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

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.

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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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