NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Southern Baptists are praying for President Bush, and the nation’s leader has taken notice.
That’s the message Southern Baptist Convention President Jack Graham delivered to members of the SBC Executive Committee Feb. 17. He told of a conversation he had recently with Tim Goeglin, special assistant to the president.
Goeglin, Graham said, recounted how Bush, while shaking hands in crowds, is frequently asked, “How can we pray for you, Mr. President?”
Bush has estimated that about 75 percent of those inquiries come from Southern Baptists, Graham said he was told.
“[Goeglin] said the president speaks often of the prayers of God’s people,” Graham said.
It is “very crucial” to pray for the president, Graham said.
“Southern Baptists are making an impact,” he added. “The ministry of prayer is reaching all the way to the White House and beyond.”
The need for prayer is great with a possible war with Iraq on the horizon, Graham said.
“We’re facing impending war with Iraq in order to disarm Saddam Hussein and to protect our freedom,” he said. “This is a preventative war, but it’s also a defensive war — defending ourselves. We now know that our shores are not protected from the evil that was in the world and we must disarm those who would destroy our freedom and our very way of life.
“… I believe we can pray for our president and pray for our military and with good conscience — while others are marching against this war — we pray for peace, but we ask God to help us and deliver us from evil.”
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