National Day of Prayer

Bob Bakke, Executive Director for the Global Day of Prayer, leads worship for National Day of Prayer service on Thursday, May 3

Highland Park Presbyterian Church will once again host a National Day of Prayer service for the Park Cities community Thursday, May 3, at 7 pm in the Sanctuary. The 2007 theme for the National Day of Prayer is America, Unite in Prayer! Living in a nation at war with terror, amidst a city that leads the nation in violent crime, in a culture rife with self-destructive ungodliness, being together on Thursday, May 3, is an opportunity for the Body of Christ to unite in prayer for our nation, city, churches, and ministries.

Dr. Robert O. (Bob) Bakke will deliver the keynote message on prayer entitled, Prayer and the Transformation of History, based on 2 Chronicles 7:14. Bob is the Executive Director for the Global Day of Prayer North America and also the Executive Producer for Global Broadcasting. Bob, his wife Sally and their four children, live in Burnsville, Minnesota.

For 12 years, Dr. Bakke was the Executive Director of the Evangelical Free Church of America, which focused on the issues of prayer and spiritual awakening. A graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div. 1979 and D.Min. 1993), Bob spent 14 years in the pastorate serving Connecticut and New Jersey churches. Beginning in 1987, he gave leadership to prayer movements in New Jersey and greater metropolitan New York City. The core of this prayer movement became the nucleus for the 1991 New Jersey Billy Graham Crusade. Dr. Bakke served on the Crusade’s Executive Board and held the position of Crusade Prayer Chairman. The New Jersey effort led to a one-day Billy Graham Crusade in Central Park, NY, drawing 250,000 people—the largest religious gathering in United States history.

In 1993, Dr. Bakke completed a doctoral thesis entitled, The Concert of Prayer: Back to the Future. From the archives of Princeton, Yale, Harvard and other universities, his research reveals that Jonathan Edwards’ work entitled Concert of Prayer (1742) is a common denominator to three massive international awakenings, scores of 19th century revivals, and the modern missionary movement. The Concert of Prayer, then, was one of the most powerful schemes ever advanced in the evangelical world. This work produced Dr. Bakke’s book, The Power of Extraordinary Prayer (Crossway: 2000).

As one who honors the pastorate as the highest calling, Dr. Bakke uses his gifts as a preacher, teacher, networker and tactician for promoting, forging and cultivating prayer movements domestically and internationally. He appears on television and radio and in 1994 founded The Nationally Broadcast Concert of Prayer, a prime-time, simulcast special on The National Day of Prayer. Seen and heard on hundreds of television stations, thousands of cable networks and radio stations, the broadcast affords millions of American households and churches the opportunity to pray simultaneously for the revival of the Church and the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom.

Presently, he is producing “The Global Day of Prayer” which is scheduled to cover the earth with prayer and the spread of God’s Kingdom each Pentecost Sunday between 2005 and 2010. Dallas is his model city for North America.

Dr. Bakke’s prayer design is to ensure that the local church in prayer and ministry of the Holy Spirit together becomes the principal agency for the revival of the Church and the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom today.

The service will also feature scripture reading, prayer and special music provided by HPPC Music Director, Dr. Greg Hobbs. Leading prayer will be the following pastors from churches throughout the Park Cities:

  • Pastor Neil Tomba, Senior Pastor, Northwest Bible Church
  • The Rev. Mr. Mark Craig, Senior Pastor, Highland Park United Methodist Church
  • The Rev. Dr. Stephen L. Swisher, Executive Pastor, Lovers Lane Methodist Church
  • The Rev. Msgr. Donald F. Zimmerman, Senior Pastor, Christ the King Catholic Church
  • The Rev. Dr. James C. Denison, Senior Pastor, Park Cities Baptist Church
  • The Rev. Howard Griffin, EM&O and Lifestyle Stewardship Pastor, Highland Park Presbyterian Church
  • The Rev. Dr. Douglas Skinner, Senior Pastor, Northway Christian Church
  • The Rev. Karl Schwarz, Senior Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church
  • Jonathan Sheaffer, Intern, Christ Lutheran Church

A reception will follow the service in Elliott Hall.

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance, established by an act of Congress in 1952, in which all Americans are called to pray for our nation, its people and its leaders. It is celebrated each year on the first Thursday in May.

Please mark your calendar to welcome Dr. Bakke to HPPC and join us in this meaningful time of prayer as a community of faith.