By Baptist Message staff
BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Opening the Louisiana Senate with prayer, May 14, Ronny Cooksey, pastor with First Baptist Church, Mandeville, asked God to grant unity and wisdom to the state leaders.
“Thank you for a great day,” Cooksey prayed. “What a privilege it is to be alive, and what a privilege it is for those of us who know you as our Savior. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to call on your name today in this great room.
“Lord, we pray for our Senate today,” he continued. “We pray for this great state of Louisiana, and as we think about the state motto ‘union and justice and confidence,’ Lord, we pray for union in our great state.
“And even in this room today, we acknowledge what you have said that it is good and pleasant in the sight of the Lord, for brothers to dwell together in unity,” he said. “And Lord for justice, we always seek your justice, not my justice, or his justice or her justice. Help us today, Lord to seek you.
“You’ve said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding,” he noted. “And we pray for that wisdom here today.
“And then for confidence,” he said. “You told us that we have this great confidence that whatever we ask in Your name, according to your will, you hear us. And Father, we pray that for our great state.
“We pray for Governor Landry, for Lieutenant Governor Nungesser, for our Supreme Court, our House, and today we pray for our Senate,” he prayed. “And pray, God, that your spirit would fall on this place, that you would control every word, every action, every attitude, and that you would get glory, and that you would bring wisdom, and that you would lead these men and women as they serve the rest of our state. We thank you. We pray in the wonderful, precious, powerful name of Jesus, Christ, amen.”
Cooksey told the Baptist Message it was an honor to lead the prayer.
“It was a joy to ask the Lord to send His Spirit’s presence into the Louisiana Senate chamber,” Cooksey said. “I am thankful to live in a state where Christians are welcome to participate in our legislative process and pray in the name of Jesus.”
Cooksey was introduced by state Sen. Patrick McMath, who represents the 11th State Senate District which includes part of St. Tammany Parish where FBC Mandeville is located.
McMath lauded Cooksey’s “very impressive bio,” calling it the “most favorite bio that I ever get to read.”
“Dr Ronnie Cooksey is a senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Mandeville for the past three and a half years,” he said. “He served in pastoral ministry for 38 years. He’s been married to Kathy for 35 years. They have eight children. Five of their children are married so far, and they have 15 grandchildren. It hits on all the best parts of life.”
