Can you think of a better way to use the Yearbook?
Praying Through the Yearbook
by Dr. Charles A. Thigpen
The Executive Office does a
great service in compiling, editing, proofing, and printing the annual Free Will Baptist Yearbook. Each year, copies are shipped to district clerks to be distributed across the denomination. I always wonder how pastors and churches use the volume they receive. I am sure they consult the Yearbook for the location or phone number of a church or pastor on occasion. After all, that is the most obvious function of the volume.
However, let me suggest what each pastor should do with his Yearbook. He should pray every week for the churches and pastors in his state.
When I became promotional director for the Tennessee State Association, I decided I should pray every week for the churches, pastors, and officers of the state, association, and regional levels of our work. For 15 years, I prayed weekly for those serving in Tennessee.
When my wife and I moved to Georgia in May 2007, I decided to pray for the pastors, churches, and officers listed in Georgia. But I felt so attached to my Tennessee friends that I did not feel I could forsake them. So, now, for more than four years, I have prayed weekly for the officers, churches, and pastors in Tennessee and in Georgia.
Permit me to humbly suggest that every pastor use his church’s Yearbook to pray weekly for every church, every pastor, and the officers listed on each level in his state.
I can think of no better way to make use of the Yearbook. Pray for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit upon each pastor. Pray for souls to be saved, for believers to be built up in the faith, and for genuine revival. Pray for national leaders, for each department of the denomination—for all of their needs and concerns.
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