The Vision Behind 40 Days of Prayer
An Unprecedented Call to Prayer
By Dave Butts
The World Prayer Assembly in Indonesia, May 14-18 was a wonderful time of prayer and fellowship with more than 9,000 prayer leaders from around the world. I was there representing America’s National Prayer Committee (NPC), a group I am privileged to serve as Chairman. God touched my heart in so many ways. One of the most significant things has to do with our fall elections. The Lord seemed to press in upon me that we must pray as never before if we are to see His intervention on behalf of our nation. This was not what I was expecting to hear while in Indonesia.
It seems that a time of intense prayer for 40 days prior to our elections is in order. I have to confess . . . I argued with the Lord about this. I thought, not another 40 day event! But He was insistent that this be not another event or prayer gathering such as we have had . . . but something unprecedented in American church history. Testimonies of amazing praying international Christians prompted much of this. Many believers around the world are praying fervently for the United States and this crucial election. We want to join in with 40 days of 24/7 prayer!
To issue such a call to prayer is beyond the parameters of the NPC or any one group. It needs to come from a wide-spread array of leaders. Denominational, parachurch, seminaries, publishing houses, broadcast ministries, etc., must all be a part of this call to prayer. I'm also not proposing a single event or activity for everyone to get behind . . . but a call for everyone to get behind something. I envision a dozen different 40 day initiatives. I've already had a number come to me over the past few months. The idea is that every believer and every church takes part in some concerted, prolonged prayer initiative for the elections during the days of September 28 - November 6.
This needs to go beyond what one ministry or denomination can do. My sense that this is a call to prayer for three things:
- Revival in the Church.
- A righteous standard to be raised over the nation.
- The Elections--asking for the Lord’s intervention.
It seemed to me, first of all, that this call to prayer is essential for America. If we will mobilize and pray, we will see Him work. Without intense day and night prayer, we will not see the hand of God at work to transform our nation. The second thing is that I believe that many of the communities that do 24/7 prayer for 40 days will continue beyond that. We may well see a huge and immediate proliferation of 24/7 prayer across the nation as a result of these 40 days. It would be just like God to use something that we are interested in (the election) to produce something He is interested in (day and night prayer).
This website is designed to provide information to help disseminate the word about this vital prayer initiative. You will see information, guides, prayer meeting templates, and links to other prayer initiatives that are focusing on this election. This site and the NPC are not endorsing these initiatives, but making you aware of them. Our intent is to stay far away from anything that looks like an endorsement or movement for any particular candidate or party. What we are asking for is the intervention of God on behalf of our nation.
Will you join us? The first thing you can do is go immediately to our facebook page and “Like” us. This is so you can receive immediate information about the site and the initiative as it becomes available. Click here to go to the facebook page. Next, study this site. See what is here that can help you pray more fervently for our nations and these elections, and that can help you be a catalyst for prayer in your church and community.