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[05.28.08] More than 7,000 people have signed up to participate in the first of four 40-day national prayer cycles for the 2008 presidential election.
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Sponsored by the nonprofit Presidential Prayer Team, the 40 Days to Pray the Vote campaign, which officially launched today, will e-mail participants each morning with a prayer topic that targets a vital aspect of the upcoming election. It will also include a related Bible verse, inspirational photo and written prayer.
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Through Election Day on Nov. 4, leaders of the initiative hope to join believers across the nation in prayer for both the next president and also for specific political issues facing our country.
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“Together, we will make this the most prayed-for election in the nation’s history,” said John Lind, president of the Presidential Prayer Team.
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He added that the significance of prayer for this time in American history is “crucial.”
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Only a few weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, the Presidential Prayer Team was formed with the purpose of encouraging Americans to pray daily for the president, his cabinet and other leaders in the nation.
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Now garnering millions of members, including Michael W. Smith, Thomas Kinkade, Jack Hayford, John Maxwell, Henry Blackaby, David Jeremiah and Ron Blue, the Arizona-based ministry hopes to encourage Americans to fulfill a biblical mandate.
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“Christ will speak where a prayer call invites Him,” Hayford said on the Prayer Team’s Web site. “It is every believer's call to prayerfully hold up the arms of those who lead, that peace may keep and fill their souls, and that peace and peacemaking may issue through their leadership.(1 Timothy 2:1-3).”—Felicia Mann
Cheri Fuller and Cindy Lamb Curry 
Marilyn Hickey 
Charisma Staff 
