A Global Cry for the Glory of Christ
One entire wall in the prayer room in my church is covered with a beautiful map of the world. As you enter the room, you are immediately drawn into the hope of Habakkuk 2:14: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” My pastor has chosen this as his life verse and has given himself to pray this promise as the underlying theme of his ministry. God has used my pastor’s example to help change my own prayer life.
A couple of years ago, my church hosted a season of prayer, 24 hours a day for ten days, leading up to the Global Day of Prayer. I signed up for several prayer slots, determined to pray with the hope of Habakkuk 2:14. I longed for people throughout the earth to exalt the name of Jesus Christ and welcome His presence and glory.
So I began praying from one side of the map to the other. I stood at the wall, placing my hand (and sometimes just the tip of my finger) on every nation, one by one. I paced myself over the course of several days. I found myself placing my hand on countries with names I did not recognize. Perhaps I had studied their names in a world geography class along the way, but my lack of awareness humbled me. As the Lord was introducing me to the nations, it gave me even greater inspiration to “pray on.” He was capturing my heart to pray with hope for people in places with names I couldn’t even pronounce.
Truly a Global Prayer Movement
That was the year that the Global Day of Prayer reported 220 nations of the earth were represented in this global prayer initiative. That meant that in every nation I touched while I prayed, at least one person was joining me in the same prayer!
I discovered a profound prayer principle: “God puts on our hearts the very prayers He intends to answer.”
If we are praying with such global unity today, perhaps we are closing in on the day when truly all nations of the earth will be filled with the knowledge of His glory. Steve Hawthorne says it this way in his article: “Why else would there be a global prayer movement unless God is about to act in a global way?”
In this issue you will read of ways God is increasing the urgency of His people in this cry—especially in these last three decades, following the International Prayer Assembly in Seoul, Korea. Many prayer initiatives were launched from that significant gathering. And on May 14, 2012, another historic gathering will occur in Jakarta, Indonesia. Ben Jennings writes about these historic moments and invites the Lord to “do it again.”
What is all this leading up to in God’s Kingdom and in His timing? Dick Eastman addresses this by sharing his hope for a great spiritual awakening and global evangelistic harvest.
Be encouraged. God is inviting us to join Him in His plan by praying for the fulfillment of His promise to flood the earth with His glory. Let your prayer of faith be, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Carol Madison is editor of Prayer Connect.
