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'50 Days of Prayer' for General Conference has begun!
3/16/2012
Let us unite in prayer for God's will to be done, in God's way and in God's time.
A 50-day, worldwide prayer meeting for the 2012 General Conference of The United Methodist Church begins Friday, March 16 – and The Upper Room has a free, downloadable resource, 50 Days of Prayer, to help everyone participate.
Visit http://50daysofprayer.upperroom.org/ to download the PDF version or sign up to receive via email the 50 Days of Prayer daily meditations.
"50 Days of Prayer is a miracle made possible by electronic communication," the Rev. Tom Albin, Dean of The Upper Room (General Board of Discipleship), writes in the Introduction.
"Every local congregation in every part of the world can pray with and for the 988 delegates of the 2012 General Conference. Using the Internet and free, downloadable files, every United Methodist delegate, bishop, worship leader, and local church member will be able to read the same Scripture, consider the same insights, and pray the same prayer for 40 days prior to the General Conference in Tampa, Florida, and [on] each day of the General Conference, April 24 through May 4, 2012."
During GC, the plenary preacher of the day has written the meditation for that day, so we all can participate in the same experience of Scripture, word, and Spirit.
The Upper Room 50 Days of Prayer resource will allow us to support, in an active way, the spiritual preparation needed before General Conference – and to intercede faithfully during the 10 days of the conference itself.
Rev. Albin asks for "praying people and prayer vigils" in every United Methodist Church in the world: that "every family, every small group, every district, every Conference, and every nation" will pray for "God's will, God's way, in God's time."
"Prayer often requires perseverance … [and] obedient, persistent, receptive, whole-hearted, earnest, fervent prayer will transform The United Methodist Church," he says.
The blanket of prayer will extend over the physical location of General Conference, too. There will be an April 23 prayer walk in which, Albin says, "We will pray through every square foot" of the Tampa Convention Center (where General Conference will take place), including "every bathroom and every parking lot!"