By Steve Horn
Thursday, May 4th, is the annual National Day of Prayer. As we approach this day, I am grateful for all of the prayer gatherings that will happen across the United States of America.
In the Book of Acts, people are said to be praying 31 times. Of these 31 times …
- 14 times an individual is said to be praying.
- 2 times two or more people in a small group are said to be praying.
- 15 times the church is gathered in prayer.
Half of the references to praying in the book of Acts are references to corporate praying! We see in Acts that there were appointed times and places for prayer. We see that the church prayed for power, wisdom, boldness to share Christ, in times of crisis, for missionaries, for pastors, and for each other. When the Early Church encountered a crisis, they didn’t pout, panic, protest, sign a petition, or organize a boycott. Instead, they prayed.
Bob Russell, retired pastor of Southeast Bible Church in Louisville, KY, recounts the story of how his church once bought the building next door to the leading abortion clinic in Kentucky. They did some crisis pregnancy counseling out of this building, but mainly they prayed. As a result, in 18 months, the abortion clinic closed.
It is not easy to pray. Sometimes, we feel like there is more we should do. Let’s remember that possibly there is more that God would call us to do. However, we cannot do more unless we are willing to work hard in prayer. And, let us always remember that there is nothing better that we can do than pray.
We are hosting a prayer service this Thursday at lunch beginning at 11:30 in the fellowship hall. We will follow the basic model planned by the National Day of Prayer Organization. We have invited Dr. David Carlton, our local Baptist Association’s Director of Missions and First Baptist member, to be our guest speaker and prayer leader.
I hope that you will join us to pray this Thursday.
Steve Horn is pastor of First Baptist Church in Lafayette and a past Louisiana Baptist Convention president. This editorial was originally posted on his blog, stevehorn.org. To subscribe to his blog, log on to his website.
