by Roger S. Oldham, posted Tuesday, December 11, 2012 (11 years ago)
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Frank S. Page, president and "chief encouragement officer" of the SBC Executive Committee, is asking Southern Baptists to come together in 2013 for a year of emphasis on prayer "like none we've ever seen before."
"For some time, God has been burdening my heart about prayer and spiritual awakening," Page wrote in a Dec. 11 First-Person article in Baptist Press. "I talked about this a great deal when I was president of the Southern Baptist Convention (2006-08). I saw then what was happening in our nation, in our churches and in our convention. That deep sense of need for revival in our land has only gotten stronger over these past six years."
This is not a new message for Page. On the SBC President's page, posted after his election in 2006, Page wrote, "Across the nation I have spoken about the three 'R's'. I have thanked God for the push for doctrinal rightness. I thank God for the conservative resurgence which has brought us to this point. However, we must, with equal passion, attack the issues of relevancy and revival. If we do not have God's reviving hand upon us, we will move into a precipitous decline from which we will never recover."
Page will be enlisting others to help elevate the call to prayer throughout the year, sharing historical insights about prayer and spiritual awakening; first person accounts about spiritual breakthroughs; organized prayer ministry initiatives such as GudeStone's "Widow's Might"; focused prayer reminders such as prayer for the U.S. Supreme Court justices as they consider the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8; as well as pastoral and theological reflections.
Page noted he is not alone in his call for prayer and spiritual awakening. Earlier this year, current SBC president Fred Luter addressed the SBC Committee on Order of Business expressing his desire to see spiritual awakening and revival sweep across the SBC and the nation. ... Read More