You may recall that last June I wrote that Dr. Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, had just been elected to be President of the Southern Baptist Convention, and that he was making prayer for a Third Great Awakening a top priority inside one of the world’s largest evangelical Christian denominations.
True to his word, Pastor Floyd has been traveling to all over the country, preaching on the need for deep repentance and revival inside the SBC.
Now, he has just released a free 16-page e-book titled, Pleading With Southern Baptists And Beyond (to humbly come together before God in Clear Agreement and in Extraordinary Prayer for the Next Great Awakening and for the World to be Reached for Christ).
I just finished it and it is wonderful. I highly recommend it. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes to read, but it is so important. You can read more about it and download it for free by clicking here.
In short, it is a clarion call for Southern Baptists — and all Christians in the United States — to become deeply focused and committed to pleading with God for revival.
In addition to some wonderful history about revival in America, and some great quotes by past Christian leaders, Pastor Floyd gives some very practical counsel to those 46,000 churches under his care, including:
- Pray for revival every Sunday morning. “Challenge your church to pause either at sunset on Saturday evening or sunrise on Sunday morning to pray for three minutes for the anointing of God’s power to come upon the worship services of their church,” Floyd writes. “Prayerfully, these 180 seconds of focused prayer will soon begin a true 180-degree change in our churches.”
- Devote an entire month to preach God’s Word “on the subject of repentance, extraordinary prayer, revival, awakening, and reaching the world for Christ.” Between January and May of 2015, Floyd recommends that pastors pick a month and “extend passionate calls to your people about each of these topics individually and collectively. During this same period, we would ask those who lead staff teams and chapels of our Baptist entities, conventions, seminaries, and colleges to consider this same emphasis.”
- Devote an entire Sunday between January and May just to pray for awakening and revival. He gives links to resources, including an article on “Leading Your Church In A Sunday Morning Prayer Meeting.”