A Call to Prayer for the SBC

By Richard Land - Jan 14, 2010 -

Dear Friends:

In a concerted effort with the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board, SBC President Johnny Hunt is calling on Southern Baptists to commit Sunday, January 31 as a special day of prayer and fasting for our Convention. Dr. Hunt has observed, “We’re busy doing church but we have lost our connection to the power of Almighty God.”

To help reconnect and realign our focus, I invite you to be an active part of this call to humble ourselves before God. The Southern Baptist Convention needs our prayers in multiple ways. Here are just a few areas for which to pray as suggested by Dr. Hunt:

  • A spirit of repentance to fall on our churches corporately and personally for individuals, and for genuine revival of our first love for Jesus. (See Matt. 4:17; Rev. 2:4.)
  • A great spiritual awakening across our land so that the lost will be drawn to a personal relationship with Jesus. (See John 6:44; Rom. 1:19; 2 Cor. 2:14.)
  • A sweet spirit of reconciliation among any Southern Baptists who are at odds with each other, or other works of God. Love for one another in the body of Christ to grow and blossom. (See Prov. 28:13; 1 Cor. 12:25-27; John 13:34-35.)
  • Wisdom for the members of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force as they prepare their report in February. (See Jer. 33:3; James 1:5.)
  • Guidance for the search committees for presidents of the Executive Committee, the International Mission Board, and the North American Mission Board. (See Prov. 3:5-6, 13, 15:22, 27:17; Acts 1:21-26.)

The North American Mission Board has proposed several ways in which you and your church can be involved. These include:

  • Distributing personal preparation guides for spiritual cleansing and restoration and instructing every church member on how to use them throughout the day.
  • Planning a Concert of Prayer for the whole congregation or association.
  • Holding prayer gatherings by Sunday school classes or Bible study groups.
  • Encouraging families to have a focused prayer time acknowledging God alone as God.
  • Challenging every Sunday school class or Bible study group to tithe time to contrite prayer for spiritual awakening.
  • Preaching a sermon on prayer, stopping at each point to lead the congregation in application praying.

For more resources developed by the North American Mission Board to help you and your church prepare for this day of prayer, please click here.

I look forward to seeing how God moves in us individually and collectively as we turn our hearts toward Him. May God bless you, your church, and the Southern Baptist Convention as you partner with untold numbers of Southern Baptists across the nation on January 31 for this special day of prayer.

In His Service,

Dr. Richard Land
President
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Southern Baptist Convention

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