NASHVILLE (BP and local reports) – Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President J.D. Greear today began the first of three consecutive Wednesdays prior to the 2021 SBC annual meeting as days of “committed, specific times of prayer and fasting.”
In an article in Baptist Press last week, the senior pastor of multi-campus Summit Church in North Carolina called on Southern Baptists to fast and pray on May 26, June 2, and June 9, whether or not they plan to attend the annual meeting. The meeting is scheduled for June 15-16 in Nashville.
Greear will be leading a designated time of prayer each Wednesday from 2-3 p.m. CDT on the SBC Executive Committee’s Facebook Page. A specific prayer and fasting guide for the upcoming annual meeting, designed by Greear, has been made available to Southern Baptists.
Citing the example of both the ministry of the disciples in Acts 2 and the conversion of the Apostle Paul in Acts 13, Greear emphasized how God has answered the prayers of His people throughout history.
He explained that if Southern Baptists want God to move during the meeting, an intentional effort of prayer and fasting will be needed. “Above all things, our annual meeting needs to be saturated by prayer,” Greear said. “We need to pray before it, during it and after it.
“This convention should not be about what we think or what we want, but what God wants [and] the way we discover that is through prayer.”
The 2020 SBC annual meeting was cancelled as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic swept through the U.S. and the world. Elected convention officers like Greear who would normally be limited to two terms have continued to serve until elections are conducted at the 2021 annual meeting.
“The challenges that face our Convention are many. The struggles and obstacles are real. We live in a rapidly changing world, desperate to hear good news. I am convinced that God will not give us these victories except through prayer and fasting.”
Three specific areas Greear felt the Southern Baptists should pray over are:
— Great Commission mobilization (Matthew 28:18-20).
— Unity in the Gospel.
— Holy Spirit anointing on the annual meeting and SBC ministries around the world.
“Whether or not you are able to attend the annual meeting in Nashville, I’m asking you to join us for these days of prayer and fasting,” Greear said. “We want to see the ‘finger of God’ on our churches, our Convention, our nation and our world
“Prayer is, after all, not simply preparation for our work of ministry; prayer is the work of the ministry.”
For more information of the 2021 SBC annual meeting, visit https://sbcannualmeeting.net/.
