Worship Institute Calls for Worldwide Prayer

This week, Canadians celebrated Canada Day which marks their independence from Great Britain. Friday is July 4, which is Independence Day in the U.S.

Throughout July, several countries around the world — France, Liberia, and Peru to name a few — also celebrate their independence. July 14 is Bastille Day in France. Liberia will celebrate on July 26, and Peru on July 28.

With this in mind, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) in Grand Rapids, Mich. asks churches to pause in prayer to remember these milestones.

But the institute also says that prayer for the worldwide church is always appropriate, not just during times of independence celebrations.

Prayer spans circumstances and boundaries. “We do so with the knowledge that in Christ there is no east nor west,” says the institute.

Certainly, the world is in need of prayer in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere.

This past January, the topic of worldwide prayer and the opportunities it provides for worship was addressed in many of the presentations at the institute’s annual Symposium on Worship.

Especially significant: Centering congregational prayer around situations and challenges around the world, seeking through prayer for God to intercede in these situations.

In a symposium plenary address, John D. Witvliet noted that many churches have experienced “an outpouring of creativity in church music and the arts, of excellence in preaching.”

Witvliet, director of the CICW, invited people to give the same “creative, collaborative, intentional growth in our capacity for public prayer, one of the central acts of worship… This focus can help your church see that God cares about the whole world, offers us the gift of prayer and calls us to live out our prayers.”

Read story from the CICW about intercessory prayer for places around the world. Among other things, the story gives churches practical suggestions and resources to help them to do this.