expected to pray Monday, 03-03-03, for a revival in a broken world amid new bloodshed in Israel and a likely war with Iraq.
In Budapest, the Hungarian capital, Bible believing Christians began praying at 3.33 in the afternoon local time, after similar events in Asia and the Pacific following Internet appeals from The World Prayer Team based in Colorado Springs.
The World Prayer Team had asked Christian churches and individuals to set aside "at least 3 minutes to pray at 3:33 PM in their time zone on 03/03/03."
"This is something new for (post Communist) Hungary," said Tamas S. Kiss, spokesman of the Agape Church, an evangelical congregation involved in the project with dozens of groups across the country.
In a statement obtained by BosNewsLife, Ted Haggard, President of The World Prayer Team said his office had been "flooded" with messages from people all over the world saying that God pressed them to pray on 03-03-03.
"HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS"
"These believers do not know one another, nor are they connected to one another. They do not know that the others are saying the same thing. Clearly, the Holy Spirit is speaking to His church, and He is calling His people to pray," he said.
"As these reports began to come in, we sensed in our hearts that God wants us to promote a huge outpouring of prayer on this special date. Many believe there is significance to this date because of its numerical sequence (03-03-03) which reminds many Christians of the Trinity," Haggard added.
"Moreover, the Holy Spirit has highlighted Jeremiah 33:3, again, three 3’s, as our call to action, ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’"
NON-CHRISTIANS
Church observers said this date was not lost on the non-Christian world as The Global Consciousness movement or New Age has for years been planning a world-wide "Largest ever experiment into global consciousness" to take place on 03-03-03.
Their effort was reportedly to begin at 3:33 am local time in Fiji, on the 3rd day of the 3rd month of the 3rd millennium.
"We know that there are many non-Christians around the world praying against Christians. So our pastor asked everybody to pray for three minutes today from 3.33 for Christians around the world" as well as the spiritual health of the planet, added Agape Spokesman Kiss.
WAR WITH IRAQ
The World Prayer Team said prayer is also important "as America could launch a war with Iraq at about that very hour, against a leader, Saddam Hussein, who has only recently embraced Islam as a way of gaining support from the Islamic world, which was not the case during the first Gulf War."
"According to the Islamic calendar, March 3, 2003 is the eve of the Islamic New Year as the Islamic year 1424 begins March 4, 2003. It is also the last day of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, when pilgrims are encouraged to make a sacrifice."
Scholars say the key verse in the Qu’ Ran about this festival to take place this year on March 3, 2003 is, "truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life or my death, are all of Allah." This date therefore holds great significance to the Islamic world, the World Prayer Team said.
PRAYER FOCUS
It urged Christians to "pray that the armies of heaven will push back the powers of darkness in the Middle East. Pray that Saddam Hussein will leave the country before war is required to remove him from power. Pray that a spiritual shield will contain hostilities within the Iraqi borders, if war cannot be avoided, such that it doesn’t spill over to the entire Islamic world."
The World Prayer Team also stressed it was important to "pray that weapons of mass destruction, if they are deployed on any side of the battle, will be powerless. Pray that this date, rather than being a focal point of darkness, will be overwhelmed by the Light of God through the world-wide prayers of His people."
The organization explained that "while all of this is beneath the radars of the secular news media, it is clear to many Christian leaders that the world is on the brink of a spiritual battle of monumental proportions."
It added that "the epicenter of this struggle is the Middle East-a battle is going on for Jerusalem and Babylon (Iraq), biblical centers of spiritual light and darkness," at a time when it believes the return of Jesus Christ, "God manifested in the flesh" is "imminent."
