Representatives of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) participated in the World Prayer Assembly 2012 (WPA) held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from May 14-18, which is believed to be the world's largest Christian intercessory prayer event. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General of the WEA, led the over 9,000 Christian leaders from more than 60 countries in a prayer for unity during the first plenary session on the day of the opening.
In his prayer that was based on John 17:17-21, Dr. Tunnicliffe asked God for forgiveness for the disunity of the Church in the past and prayed that the Holy Spirit would guide the body of Christ into oneness, “so that the world may believe”.
“Heavenly Father, Your blessed Son asked that Your church be One as You and He are One. But Christians have not been united as He prayed. We have isolated ourselves from each other and failed to listen to each other. We have misunderstood and ridiculed and even gone so far as to attack each other.”
“In so doing we have offended against You, and against all who have not believed in You because of our scandalous disunity. Forgive us, Father, and make us fully one. Blot out our sins, renew our minds, enkindle our hearts, and guide us by your Holy Spirit into that Oneness which is Your will,” he prayed.
The WPA also featured prayer sessions for ‘International Issues and Models’, where Rev. Joel Edwards, Director of Micah Challenge, facilitated a prayer track on “The Role of Prayer in Addressing Poverty – the Millennium Development Goals and other development efforts” together with Dr. Jayukumar Christian, national director of World Vision India.
The WPA Program Task Force emphasized the importance of not looking at the WPA as simply one prayer event in 2012, “but part of a process of building waves of prayer across the globe, in which we are all engaged”. Brian Mills, Senior Advisor of the International Prayer Council said: “What we are hoping for through and beyond this Assembly are for connections to be made across the nations, generations and denominations, around common areas of interest, leading to ongoing cooperation and strategy.”
Dr. Tunnicliffe concluded: “If we are going to see transformation become a reality, prayer must be foundational to all we do. Because of this core belief WEA was a strong supporter of the World Prayer Assembly in Indonesia. It is our hope that the WPA will not only have a lasting impact on the thousands of participants but will be a catalyst for fervent prayer and transformation in the nations of the world.”
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