On the first Thursday of May, millions around the nation gather annually to observe the National Day of Prayer (NDP). This year in North Alabama, an extra emphasis will precede the NDP with the Shoals Area Wide Prayer Rally on May 4 at 6 p.m.
Sponsored by Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association, area churches and the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, the event will emphasize the importance of prayer on the eve of NDP.
Need for prayer
Barrett Long, pastor of First Baptist Church, Tuscumbia, who serves on the rally’s 10-person planning committee, said the goal of the event is to spur a spiritual awakening in the Shoals area.
“I think for our area it’s a good culture right now where we’re seeing some fruit and we just need to continue to pray … for a spiritual awakening,” Long said. “We want the Spirit to move across our area for the transformation of lives.”
The event also will seek to reach across denominational lines. Colbert-Lauderdale Association Director of Missions Eddy Garner hopes the rally will soundly unify believers in the area.
“I hope it’ll draw believers together to find a common bond in prayer,” he said. “[I hope it’ll also be a] spiritual renewal … and draw our churches together for a common purpose for how we can make a difference in the Shoals area for Christ.”
Long agreed, adding, “I think as culture becomes increasingly intolerant of Christians … the denominational wall is going to fall a little bit. [This rally] is more than a Southern Baptist thing; it’s a Kingdom thing. … It’s a Kingdom event that we want to bring people together.”
The rally will be held at the Florence-Lauderdale Coliseum in Florence and will feature music by the Shoals Praise and Worship Choir. Robert Smith Jr., the Charles T. Carter Baptist Chair of Divinity at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, will speak on investing in the hope of prayer.
Garner hopes the rally will have a lasting impact.
“I’m just praying that it’ll be an event that we’ll look back on and say, ‘That was the night that changed our lives and changed our area for Christ,’” he said.
For more information on the Shoals Area Wide Prayer Rally, contact Colbert-Lauderdale Association at 256-383-7021 or clba@clbaptist.com.
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