Listen to my prayer for mercy as I cry out to you for help, as I lift my hands
toward your holy sanctuary.
Today is the National Day of Prayer
across our nation. There will be
presentations, activities, bog and small events and times of prayer in many
different places. Please chose an event
to be part of as well as spend time seeking the Lord for the salvation and
mercy toward this nation, our leaders and all the way to our families.
Each of us has been influenced by
people who pray. Some of those are
prayer warriors who lead by example and by their passion. Others of those are people who call us all to
spend time seeking God through prayer.
They may be leaders of the church or leaders in government. What links all of is the understanding that
we must pray.
Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy
hands, without wrath and dissension.
This evening I will be part of a
group that leads people across Martinsville and Henry County to pray. My task is to share about the need in our
families to pray. I will talk about the
roles we play in our homes: fathers, mothers, children, neighbors, Christ
followers. Each person has a role.
We will gather at our local
community college’s gym between 6 and 8pm to hear and to pray. You are invited to join in. Prayer is not intended to be a yearly or even
weekly event. Prayer is to be a way of
life, every day life.
Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
There are several different people
who have influenced my life through prayer, and I would like to introduce a few
of those to you. You just might have
been impacted by one of these of someone similar.
Growing up my youth pastor had an
incredible impact on my life. That is
because Phil Dietz was a man who lived out his faith. He taught me and those around him to pray for
and serve others out of a genuine heart warmed by God.
Another man who influenced me was
one of my early Sunday School teachers.
I cannot even remember his name, but I do remember some of his
prayers. He was missing one or more
fingers, and it was evident as he would place his hand on our shoulders, the
boys in our Sunday School class, that his prayers were powerful and real.
Again, when I was young I met a man
who made prayer part of his every day life.
His name is Harry Thompson. He
led an early morning prayer meeting of men at my home church. To this day I know that Harry prays for
me. I am challenged and encouraged by
his love and prayers.
Cornelia Fowler rented me a room in
her house in Vidalia, Georgia where I moved to in 1991. She was a little old lady who loved people
and was part of the church I was working in.
One night I remember walking through the hallway toward my bedroom, and
behind her closed bedroom door I heard her praying. This was a common occurrence, but what was
uncommon was that I heard her praying for me.
That impacting me in big ways.
Early in ministry I learned that
stopping to pray when you see a need is important. I heard how important this is by having a
lady tell me how an immediate prayer in a critical situation meant so much to
her. Her name was Dr. Bobbie Pope, and she
attended the second church I pastored.
Some others who have influenced my
prayer life include some of my family members as well as a host of friends and
leaders I have met on my life journey.
God has used these people to shape my life.
You and I influence others every
day. Let’s make sure we influence people
for the cause of Christ. See that your
life, your prayers and your being help others be better and stronger people
because they have come in contact with you.
Make sure that this National Day of
Prayer finds you spending time with the father in prayer!
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from
their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and
restore their land.
Pray for our leaders … local, statewide, nationwide, global. Pray for the church and her leaders too. Pray for our homes and families.
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