COLUMBUS — George Hampton Irby was helping to hang a cross back on the wall at his church when another member of his congregation told him Jesus spent 40 days on the earth between his resurrection and when he ascended into heaven.

Struck by the significance of that number, Irby immediately knew he wanted to do something to recognize the resurrection for that span of time. Now Irby, along with a cross-denominational committee of other Christians in the city, is starting an initiative encouraging citizens to pray every day starting Monday through May 29.

“God spoke to me and said that is a significant happening in our world,” Irby said. “… A young pastor encouraged me to do this more. He said, ‘Just think about this. If Jesus wasn’t resurrected, we would be worshipping a dead God.’”

The 40 Days of Prayer initiative will be focused on remembering the resurrection by committing to daily prayer, Irby said. Some of the goals of the initiative are to strengthen families and empower youth, along with encouraging safety in city streets, wisdom in local leadership and a general revival of the hearts of the community, an initiative press release said.

Irby said 40 Days of Prayer will share daily prayers and Bible verses via social media, along with holding a weekly livestream on Facebook, where pastors will speak about the importance of the resurrection. Part of his hope, he said, is that the initiative will allow citizens to build good spiritual habits that can continue after May 29.

“My hope is that every day, we would get people to do something that keeps Jesus on their minds, and that it would help transform people,” Irby said. “If it’s something you’re doing every day, maybe it will become constant.”

Rita Felton, Christian mission director for the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA, said when Irby approached her for help growing the initiative, she was “honored” to get to help with communicating his passion to others.

Felton has been helping to get the word out about the initiative, she said, though the committee has been trying to be careful to not “usurp” any Easter celebrations local churches have planned, since the ultimate goal is to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection and bring the community together to “share a bigger perspective.”

Felton said she also hopes 40 Days of Prayer makes a visible impact on the community.

“I believe it’s a sacred time for us to pause, reflect and align with God’s heart, for the people, for our community and more importantly for the problems that surround us right now,” Felton said. “When I think about the 40 Days of Prayer, it means hope for our city. It means healing for the broken places, and a united cry for divine direction.”

Amy Shelton, owner of the faith-based nonprofit The Prayer Corner, is another member of the initiative’s committee. Irby said she was responsible for coming up with the “40 Days of Prayer” name, but Shelton said she is just excited to challenge the community to see the importance of prayer and to celebrate a risen savior.

Shelton said part of the initiative is about intentionality of prayer throughout the 40 day period. However, the project will also include activities to encourage citizens to come together in that pursuit.

“There’s some activities like preparing a meal for someone in your neighborhood, a loved one, that ties with a scripture,” Shelton said. “There’s an activity of making notes of encouragement and sending those to people in the community. There’s an activity of getting out into nature and looking for God’s presence in creation. … Just various different activities that each person can do on their own or with a family.”

All of the daily prayer materials, activities, livestreams and more will be accessible through the 40 Days of Prayer page on Facebook.

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