Pentecost and the Global Day of Prayer

Enjoy this day of prayer as you celebrate with believers worldwide. We hope these 10 Days of 24/7 prayer have been an encouragement. May we all see the Lord's power.

Day 10: going forward

After they watched Jesus ascend into heaven, the disciples gathered in the upper room of the place they were staying in Jerusalem. The Bible says, "They all joined together constantly in prayer." Their time together ended on Pentecost, and our time of constant prayer will also end on Pentecost. The disciples left their upper room and "turned the world upside down". Will we?

Dr. George Verwer's Biola commencement speech (with introduction)

Our own George Verwer, founder of OM and the father of short-term missions, gave the commencement address at Biola University last weekend. The school honored George with an honorary doctorate of divinity last weekend. George was the speaker at both Biola commencement services. Here's his Saturday morning address.

DAY 9: Looking toward the Global Day of Prayer

This Sunday, May 31 is Pentecost and the Global Day of Prayer (GDOP). As we wind down our own 10 Days of prayer and preparation, here's a brief overview of the GDOP. You may want to pass this on to your church and register your own GDOP gathering, where you can join in prayer with the 220 countries participating this year.

Day 8: five missionaries

Focus today on your five missionaries. Lift up any needs they might have and ask the Lord for ways you may help meet those needs.

And remember to keep praying for your 5 missionaries, 5 cities, and 5 countries. Thanks for joining us in prayer.

Day 7: five cities

Which 5 cities did you choose to pray over this week? Remember them now with any Scripture the Lord lays on your heart.

Day 6: five countries

Have you been praying for your five countries this week? Today we remember those and ask for God's spirit to move in each one.

Day 5: remembering

It's Memorial Day here in the States, a day to honor those who have gone before us to give us our freedom. Let us also remember the heroes of the faith who brought the word of God to us and shared with us His sacrificial love.

Day 4: rest

Enjoy this day of worship wherever you are. We offer you this song of praise from South Africa called "I Sikulu", or "God Is Great".



See more international praise music on OM's Heartsounds YouTube channel.

Day 3: confession

We are praying through the Sermon on the Mount during our 10 days of 24/7 prayer. So today, let's read these words of Jesus in Matthew 5:21-48. Then we can ask the Lord to search our hearts and show us where we may have put our own "holiness" over His love for the people around us. Let's confess what He reveals and continue to pray through Matthew 5-7.

That's DOCTOR George Verwer

OM founder George Verwer will be receiving an Honorary Doctor of Divinity tonight and tomorrow from Biola University. You can watch the commencement services live at Biola's site. Tonight's ceremony is for those earning graduate degrees (6pm PDT), tomorrow morning's is for undergrads (9am PDT). George will be the commencement speaker at both ceremonies.

Biola announced they are honoring George Verwer "for his work as a leader in global missions". Honorary degrees at Biola "are awarded by formal action of the Board of Trustees on recommendation by the university president to recognize individuals who have a clear evangelical Christian testimony and have demonstrated significant service and achievement over an extended period of time, which is national or international in nature and is relevant to the mission of Biola University".

That certainly defines our founder's legacy, and we are thrilled to see him honored in this way. However, we're positive that the newly titled Dr. Verwer will still insist you call him George.

Day 2: start with praise

As you enter the 10 days of 24/7 prayer with us, begin by focusing on the Lord and your relationship with Him. Toward that purpose we'd like to share this devotional video which we saw in our Thursday chapel. It's a song called "Awaken Me" from Misty Edwards of the International House of Prayer (IHOP). In the video, she is creating the song spontaneously while leading worship in the IHOP prayer room. It is a beautiful prayer of preparation.

Dr. Ralph Winter

Missiologist Ralph Winter passed away on Wednesday. Dr. Winter was known as an enterprising visionary who began the US Center for World Mission, a campus of sending agencies in Pasadena, California. The Center produces many valuable resources including Mission Frontiers magazine and the International Journal of Frontier Missions. Dr. Winter frequently contributed his insights to both publications, posing great questions for the mission community to answer with their actions. He also started the Perspectives course, an intensive training program that has mobilized many for missions worldwide.

Like OM founder George Verwer, Dr. Winter has always had a heart for mobilization. He often compared the cause of world evangelization to a burning building. Dr. Winter would ask, "which would you rather do -- pour a bucket of water on the fire, or wake up 100 sleeping firemen?" He knew how to wake up firemen. He knew how to mentor and challenge and motivate believers to become global disciple-makers. The kingdom is richer for his life, both here and in eternity.



above: Dr. Ralph Winter talks about the kingdom in a video for the Lausanne Movement.

below:OM founder George Verwer met with Ralph Winter in 2007 and posted this brief interview on his blog.

Day 1: opening prayer walk

This morning we launched our ten days of 24/7 prayer, a time of focusing on the Lord leading up to Pentecost and the Global Day of Prayer on May 31. In today's chapel, musicians, dancers, and worshipers gathered and spent some time praising the Lord together before leaving on a corporate prayer walk.



Ten prayer stations have been set up along the OM USA walking trail for anyone who wants to visit and pray along with us.

Graham Wells, head of OM USA's Global Prayer Ministries, offered a few challenges for this 10-day season of prayer:

• Read Matthew 5-7 daily and pray through it. This is Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and it will be our focus. Look for the kingdom principles Jesus gives.
  
• Tithe your time. There are 210 hours in these 10 days. Graham asks if we can "extravagantly give...a portion of our time to seek Him?"
• Pray daily for 5 nations, 5 cities, and 5 missionaries. Choose any the Lord lays on your heart and commit to those during this prayer time. You may pray through these at the stations on the prayer walk or from your home if you are not here locally.
  

And please tell us how you are praying in the comments section below. What are your 5? Or what insights has the Lord given you in His Word (wherever you are reading). How did it go when you tithed your time? Let us know.

Thanks for praying with us. We are lifting you up as well.

Praying toward Pentecost

Will you pray with us? Tomorrow OM USA is starting 10 days of 24/7 prayer. Our prayer room will be open around the clock through Pentecost, May 31. Come pray for OM, pray for your church or the nations, or just draw nearer to the Lord. We welcome you to join us for chapel Thursday morning from 8:30 - 10:30 for the opening of our 10 day focus, ending in a prayer walk around the campus.