Since the creation of Global Prayer Sunday, congregations have sent invitations to their MPs, MLAs, mayors, and city councillors

Elizabeth Mabie
Spur Ottawa Correspondent

Prayer is the foundation that sustains a nation. That belief is what fuels an annual prayer focus in churches across Canada on the last Sunday of June every year. On Government Prayer Sunday (GPS), congregations bow their heads to pray for Canada’s leaders.

“From the beginning the idea was to designate the Sunday closest to Canada Day to encourage as many congregations as possible to pray for our government leaders on all levels,” says Fran Parker, one of the founders of GPS and the National House of Prayer (NHOP).

GPS is a tradition founded by NHOP and observed for the last 12 years. Churches register with NHOP and commit at least 15 minutes of their service (this year on June 25) to pray for the Government. NHOP supports churches by providing them with a GPS kit, which includes prayer points, bulletin inserts, promotional photos, and a ‘Thank You’ video.

The idea first came to Rob Parker, Fran’s husband and the co-founder of NHOP and GPS, while he led a 73-day prayer walk from Calgary to Ottawa, in 2000. After walking through an embassy district in Ottawa, he felt the need for an embassy of prayer in the capital.

The National House of Prayer building in downtown Ottawa. Photo by Craig Macartney.

“I envisioned a place to come and pray for our leaders and learn a biblical mandate for government; somewhere large enough to house prayer teams, honour our leaders, and glorify God,” explains Rob. “In the end, God did all of this by leading us to purchase 17 Myrand Avenue (in downtown Ottawa), where many MPs have visited and hundreds of prayer teams from across Canada have spent time with us.”

“We are trying to put on people’s radar the importance of praying for our government and also becoming well informed in how we pray,” adds Fran. “We also find that GPS encourages Christians to engage in their civic responsibility to vote, pray, and to be salt and light.”

Since the creation of GPS, congregations have sent out invitations to their MPs, MLAs, mayors, and city councillors, which the Parkers agree demonstrates attentive community support from the Church.

“We are teaching our congregations to follow scriptural instruction in a very practical and responsible way, which is so important for all of us, but especially our children and young people,” explains Fran. “I firmly believe that when we pray, things happen. The more who are praying, the more the possible impact.”

For GPS, the Parkers suggest congregations assign members to pray for specific leaders and issues, but there is no set format. Congregations can pray as a whole or break off into small groups. As long as the church prays, they are fulfilling NHOP’s request.

“Anytime is the right time to pray! Scripture was written 2000 years ago and nothing has changed: we are supposed to pray for our leaders,” say Fran and Rob.