MBC goes deeper into prayer as annual meeting draws near

MBC goes deeper into prayer as annual meeting draws near

By Allen Palmeri
Staff Writer

September 23, 2003

JEFFERSON CITY – In the days leading up to the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) annual meeting, prayer will continue to be a major focus, said MBC Prayer Coordinator Danny Decker.

Pre-convention prayer rallies are scheduled for Oct. 9 in Oak Grove and Oct. 30 in Sikeston, with a prayer walk set for Nov. 3 at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis. The convention is set for Nov. 3-5.

"I think our state’s moving forward in a very positive way, but without prayer we’re not going to accomplish a lot," Decker said. "The New Testament church was a praying church. As the convention becomes a praying people of God, we’ll see revival break out."

The Oak Grove prayer rally will be at First Baptist Church, and the Sikeston rally will be at Miner Baptist Church. Both will start at 7 p.m.

The prayer walk will commence at 7 a.m. at the hotel before any convention business takes place, Decker said.

Prayer is particularly important at this time, Decker said, because of Baptist General Convention of Missouri (BCGM) attempts to persuade churches to leave the MBC and join the new convention. As the BGCM intensifies its effort to steal sheep, the MBC turns to prayer, Decker said.

"We’ve got people who would like to disrupt everything, and in the midst of praying for that, God has a way of intervening," Decker said. "We need to ask God to put a hedge around us, to protect us from some of the divisive things that certain brethren would like to sow among us. God will prevail over the discord if we come together in prayer."

By devoting ourselves to prayer, Missouri Baptists can emulate the early church (Acts 2:42) who saw the Lord add to the flock daily those who were being saved, Decker said.

"In pockets across the state I think there’s some true revival breaking out in churches," he said. "We’re seeing church plants increasing, good church starts. In the midst of stuff there are a lot of good things happening."

The goal for the MBC coming out of St. Louis is for leaders to hit their stride with a great deal of confidence, Decker said.

"We want to come out of this convention with a sense of the people of God with a purpose," Decker said. "God’s purpose is higher than ours. We want to come out with a sense of marching forward."