Feedback: Thank God for the Global Day of Prayer! One hundred people from a wide variety of Christian churches and fellowship groups came together for the first time in Ballyholme Methodist Church, East Bangor, to pray with sisters and brothers around the world on the afternoon of Pentecost Sunday. We began with a call to worship in the words of Psalm 67:
‘Let God be gracious to us and bless us:
And make His face shine upon us,
That Your ways may be known on the earth:
Your liberating power among all nations.’
Our prayers for the world were led by two young people and two adults representing the whole Church of God. In our prayers of repentance we wanted the whole congregation to pray simultaneous prayers of repentance but this was overruled as one person (a local councillor) began to lead us all in an extempore prayer. This was followed by another, and another, until many individuals had prayed in repentance from the body of the congregation. This was followed by an extended time of sung thanksgiving and prayers of thanksgiving in small groups.
Intercession for the local community focused on five main areas and led by people from different local churches: We prayed for our civic and spiritual leaders, our police, fire, ambulance and other emergency services, our business community, our young people and the vulnerable in our community and for spiritual renewal in our churches.
At the conclusion of this section of prayers we lit a candle at the front of the church as a symbol of our desire to be lights in the darkness, beacons of hope for our community.
In our closing intercessions for the nations we prayed particularly for the persecuted church and for the victims of the recent cyclone and storm surge flooding in Burma. And we concluded, crying out with one voice, “Come, Lord Jesus, fill the earth with Your glory!”
We left that place rejoicing. The Lord’s name was honoured. He is pleased as we seek His Kingdom above all else. One little example of how the glory spreads…two young guys from the local Catholic school had been asked to video the event. They went home saying that were going to tell all their mates about the Global Day of Prayer. “It was something else!!” (Something of heaven perhaps?!)
Feedback Report by Peter Murray, Transformations Ireland.
