By Susan Mires
Contributing Writer
MARYVILLE—A series of regional prayer summits in Missouri kicked off here May 6 with the National Day of Prayer.
Bob Loggins, prayer and spiritual awakening specialist for the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC), said the summits lead God’s people to give the church back to Jesus Christ and make his house a house of prayer.
“If we do that, the pastor won’t have to be the boss to whip people into church, the deacons won’t have to be the police,” Loggins said. “The Holy Spirit will work in the heart of believers and they will be moved to be where they need to be.”
The summit for the northwest region was hosted by Laura Street Baptist Church. Amy Goldsmith, a member of Laura Street, made a last-minute decision to go to the summit and said she’s thankful she took part in a session on the work of prayer.
“It was such a blessing from God that I was there for that session to receive a word from Him and to pray with my brothers and sisters in Christ,” Goldsmith said. “God used this experience to lift a burden I had been carrying and draw me closer to Him.”
With the theme of a repentant church, the summit included elements of worship, the Word, and the work of prayer. It involved times of teaching, private prayer and group prayer.
Loggins asked participants for signs they see that the church is asleep. He held up a copy of a daily newspaper and pointed out articles of rioting in Greece, floods in Nashville, Tiger Woods’ marital infidelity, and an oil spill in the Gulf.
“It seems to me this is some heavy stuff,” he said. “But I contend what is in the newspaper is really only the fruit of the problem, not the root of the problem. The root of the problem is sin. Those of us who are the people of God – the church – we have failed God.”
The next summit is scheduled for May 18 at Sterling Acres Baptist Church in Kansas City. Events are planned over the next several months in every region of the state.
The convention is emphasizing prayer throughout the year and Loggins has led prayer summits and Solemn Assemblies at several churches.
“I want to teach us as the Lord is teaching me the importance of praying with a purpose,” he said.
Tragic events in a community, such as an untimely death or accident, can create opportunities for the church to minister through prayer, he said.
“The deeper the pain, the closer the hurt, the greater the power and presence of God’s people to pray,” Loggins said.