In 1994, Bill Bright felt God calling him to summon 2 million believers to a 40-day fast, during which they would pray for national and worldwide revival and for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. At the time, the 72-year-old founder and president of Campus Crusade for Christ had just completed his first 40-day fast, but knew few others whohad done the same. It seemed an unusual call for Christians in the 1990s. How do you get millions of people to fast and pray? wondered Dr. Bright. How do you persuade them to do this when the church as a whole has lost the discipline of fasting?

One way might be to simply begin practicing it. So in November 1994, Dr. Bright called together a conference of 600 Christian leaders to pray and fast for the soul of America and the furtherance of the gospel. Three other such conferences followed, each giving more momentum to the fasting and prayer movement. The latest conference, held in Dallas this past November 13-15, linked the gathering with almost 3,000 satellite sites around the country. Through the downlinks, a potential 1 million viewers joined the Dallas contingent, fasting and praying in homes, churches, Christian schools and seminaries in 48 states, Canada and the Virgin Islands.

News about the power of fasting and prayer spread like wildfire. Campus Crusade received so many calls, e-mails, faxes and letters with people's accounts of their 40-day fasts that Bright wrote a book, The Transforming Power of Fasting and Prayer, to document God's work in the lives of the participants.

My 40-day fast was without a doubt the most significant event in my 30-year walk with the Lord," said Ralph, an Indiana dentist. "I felt great--better, in fact. I did not miss food after the third day, and it was hard to convince people around me that I was not going to hurt myself by not eating. Aside from all this, my spiritual life soared. It seems the further I progressed into the 40-day fast, the closer God was to me."

Not everybody cited in the book saw that kind of result, of course. Dale, who pastors a Texas church near the border with Mexico, didn't. Two weeks into his fast, he didn't feel hungry, but he did have migraine headaches. After recounting several small things God did during his fast, Pastor Dale concludes that "Jesus called us to fast, not because it will make us spiritual giants, but to humble ourselves. . . . It's not about us (we can be so self-absorbed), it's about God."

Forty pastors in Spokane, WA, joined together in a 40-day fast. More than 90 churches in Bakersfield, CA, fasted the 40 days of Lent. Nne hundred twenty pastors in Dallas also completed 40-day fasts.

I have been repeatedly moved and uplifted by these messages of answered prayers for spiritual growth, salvation for unsaved friends and family, physical healing, financial needs, release from sin, specific guidance, and a greater devotion to serve the lord," says Dr. Bright. "God's power is being poured out upon his people as a result of extended fasts to 'seek God's face.'"

Perhaps it is indeed possible to persuade millions to fast and pray. The next stage is a call to a corporate, national 40-day fast from March 1 to April 9 (Good Friday). Bright and Campus Crusade are joining forces with Pat Robertson and the Christian Broadcasting Network, Mission America's PrayUSA! and more than 40 other Christian leaders and ministries to summon believers to 40-day fasts. "This initiative," says Bright, "could be God's way of answering my [1994] prayer."

For more information, call 1-888-fasting.