T.D. Jakes, Luis Palau Team Up for Global Prayer Broadcast
Bishop T.D. Jakes, Evangelist Luis Palau, and Pastor Jack Graham will team up to host the third annual Global Day of Prayer television broadcast this coming Sunday.
The team of three will host a 3-hour television special broadcast from the Reunion Arena in downtown Dallas 5-8 p.m. (CST) on May 27. Christians worldwide will be able to watch and join the Christian leaders in worship and collective prayer for global problems such as war, terrorism, poverty, homelessness, natural disaster and other issues.
"We face problems that seem insurmountable," said Jakes, pastor of the 30,000-member Potter's House Church in Dallas, in a statement. "And yet we know that God has answers for them all. It's our privilege to call Christians around the world to set aside one day to pray fervently, and seek Divine answers to seemingly impossible dilemmas."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The GDOP broadcast this year is part of a local Christian initiative collectively called "Transformation Dallas" which includes: the Global Day of Prayer; 90 days of love-in-action through urban renewal in depressed areas of the city; and "Celebrate Freedom," a Christian music and extreme sports festival featuring Luis Palau expected to draw 200,000 people June 29-30.
"Dallas is one of my favorite cities in the world," Palau said, who joined the Jakes-Graham team GDOP broadcast last year, in a statement. "I'm inspired and encouraged by its diversity and by the powerful impact of the church community at so many levels. It's also blessed with some of the greatest leaders in the Christian faith."
The broadcast is just one part of the global event involving millions of Christians in nearly every country in the world. On a worldwide scale, the day will include 18 hours of continuous broadcast in all 200 nations, beginning in New Zealand and ending in Dallas.
GDOP began six years ago as a small gathering in Cape Town, South Africa. A year later, in 2001, the small gathering grew to 45,000 Christians meeting in a rugby stadium in Cape Town. Thereafter the whole continent joined as millions united in prayer for Africa and the world.
Last year, Christians in 199 nations took part in GDOP events. And this year, organizers have already registered in 200 countries and expect 200 million people to participate in unified prayer for the whole earth to know the Lord this Sunday.
"We want to take responsibility for our community, our city, our churches-people all around us who need to know Christ," said Graham, megapastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. "We pray that God would move in every heart and bring revival that our hearts cry for; that He would bring renewal in our churches; that He would bring the harvest of souls that are all around us, responsive and ready."
Leading up to the Global Day of Prayer on May 27 are ten days of 24-hour-a-day prayer watches around the world from May 17 to 26.
In addition, this year's event will feature a special where believers on the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro will join millions of Christians in prayer. The event will be broadcast live on GodTV.
