Christians from many denominations will unite as they recite a prayer from 2 Chronicles 7:14, asking God to heal their distressed lands and countries.
It’s an exciting and awe-inspiring aspect for the Rev. Terry Pierce, who will gather with members of his church and several Odessa and Midland church congregations 6 p.m. Sunday at Life Unlimited Church.
“To know there are literally millions of people called around the world by God’s name has a tremendous power in it,” Pierce, pastor at the First Church of the Nazarene, said. “There’s not anything I’ve known about in my lifetime that has the potential of reaching fulfillment.”
The Global Day of Prayer began in 2000, when South African businessman Graham Power received a vision from God to call all Christian denominations to pray and repent at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, according to the Global Day of Prayer website.
As word spread, the prayer day that began in Cape Town soon spread to the rest of South Africa and eventually all of Africa before spreading throughout the world. The Global Day of Prayer reached Odessa five years ago, Pierce said.
In 2010, Pierce said around eight to 10 churches were represented in the prayer gathering in the Midland-Odessa area, with around 150 people attending.
The Rev. Don Palmer of Life Unlimited, which is hosting the gathering, said that people of different denominations coming together to pray on Pentecost Sunday emphasizes the prayer’s message to God.
Palmer attested to the power of interdenominational prayer in 1991 after praying with several of Odessa’s religious leaders. Palmer said because the leaders prayed together, the city’s crime rate decreased by 40 percent.
“I am a very strong believer in corporate prayer. By corporate prayer, I mean crossing denominational lines, racial lines, about every line there is. There’s much power in this,” Palmer said. “This is an ecumenical movement. It’s not one denomination. Unity is a huge factor in God moving.”
Pierce said more and more Christians are gathering together for events like the Global Day of Prayer, because they are realizing that one denomination does not hold all of the answers.
“There are a lot of things about our individual doctrines that we’ll never agree on,” Pierce said. “But, there are so many things we do have in common, and we can come together so he (Jesus) can show himself in us.”
To emphasize churches working together, Pierce said Global Day of Prayer officials are also asking churches in the week leading up to Pentecost to form a 24-hour prayer chain. Each church in the chain will have members praying for 24 hours for God’s blessings.
As churches of different denominations unite in prayer, Palmer said they will realize prayer’s power in reaching God.
“Our country’s in a mess. When you look at all the things going on, God’s trying to get people’s attention,” Palmer said. “There needs to be some changes in our country. Prayer is one thing that changes things, especially when you can pray with people of different denominations.”
Original Source: oaoa.com
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