning to God means more than going back to church and turning away from sin. It means turning our full attention to God, coming close to Him with confidence in His amazing love. As we turn to Him, He desires to turn toward us. His mighty love not only rescues us from our wrongs, but bestows blessing, empowering us to offer Him extravagant, grateful worship.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

I’m going to be stirring myself with expectancy starting this Thursday, June 2, as I pray through the ten days before the Global Day of Prayer. I made a decision yesterday. I decided that I am going to really go after these prayers in the ten-day prayer guide as if I really expected them and as if I really, really yearned for God to fulfill them.

Of course, I’ve seen these same requests before. In fact, I wrote them myself in their present form. My resolution goes beyond knowing what is in the prayers. I’m going to stir myself to pray by locking my mind’s eye on what God desires to do in the days to come.

Earlier this week, I ran across Acts 1:14 in my regular reading. That’s where it says that the people in the upper room prayed with “one mind.” The Greek word behind the phrase, “one mind” is made up of two words: the word “homo-” which means “same,” and another word derived from “-thuo” from which we get the word “enthusiasm.” So the “one mind” idea is really all about sharing the same vision, zeal or passion with others.

So how do you get that? Well, Jesus had just talked to them about the kingdom of God. That’s got to be a factor. But they also just went for it by praying out loud together with an expectant focus on some awesome things that God had promised to do

How do people come to share a common vision about what Christ will fulfill in their day? I don’t think there is any other way than to pray toward that vision. So I’m not going to wait until I feel the zeal to start praying. I’m going to pray no matter what I feel like. I may not pray all day but others will be praying when I’m not. It’s pretty huge to be praying along with hundreds of thousands, probably many millions of others.

So I’m going for it. Join me and many others. Use the prayer guide as a way to get started.

Yours in hope,

Steve Hawthorne

PS The ten days starts today, June 2 and goes through Saturday, June 11. The Global Day of Prayer is Pentecost Sunday, June 12.

DAY 1 – Thursday June 2, 2011
Our Father who is in heaven…

Revive
• for God to revive and unite His people as one family before Him.
• for wayward Christians to repent and return to God as Father, learning to obey and trust Him.
• for fresh movements of prayer, seeking the throne of grace with persistence.

Days 1 – 2
a call to RETURN
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting and weeping and mourning.” — Joel 2:12 (NASB)

Read Joel 2:12-14 aloud. Consider how the present hour could be a critical moment as in Joel’s day, a “yet even now” moment. For different reasons, many of God’s people have drifted away from Him. But now He is calling us to return with all our hearts. Returning to God means more than going back to church and turning away from sin. It means turning our full attention to God, coming close to Him with confidence in His amazing love. As we turn to Him, He desires to turn toward us. His mighty love not only rescues us from our wrongs, but bestows blessing, empowering us to offer Him extravagant, grateful worship.

If you’re new to the Global Day of Prayer or if you’ve been around awhile, here are a few links that will help you be involved or encourage others to join you:
1) Read the daily prayers in one of these ways: Subscribe to the blog, read the prayers online, or download the prayer guide.
2) Encourage others to join you. Check out the article Groups, Churches or Communities.

We were just talking in our office about a recent article: Global Day of Prayer (GDOP) London calls for 50,000 twitter followers to tweet the Lord’s Prayer. London started a Twitter campaign fifty days ahead of the Global Day of Prayer “to encourage more Christians to pray for the United Kingdom.” Twitter.com/GDOPLondon

One way you can be involved and include others in the Global Day of Prayer is go to online to read the daily prayers for June 2-12. After you read a prayer and pray, just click the Facebook or Twitter icon at the bottom to share it with your friends.

The sharing icons at the bottom of the pages look like this:

If you think you might forget to go to the website every day, you can have the prayers sent to you. All you need to do is subscribe to the GDOP USA blog by E-mail or RSS feed. You will get an e-mail daily (or see it in your RSS reader) after the new post is available. And again, just click the Facebook or Twitter icon at the end of the prayer to share it with your friends. You can even leave your own comments or prayers on the blog for others to see!

To subscribe to the blog and have the prayers sent to you, click this image:

The Global Day of Prayer calls Christians from all nations to unite in repentance and prayer, and to collaborate as God’s instruments for the blessing and healing of the nations.

The international broadcast of Global Day of Prayer will be brought to us from the Veteran’s Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday, June 11 at 6:30-9:00PM EDT from “God TV” and other networks to be announced soon. The schedule is still being worked out for the rebroadcast on Pentecost Sunday, June 12, 2011.  To find out the latest details on how and where to tune in, go to www.gdopusa.com/broadcast or www.god.tv/tunein.

In conjunction with the broadcast, First Coast Global Day of Prayer is hosting two conferences just prior to the broadcast. Find out more about the International GDOP Conferences— “Foundations for Transformation” and the “Worship 1st” conferences on June 9-10, 2011.  www.fcgdop.org.

We understand the value of gathering before God in repentance and prayer on the Global Day of Prayer. But why pray for ten days before the GDOP?

Since we gather on Pentecost, it is easy to recall the upper room prayer meeting. They prayed continually for ten days. They weren’t praying about any particular problems or needs. They were praying toward some of the great things that God had promised. And that’s what we’ll be praying during the ten days of prayer this year, from Thursday, June 2 to Saturday, June 11.

Organizing and encouraging ten days of united prayer is easier with a prayer guide with simple, relevant prayer points. A prayer guide can help people to pray on their own or gather in churches, at work or at home.

A surge of momentum has exhausted our supplies of the 16-page, color format of the prayer guide. On our website we have made available a simple black and white version that can be photocopied on two sides of one sheet of paper. We just put it up today, so take a look.
www.gdopusa.com/prayer-guide

Another way to equip others is to send them an email containing a link that will take them to the prayer points of the day. Find the daily topic in an easy-to-access format on our website.
www.gdopusa.com/june-2-12-2011-daily-prayers

Please encourage the leadership of your church to use 7 to 8 minutes of your Sunday morning services on June 12 reading through “A Prayer for the World.” This powerful prayer is available in an easily photocopied format, or in powerpoint slides.
www.gdopusa.com/a-prayer-for-the-world

For His glory,

Stephanie Tucker
Global Day of Prayer USA

Website: www.gdopusa.com
Blog: www.gdopusa.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GDOPUSA
Twitter: www.twitter.com/gdopusa
(512) 419-7729

The number of ways to join in with the thousands of other Global Day of Prayer gatherings is great.  One simple suggestion for a church to join in during their Sunday services on June 12, 2011, is to set aside just 7 minutes—even better, 10 minutes. Here is what is involved:

–Take 1 minute to give everyone a sense of the global nature of the GDOP. Announce that we are joining our prayers with millions of others around the world. By the time we begin, most of the world will have already lifted their prayers. In the USA, we are honored to offer the “Amen” to the prayers of so many.

–Take 3 minutes to show the 2011 video.  It offers a visual affirmation to the announcement just made. (optional)

–Take 6 minutes to lead the congregation to pray in unison through “A Prayer for the World.”  This is the one thing that links every gathering around the world so that we can gather locally but pray globally.  We are praying together with the world and adding our prayer to theirs.

I received a very encouraging email from our friend who organizes the Greater Toronto Global Day of Prayer. Linda Ferrante says, “To date we have 12 sites in the Toronto area with more coming along every day. We also go to the highest place in the city – the CN Tower (Canada’s National Tower) – to pray the Saturday before to declare God’s purposes in our city. We also ask God to bless our American brothers and sisters as we can see the American shoreline from the tower.”

She goes on to say, “I encourage you and everyone involved with GDOP to continue to persevere in prayer. Our world, our nations, our cities, our neighborhoods and our families need to press in to seek the Father’s face!!”

Thank you, Linda, for your prayers and the exciting update.

I just got off the phone with a Global Day of Prayer coordinator in Virginia Beach inquiring if I could get prayer guides to him by Friday, May 20. That seems to be the question of the day because I have gotten the same request from others.  By getting the prayer guides this week, Doug has two Sundays to distribute the guides to those who will be participating in the ten days of prayer beginning June 2.

May 29 is the last Sunday before the ten days of prayer kick off.  Pentecost Sunday, June 12, 2011, is the Global Day of Prayer. These are important dates to keep in mind if you are heading up prayer in your church or community.

Not sure about the ten days? Check out the article “Mobilizing for the Ten Days” which includes numerous models to help you get started.  Or, incorporate some of your own creative way to pray with others during the ten days.

Remember that the Global Day of Prayer is a call to encounter God with many others so that God can change us and bring forth all that He desires among the nations.

The Global Day of Prayer is not about an event. It is more about gathering Christians to worship God, seek His face and intercede for the transformation of our city and the nations. Remember that the process of deepening relationship between leaders and people of different churches is far more important than the actual event.

We must keep the main thing the main thing—which is Jesus. He is our focus whether at the prayer gathering or in the planning process.

I talk with a lot of leaders as well as everyday folks about what they are doing to engage others in sustainable life-giving prayer in their churches and cities. The most successful ideas are not novel or random. But instead, they are intentional ideas that are sewn thoughtfully. Of course, not every idea lands on fertile ground and may lay dormant for a while. The thing to remember is that fresh seed must be cast in our churches and cities.

One pastor told me that he always orders extra prayer guides to give to other pastors in his neighborhood (which means he will have to visit them). Consider inviting just two other churches to pray with you on Pentecost. One group of churches in a small city went to every home in the city to pass out a prayer guide and to personally invite their neighbors to join them. Have you ever considered praying early in the morning before service? In Waco, Texas they will meet for breakfast at a café at 6:30am before walking across the street to a park to pray. You might like to gather to pray outdoors. This is a great way to attract pre-Christians who may be apprehensive about church buildings.

Do you think it is too late to begin working on a Global Day of Prayer gathering in your community? Good news! It’s not too late. Many areas are getting started right now. All it takes to get things moving is two or three like-minded people. One city reported that GDOP was a trigger to foster unity and cooperation between churches like they had never seen before in their city. People are ready—they just need someone to get the ball rolling.

You don’t need to take on the whole community all at once. A great way to start is by calling a few pastors and friends in a particular part of the community. (I like to call people I know first—it makes it easier.) I just heard from a pastor today who will be inviting other pastors in the southwest region of his community where his church is located to participate in Global Day of Prayer. Consider taking a few others to a high point in your city to pray and hear from God about how He loves your community, how He longs to visit with you. Why not begin today? To help you get started, learn about different ways to be involved or glean useful tips and ideas from the Global Day Organizer Guide.

The Global Day Organizer Guide, or the “G DOG” as we call it, is a practical and proven resource on how to organize a successful multi-church or citywide Global Day of Prayer event. The insights and practical tips contained in the GDOG have been tried and tested and will help you put together a well-organized event that brings glory and honor to God.

The GDOG is a 24-page downloadable PDF. It covers everything from how to get started, what GDOP is and what it is not, mobilizing pastors and churches, establishing small working groups and planning the Global Day of Prayer event. We encourage you to download the Global Day Organizer Guide (PDF – 176 KB), print it and give it to the leaders on your coordinating team. You will be glad you did. We have been told “we could not have done it without the GDOG.”