'Pray for Rain' May 27 Florida churches urged

For further resources on praying for rain, including the booklet Praying About the Weather, Go to www.flbaptist.org/evangelism/prayer.htm Scroll down the page to Resources to find the specific resource—“The Scriptures Speak about Rain and Drought,” “Guidelines for Prayer with Fasting,” and “Praying… About the Weather.” Click on the resources and download and print your copy.

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JACKSONVILLE (FBW)—In the midst of a historic drought, Florida Baptist Convention leadership is calling on more than 2,700 churches and missions throughout the state to set aside Sunday, May 27, as a "Day of Prayer for Rain."

With over 225 wildfires spread in 57 of 67 counties throughout Florida, Rick Shepherd, director of the Prayer and Spiritual Awakening Department of the Convention, said, "God uses circumstances like this to get our attention, to call us to evaluate and pray."

In a plea to pastors and congregations, directors of missions, directors of evangelism and associational and church prayer coordinators, Shepherd said churches should set aside Memorial Day weekend, but more specifically, May 27, as the Day of Prayer for Rain.

"Many churches are already praying and we have seen some answer to prayer, but we are a long way from where we need to be, especially to help with our many wildfires," Shepherd said. "Even more, we believe the Lord is getting the attention of our state with this need-the physical need and the spiritual need.

"We need more than just rain," Shepherd continued. "We need the spiritual refreshing of the Spirit of God and the Living Water of Jesus in the lives of people throughout the state of Florida."

John Sullivan, executive-director/treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention, in a statement called the drought "critical" and said prayer at this time is a priority.

"It is always appropriate to pray, but at times prayer takes on a new dimension—desperation. The desperation is, if God doesn't respond things will only get worse," Sullivan said. "Pastors and members need to call upon the Lord for rain.  This is a critical issue."

Shepherd said the topic of critical weather is of concern to a wide audience and gives families, small groups, Sunday School classes and churches an opportunity to "focus on the eternal and on Jesus and the salvation He gives."

"Throughout history the weather has been a cause for delight—sunny days, gentle spring rains, a beautiful snow—and a cause for dread-hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires. We try to predict weather patterns. We do everything we can to plan for the seasons—the blessed days as well as the raging, stormy days," Shepherd said.

Shepherd has developed one resource which summarizes what the Bible teaches about the weather in addition to a number of other resources to assist churches in planning this special observance, including a bulletin insert and a guide for prayer and fasting (see the Convention Web site for further information: http://www.flbaptist.org/evangelism/pray_for_rain.htm).