Pete Greig Reviews Sunday's 'Global Day Of Prayer'

Published: May 19th, 2005

HIS STORY MAKERS
by Pete Greig
 
History, as you may recall from the infallible lips of your Sunday School teacher, is actually ‘His Story’. It was about as near to a joke as Sunday School ever got.
 
WARNING: At least one of these men is not Jesus
 
Strangely enough, Michael Jackson followed the lead of Sunday School Teachers around the world by titling his 1993 CD and DVD 'HIStory' (geddit?). For Michael Jackson I suspect that the 'His' in HIStory referred to himself rather than, erm, God. Which reminds me of the famous incident when Jarvis Cocker of Pulp became so outraged by Michael's Messianic aspirations at the 1996 Brit awards that he invaded the stage (read more here). But I digress...
Assuming that my Sunday School Teacher was right (and Michael Jackson was wrong) it'll be fascinating to discover God’s editorial priorities when we finally sit down in heaven to watch a News Review of 2005.
 

Pete Greig laughing at a hilarious cloud formation
I’m tempted to use the word historic about the Global Day of Prayer that took place on Pentecost Sunday. The event may not have troubled Reuters or caused Jeremy Paxman to sit up and sneer, but it was undoubtedly an extraordinary phenomenon: 200 million people in at least 170 nations joined together in prayer on a single day. Such an unprecedented symphony of intercession is surely His Story in the making?
 
However, massive spiritual operations such as the Global Day of Prayer invariably provoke big questions
about the motivation and impact of so much outlay – particularly in retrospect. ‘Did it work?’ we wonder secretly. When the world woke ‘the morning after’, was anything actually noticeably different?
 
A mere mustard seed of faith can result in some fairly serious landscape gardening
I’m delighted to be able to say ‘Yes!’ The Global Day of Prayer was undoubtedly ‘worth it’ and I’ll tell you why – but first a word of caution. In our consumer culture it is important that we do not fall into the trap of quantifying prayer. Christ’s parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector reminds us that the quantity of words spoken in prayer never impresses God as much as the quality of heart. And when lots of people pray on a single day – even 200 million of us – we would do well to remember that a single prayer whispered with a mere mustard seed of faith
can result in some fairly serious landscape gardening. This being so, we must resist the temptation to say that the Day of Prayer was successful simply because it was big! That would be to miss the point.
 
The initiative didn't begin in some American Board Room but rather in Africa.
According to the Bible, the prayers that make His Story are measured not in numbers but in faith, in perseverance (which is the fullness of faith), in brotherly unity and in simple obedience to His command. It is against such criteria that I consider the Global Day of Prayer a success. On Pentecost Sunday we witnessed a remarkable display of faith, of perseverance in prayer and of Christian unity across ethnic and denominational divides. The initiative did not begin in some American Board Room but rather in Africa.
Amen?
Following the Day of Prayer, we are now being urged to embark upon 90 days of community transformations and a ‘compassionate Plan of Action’. In other words, 200 million people are being asked to become an answer to prayer. Jesus intercedes that we would make His Story in a myriad of practical details. Every one of us. Even Michael Jackson. 
 
If we’re looking for an ‘Amen’ to the Global Day of Prayer, if we’re wondering where His Story is going to be made in the wake of so much prayer, let’s divert our gaze from the television screen just long enough to take a long hard look in the mirror. Is there anything I can do to become an answer to Jesus' prayers for the world today?
 
Originally printed in The Christian Herald Newspaper.
Pete Greig’s latest book ‘The Vision & The Vow’ is out now. 

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