INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–The prayer emphasis at this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting was embraced by a number of pastors in the Indianapolis area long before the first messenger arrived.
As pastors who have seen firsthand the power that is unleashed when people make prayer a priority, they could only imagine its potential for the SBC.
Dale Eakes, pastor of Warren Baptist Church in Indianapolis, served as the SBC prayer team coordinator for the annual meeting.
Prayer, Eakes said, often has been neglected in the SBC.
“People have failed to realize the importance of prayer,” he said. “They tend to think it will take care of itself, but prayer must be intentional,” he said.
Eakes spearheaded a team of about 20 volunteers who came from across Indiana as well as one from Houston, Texas, to work in the prayer room. These lay volunteers made sure requests were properly displayed and updated, and they met with people who wanted to pray.
The SBC prayer room contained U.S. and world maps with prayer requests taped on various regions ranging from the Wa people in China to the Ngandos in Africa. There was a board to post messages of thanksgiving for answered prayers, a large cross, a poster titled “Global Status of Evangelical Christianity” and a basket for “prayer grams.”
Eakes said volunteers were inundated with requests, all of which were prayed over during the convention.
As important as the work was inside the prayer room, Eakes also led groups on prayer walks. He has trained 22 churches in prayer walking, and those churches in turn train other churches. The training consists of three parts: explaining how a prayer walk works, spending time going on a prayer walk and then sharing testimonies afterward.
“The testimonies are perhaps the most important time for the Christian,” Eakes said. “It’s a time of encouragement and to see how God led the group, not just individuals.”
During prayer walks, participants are encouraged to “allow the Spirit to open eyes and be sensitive to what God has placed before us,” he said.
Through prayer walks, people frequently discover a call to service.
“As we pray for people, we develop hearts for them to share Jesus and help meet their needs,” the pastor said. “Prayer walking opens eyes to see needs and opens hearts to meet those needs.”
Eakes recounted a prayer walk with several pastors that took place during the convention. Although none of the pastors had ever participated in a prayer walk, the group approached a young couple and began talking about Christ. When it began to rain the conversation moved inside, where a third person overheard the discussion and asked to join it. About an hour later all three accepted Christ.
Eakes hopes to develop a process to pass on to next year’s annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., building on what was accomplished in Indianapolis and at previous conventions. He believes leaders and everyday Christians are catching the vision and grasping the importance of prayer and said he is encouraged to see more SBC leaders visit the prayer room.
“Prayer for so many years has been put in a corner … but evangelism and revival won’t happen without prayer,” he said.
Eakes noted that in the Indianapolis area, pastors among a variety of ethnic groups are meeting not just for lunch but to pray, and they are connecting with each other because prayer creates a bond that holds them together.
“When we focus on prayer, we begin to bring the body of Christ together. Without prayer, things fall apart,” Eakes said.
He also believes quality is more important than quantity.
“We’re so numbers orientated, we think it’s a bad thing when a church with a hundred members has 10 people show up for a prayer meeting,” he said. “But if we have 10 prayer warriors, things will begin to happen.”
Prayer time must be a time to pray rather than teach about prayer, Eakes said, and prayers should be as specific as possible.
“The more specific the prayers, the more we can see recordable answers. … Those truly dedicated to Christ will be drawn to that,” he said. “People need to stick with their commitments to pray, even if answers do not come quickly. And while pastors have to get behind prayer for it to be successful, the kindling often comes from laypeople.”
While not all prayer and evangelistic initiatives produce success stories, Eakes said it is important not to become discouraged and give up.
“You just keep going back because as God’s Word goes out, the seed is planted,” he said.
–30–
Don Beehler is a writer based in Franklin, Tenn.
