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Prayer Can Change the World!By Marshall Foster
The World History Institute enters its 40thyear of ministry this
summer. For four event-ful decades we have communicated the
truthsof liberty truths rooted in the life-liberat-ing Gospel of
Jesus Christ. Over these yearswe have conducted innumerable events,
con-ferences, seminars, workshops, tours andmore. But there is
still so much more to do!In fact, this month we launch one of the
most important initiatives ever a call to all believers to pray for
all the world.
Faith-filled prayer can change everything. Itcan unleash Gods
power to harness theforces of nature, to stop an army in its
tracks,to turn back the enemies of the Gospel.Prayer can transform
a life, and through theprivilege of intercession we believers can
havea part in Gods will being done and His king-dom coming to
people and places around theglobe.
This new prayer initiative is calledGPS30 GPS standsfor Global
PrayerStrategy, and 30stands for 30 days ofconsistent,
focusedpraying. Well saymore about thisunique endeavor laterin this
issue. First, letme remind you ofsome ways in whichthe power of
prayerhas been evidencedover the course ofhistory...
Plymouth Colony, 1623Three years after landing in Cape Cod,
thePilgrims faced starvation. They had beenforced to work in common
fields by the mer-chants who funded their voyage. The result ofthis
socialism was disastrous. Then WilliamBradford became governor and
turned to thebiblical plan for private property and free
en-terprise. It inspired productivity among thesettlers. With each
family allotted their ownland, the crops began to flourish. But no
rainfell in July and August of 1623 and the cropswithered. The
Pilgrims appointed a Day ofFasting, Repentance and Prayer. At 4
oclockthat day a gentle rain began to fall and it con-tinued for
three days, saving the crops andsaving the Pilgrims from starvation
duringthat winter. With grateful hearts, the Pilgrimsinaugurated
the First Thanksgiving in November, 1623.
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restore, preserve and secure the liberties of this,and all the
other British American Colonies, andmake this land a mountain of
holiness, and habita-tion of righteousness forever. Little did the
gov-ernor know that on that very day, their sistercolony in
Massachusetts was facing the openingbattle of the War of
Independence at Lexingtonand Concord. A way was opened for the
coloniststo be warned of the attack and at the end of theday, God
gave the patriots a victory whichchanged the course of history.
England, 1940In May, 1940 the English were on the verge oflosing
their nation to Hitlers Nazi forces. Germantanks plowed through
Belgium and France soquickly that 360,000 English troops were
trappedon the shores of Dunkirk. Englands new PrimeMinister,
Winston Churchill, said that it would bea miracle if 20,000 of
their men could escapedeath or capture. Churchill called the
British peo-ple to a Day of Repentance and Prayer on May 27,1940.
Meanwhile, back in Germany, the Fhrerwent against the advice of his
generals and pulledback his army. He assigned the destruction of
theEnglish to his crony Air Force General. At thatmoment a thick
fog dropped upon the Channel,crippling Hitlers pilots and
preventing them from
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New England, 1746In September, 1746 scores of French warships
andthousands of troops were ready to invade and at-tack New
England. The Colonists prayed forGods deliverance. On October 1st a
powerfulhurricane struck, sinking virtually the entireFrench fleet.
The few ships left afloat set sail forFrance. Back in New England,
the Colonistsstood still and saw the salvation of the Lord.(Exodus
14:13)
Connecticut, 1775On April 19, 1775, Gov. Jonathan Trumbull
ofConnecticut called for a Day of Prayer and Repen-
tance for all the colonies. Inthe governors proclamationhe
explained that their realenemy was not England, buttheir own sin
and lack of re-pentance. He asked for thepeople to be awakened,
hum-bled and reformed...that Godwould graciously pour out his
Holy Spirit on us, to bring us to a thorough re-pentance and
effectual reformation, that our iniq-uities may not be our ruin
that He would
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seeing the stranded English troops. The water ofthe English
Channel became like glass for the nexteight days. Six hundred
little boats were able toferry 330,000 men back to England before
thecurtain of clouds lifted. It was soon known as theMiracle of
Dunkirk. The Archbishop of Canter-bury said that it was the
greatest miracle Englandhad seen since the Spanish Armada had been
scat-tered by the North Wind, saving England fromdestruction in
1588.
East Germany, 1989One the most dramatic events of our lifetime
wasthe fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent col-lapse of the
Soviet Union. Yet most people do notknow that a prayer movement was
the chief cata-lyst for the re-unification of Germany. In 1982
aLutheran pastor named Fuehr in Leipzig, Ger-many, began a weekly
prayer meeting in his churchon Monday nights. He called the
meetingsPrayers for Peace. Many who dared to attendthe prayer
meetings were persecuted. Pastor Fuehrwas once driven into the
snow-covered wildernessby communist troops and left there to die.
But he
found his way back to town and held the prayermeeting again the
following Monday night. Even-tually the attendance at Prayers for
Peace grew tothousands every week. For seven long years believ-ers
persevered in prayer and seemingly had no an-swer from God. Then,
on October 9, 1989, PastorFuehr convened his prayer meeting as
usual. Thistime, however, he handed out candles to all atten-dees.
He said that they should all light their can-dles and remain
peaceful. As they left the churchthe 2,000 prayer warriors were met
by tens ofthousands of other East Germans who also carriedlighted
candles. Pastor Fuehr led this army ofprayerful warriors to the
train station in Leipzig,crossing an open market place that was
filled withCommunist GDR troops who could have mownthem down. But
the peaceful prayer warriors sim-ply surrounded the soldiers in
love and one by onethe East German soldiers disregarded
theirweapons and picked up candles. That night otherprayer rallies
were held throughout East Germany.As a result of this movement of
prayer, the EastGerman chancellor was compelled to resign.
Fourweeks later, the Berlin Wall fell. Prayer has trans-formational
power! The National Day of Libera-tion in Germany is not celebrated
on November9th, the day the wall fell, but on October 9th inhonor
of the courageous prayer warriors who withtheir faith in
Godoverturned an evilempire.
Once again we livein a time of deepperil in which ourtroubled
worldstands in need ofprayer. We mustdo our part tomeet this
needhead-on. Shownto the right is thecover of our newGPS30
WorldPrayer Atlasjust off the press.This booklet is being sent to
churches acrossAmerica to encourage them to join in a
30-daystrategy of intercession. Just as our Pray31 initia-
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tive called upon believers to pray acrossAmerica in one month,
this initiative engagesbelievers in praying around the world
overthe course of one month interceding forevery nation and
territory on earth.
I am honored to serve as National Chairmanof this initiative,
and I encourage you to getinvolved. Print out and fill in the form
belowto request your own complimentary copy ofthe World Prayer
Atlas. Once you have it inhand, start your 30 days of global prayer
andfollow the plan day by day on your own,
with your family, withyour small group, orhowever you wish
topray. Encourage yourpastor to engage yourentire church in aGPS30
initiative. Thou-sands of churches acrossAmerica are joining
in.
For bulk orders of the World Prayer Atlas,plus other GPS30
resources, go towww.GPS30.com.
We are so grateful for your partnership inministry and we thank
you in advance for anygift that you give at this crucial time.
Yourgenerosity is making a difference!
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Published monthly by:
The World History InstituteP.O. Box 4673Thousand Oaks, CA
91359
Phone: (805) 523-0072
The Institute embraces the providentialview of history, which
observes history asa purposeful saga under the direction of aloving
Creator. This historical perspectivehas been the dominant view of
WesternCivilization from the time of Augustine inthe 4th century
A.D. to the present day.
journalworldhistoryin s t i t u t e
World History Institute Reply CardYes, Marshall, I want to help
spreadthe Gospel and the truths of liberty!Enclosed is my gift of:
$____________.
Please send me a copy of the newWorld Prayer Atlas.
I will join with you in prayer to restoreAmerica as a light to
the nations andto pray for a worldwide spiritual awakening.
Thank you and God bless you!Make checks payable to:
WORLD HISTORY INSTITUTE.All contributions are fully
tax-deductible under 501(c)(3).
May God use this prayer endeavor to trans-form countless lives.
And may God bless yourichly as you do your part.
Yours for a global harvest,
Marshall Foster
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