Boris Johnson backs Global Day of Prayer

|PIC1|London Mayor Boris Johnson has come out in support of a major citywide prayer event on Pentecost Sunday.

Each of the capital’s 33 boroughs will unite together for the Global Day of Prayer on 31 May to pray for London, the Government and the nation.

Previous Global Day of Prayer events have seen tens of thousands of Christians together in West Ham and Millwall football stadiums, and thousands are expected to take part again this year.

Johnson showed his support for the event last year by taking to the stage at Millwall, where he asked Christians to pray for his vision to transform London and work for better community cohesion. He was later prayed for onstage by the thousands-strong crowd and church leaders including the Bishop of Barking, the Rt Rev David Hawkins, and GDOP London convener Pastor Jonathan Oloyede.

Last year’s event also coincided with a meeting of some 80 key GDOP coordinators and organisers with Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Downing Street, a sign of the movement’s growing influence in the political spheres.

This year, GDOP London is rolling out across each of the boroughs, with local church and civic leaders planning to come together in prayer. A video message from Johnson is to be broadcast to each of the gatherings.

Whilst previous years have focused on gun and knife crime, high on this year’s prayer agenda are the credit crunch and good governance.

“In recent years we have held a central event, in a football stadium and Christians across all denominations have joined forces together to pray,” said Pastor Oloyede.

“This year we want to focus our prayers on the needs of each borough of London and its many social issues, whilst also recognising the desperate state this country is in, both in terms of the those suffering from the credit crunch, and also the apparent lack of respect for our parliamentary system, rocked to the core by allegations of financial misconduct and lack of integrity.

“We shall pray for all involved.”

The Global Day of Prayer London is part of a worldwide day of prayer taking place in 219 countries on May 31.

This year’s day of prayer in London is being precipitated by 10 days of 24/7 prayer at various points along the M25. The M25 Nutcracker will see churches along the M25 open their doors around the clock for people to come in and pray for God’s blessings upon London.

The May 31 event is part of an ongoing prayer movement across the UK, which organisers hope will take Christians to Wembley Stadium to pray for the nation in 2011.


On the web: www.gdoplondon.com