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The Global “Day” of Prayer is Pentecost Sunday, May 11, 2008 this year. The days of prayer preceding it however are Ascension Day through Pentecost - May 1st through the 11th.

Though the modern Global Day of Prayer movement “started” in one sense in the year 2000, in reality the feasts of Pascha (the Christian Passover - our Lord’s Resurrection) and Pentecost were celebrated in the early church because of their significance in salvation history as turning points in God’s program for the world.

Well before the year 2000, but in the same land the modern Global Day of Prayer movement started - South Africa - the Dutch Reformed “cousins” of the United Church of Christ, restored times of special prayer during “Whitsuntide” - the 10 Days from Ascension Day through Pentecost. This is, after all, how the disciples prepared themselves for the first Pentecost (Acts 1). The reformed people of that land who sought God’s help anew in a special way each year modeled their practices after the disciples in the “Upper Room”. They joined together daily for worship, sermons on the work of the Holy Spirit and prayer. This was in the larger context of their normal annual teaching and preaching of the great truths of their confessions. This time of the year, however, was set aside for extended teaching on what the Heidelberg Catechism discusses under the category of a “Life of Gratitude” for the saving work of Jesus.

The modern Global Day of Prayer movement is today, it seems, much less closely linked to many of the biblical and reformation distinctives that fortified the prayers of our fathers in the faith. Indeed, at times, it seems marked by the immature and wishful triumphalism that marks the Protestant church as a whole - where that church has not gone apostate and lifeless that is.

So instead of complaining about “how much better” others who no longer walk this sod might do things, let us renew our own faith and joyfully join our brothers and sisters in Christ world wide as they appropriate part of our heritage and seek to restore it! Let’s bring our own Reformation faith to the party, as it were.

How can we do that?

In addition to using the resources provided by the Global Day of Prayer movement itself, let us reappropriate our own reformed understanding of these days in the whole of God’s plan for the world. In addition to the materials from the National Campaign of Hope (link below), it may be time to refresh our memories about how and why our people have entered into such times of extended prayer in the past.

The South African Reformed church developed an extensive theology of the Holy Spirit in their reformed context. Their best known advocate in the West is Rev. Andrew Murray whose practical works on prayer and the Holy Spirit are reprinted frequently in the United States. Unfortunately these works focus entirely on excerpts of his writings that seem to focus on personal blessing when, in reality, he was known also in his day as a missions organizer and churchman.

The concept of seeking God’s blessing during the ten days preceding Pentecost was frequently referred to as seeking “Holy Harvests” because of Pentecost’s link to the agricultural year and the festival of “first fruits”. Pentecost celebrates the inauguration of the world wide spiritual harvest of Christ through His Church. The Global Day of Prayer calls upon us to seek renewed strength both to BE the church and gather Christ’s Harvest in the Holy Spirit’s power.

Beyond this basic introduction, one can see how the doctrine of “Holy Harvests” was seen by them (and should be seen by us) as unfolding through the whole of scripture.

Short Version: http://www.dr-fnlee.org/abridge.html
Long Version: http://www.dr-fnlee.org/docs4/hh/hh.html

Then, having refreshed our minds on the biblical doctrines that call us to prayer at all times and especially on these days, let us renew our hearts and awaken our obedience to join the concert of prayer for God’s help.

Let us in the West pray for our own resurrection from spiritual death to life in this nation. Let us pray for the maturity and faith of what Philip Jenkins calls the “Next Christendom” of the Global South. And let us pray for “Holy Harvests” in all lands but especially the unreached peoples of the nations and the “10/40 Window”.

As congregations throughout the nation look for Small Church Solutions, participation in the Global Day of Prayer is an excellent way to affirm our spiritual heritage while looking outward and forward and seeking God’s help for our missions responsibility.

Also see: The National Campaign of Hope