JEFFERSON CITY – Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Jason K. Allen challenged citizens of Missouri and of the United States to be the “type of people God can bless,” in his keynote address during the National Day of Prayer event in the Missouri Capitol Rotunda, May 5.
JEFFERSON CITY – Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Jason Allen speaks at the National Day of Prayer event at the Missouri Capitol, May 5.
“That refrain, ‘May God bless America,’ gets used a lot these days, … but merely saying that phrase as an incantation does not mean that God will be pleased to bless America,” Allen said.
Reading Psalm 1, Allen said that the Psalmist “gives us the pathway to blessing.
“To be blessed means to abide under the favor of God, to experience the goodness of God, both temporally and eternally, both materially and spiritually,” Allen added. “Brothers and sisters, that is what we want, both for our families, for our churches, for our communities and for this state.
Allen said that a nation that attacks the institution of marriage, celebrates LGBTQ+ agendas and advocates for the abortion of unborn children will not be a nation that God is pleased to bless.
“Let us resolve to be the type of people that God will choose to bless because our delight is in the law of the Lord and we meditate on it and we live it and we firmly plant our feet upon it,” Allen said. “We want to pray for our leaders, that they will have this type of integrity, this type of conviction, this type of internal moral compass to lead us forward.”
Prior to Allen taking the stage, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson addressed those gathered in the state Capitol’s Rotunda. He said that faith is essential to the work that he does each day serving the people of Missouri.
JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, member of First Baptist Church, Bolivar, speaks at the National Day of Prayer event at the Missouri Capitol, May 5.
“I cannot believe you could do this job without a foundation of right and wrong,” Parson, a member of First Baptist Church, Bolivar, said.
He said that, if someone stacked the bills proposed by the state legislature beside him, they would be as tall as he is. But, he added, “If we all lived by the Bible, you wouldn’t need all these big ol’ stacks of man-made papers.”
“So a lot of things to be praying about right now,” Parson said, referring then to the possible reversal of the 1973 pro-abortion Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. “What’s going on in the Supreme Court of the United States? How about we get that changed? It’s been over 50 years.”
Omar Segovia, multiplying churches missionary at the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC), was also a featured speaker at the prayer event. Segovia was born in Chile and immigrated to Canada when he was 6 years old. He shared how he met a “Missouri girl” while they both served as missionaries in the Middle East, how they were later married, and how he ultimately moved to the United States and became a U.S. Citizen in 2018.
Through his ministry at the MBC, Segovia serves ethnic churches across the state. He said that, while pastoring an African church, he would always tell them, “As followers of Christ, you are no longer refugees in the United States. You are missionaries! We are here to do great things for God!”
JEFFERSON CITY – Omar Segovia, multiplying churches missionary at the Missouri Baptist Convention, shares his story of moving to the United States and becoming a U.S. citizen during the National Day of Prayer event at the state Capitol, May 5.
On the day he became a U.S. Citizen, he played and replayed Lee Greenwood’s classic song, “God bless the U.S.A.,” Segovia recalled.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he added, “‘I am proud to be an American,’ and I am proud to join you in prayer today! God bless you and God bless the United States of America.”
The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history, including President Lincoln’s proclamation of a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual national day of prayer. In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Ronald Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of every May. Each year, the president signs a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. Last year, all 50 governors, including Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, signed similar proclamations.
“The National Day of Prayer stands as a call for us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a people,” said Pathway Editor Don Hinkle, who served this year as coordinator of the state Capitol event.