Archive for January, 2018
Taking the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 3, into Your Workplace
Just think what might happen if you brought a National Day of Prayer gathering into your workplace, welcoming anyone who might attend. The National Day of Prayer is recognized on the first Thursday of every May across our nation, and may provide a natural way to engage in prayer in your workplace.
We encourage everyone to participate in a community gathering, but taking part in a gathering for prayer for America in your workplace may be a great bonus. Some will be unable to attend community gatherings due to work schedules or family responsibilities. Others may not feel comfortable in larger group settings.
Regardless of what we hear in the media, I truly believe people love America. Even people who may not be Christ-followers know that America is in great need. While they may not know much about prayer, many may gather if you promise you will not make them uncomfortable or call upon them to pray, but will pray together in the workplace on the National Day of Prayer.
5 Important Things You Need to Do
In order to accomplish this in your workplace, what do you need to do?
1. Request permission from those in authority.
For clarity, the National Day of Prayer has been law in America since 1988. Both the House and the Senate unanimously recommended then President Ronald Reagan sign a law that was amended. It made the first Thursday of May the National Day of Prayer. Your authorities need to know and understand this.
Appeal humbly to use some time during the day, whether it be before work or during lunch, to lead a prayer experience in observance of the National Day of Prayer.
2. Determine a place and a time to meet.
If you are given permission to gather, determine a place and time to meet. I would encourage you to limit the time in respect of your workplace. I suggest that it be no longer than 30-45 minutes, but a shorter gathering may even be a great place to begin. It may take some years for your gathering to grow, so be wise about the location you choose. You can always change it if needed.
3. Determine who will lead it.
You could lead this gathering of prayer for our nation yourself. You could involve a team of leaders to work with you in accomplishing this goal. If no one at your workplace feels comfortable leading, you could request a local church pastor or a group that may be leading the other gatherings in your town to come lead one for your workplace.
4. Determine the content of the gathering.
On or before January 17, we will provide digital training on what should be considered in a gathering for the National Day of Prayer. The context should always be kept in mind. If I was leading, I would focus on:
- Prayer for Local and State: 25% of the allotted time
- Prayer for the Nation: 25% of the allotted time
- Prayer for UNITY in America, which is our 2018 theme: 50% of the allotted time
Again, you and your team will determine this, but this is my recommendation. We will have prayer points available online. You can end the gathering by praying The National Prayer, which permits everyone present to participate with millions of others across America in agreement.
5. Communicate with your workplace about the gathering.
Each workplace has an effective way to communicate within the organization. If permitted, use it to communicate with your coworkers. Additionally, and more importantly, invite people to come with you, and ask those leading with you to do the same.
Do Not Neglect
Do not neglect participating in another gathering in your community. THEN, do all you can to bring the National Day of Prayer into your workplace. Be wise, humble, and keep everything balanced and non-threatening. We want people to pray for America.
Go Here for Assistance
Please go to http://www.nationaldayofprayer.org/volunteer for details. Please register your gathering and let us help you get ready for it with our digital equipping. If you have any questions, please email: mick.crump@nationaldayofprayer.org or call (800) 444-8828. We want to assist and serve you in mobilizing unified public prayer for America.
Now is the Time to Lead and to Pray for America,
Dr. Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
We’ve Decided to be United: Keeping the MLK Dream Alive
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a dreamer. He saw what others could not see. He heard what others did not hear. He felt what others did not feel. Therefore, he did what others were not willing to do.
Any form of racism defies the dignity of human life. That is why, in the midst of racial injustice and division in America, MLK dreamed about a day in our nation when “justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” His quote of Amos 5:24 resounded the heart of the prophet. In the full context of King’s 1963 speech in our nation’s capitol, he said it this way, “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
He could have turned his back from this moment in history, but he stood when few would. He made a decision to dream of a day that was unlike the day in which he was living. His courage and his message cost him his life. But, his dream still lives on today.
When reflecting upon this history, it moves me to humility and repentance.
When I look upon today, there are moments when I think we have come so far. But then, there are other moments that happen far too many times, when the evil of the human heart reminds me that we still have so far to go.
It is with deep regret that I can do nothing about this stained past against our African American brothers and sisters. But with all I am and with all I can, I join you in creating a future together that binds up the nation’s wounds and always marches ahead knowing we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
WE’VE DECIDED TO BE UNITED
Pastor Arthur L. Hunt, Jr., Governor Asa Hutchinson, and I, along with hundreds of pastors in Arkansas, are choosing to stand and be united publicly at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock on Monday, January 15, from 12:00 noon until 1:30 p.m. I want you to join us.
We cannot change the future of America by ourselves or with our own group. It is time that we unite to send a strong and clear message that, as pastors and church leaders, we believe in racial unity. The past five years, we have seen demonstrated that our negative past regarding this issue is not fully behind us, and reminds us how far we still have to go.
Pastors and church leaders, regardless of the color of your skin, join us on January 15 for this 90-minute gathering at the Arkansas State Capitol. Surely we can stand together in racial unity and in prayer for our state and nation, both of which are in desperate need. Silence is not the answer to our racial issues in America, and hope is not a strategy. Pastors and churches cannot sit passively on the sideline. This is one moment when the church of Jesus Christ should lead by exemplifying a strong commitment to racial unity.
This is a time when the church of Jesus Christ must rise together as one. We are not black churches. We are not white churches. We are not Latino churches. We are not Asian churches. We are the church of Jesus Christ. We are members of the same body. In the true church of Jesus Christ, the walls of racism and injustice come down.
Pastor, I do hope to see you in Little Rock on January 15. I am thankful for men like Pastor Hunt, who keep the dream of MLK alive. He reached out to Governor Hutchinson and he responded affirmatively. He reached out to me and I am responding affirmatively. I hope that you will do the same.
The goal is not racial or political, but biblical. We must not be satisfied until, as Amos said, “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” It’s time, past time, for racial unity in America. We’ve decided to be united.
Now is the Time to Lead and to Pray,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
President, National Day of Prayer
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Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the Senior Pastor of Cross Church, President of the National Day of Prayer, founder of the Cross Church School of Ministry, and host of the Ronnie Floyd on Life and Leadership Today podcast.
To request an interview with Dr. Ronnie Floyd
contact Gayla Oldham at (479) 751-4523 or email gaylao@crosschurch.com.
Visit our website at http://ronniefloyd.com
Follow Dr. Floyd on Twitter and Instagram @ronniefloyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.