State-wide prayer effort draws hundreds

AUSTIN–Standing in a circle under an oak tree at the State Capitol in Austin, Aug. 2, about 30 participants in “Praying Across Texas” earnestly prayed for restoration, revival and rain. They joined hundreds more spread across the Capitol grounds and in communities throughout the state.

Individuals scattered across Capitol grounds, according to Austin National Day of Prayer organizer Jim McGee, a spokesperson for the event. They prayer walked, prayed in various Capitol buildings and sat in small groups on the lawn praying or reading scripture.

A number of large groups also met to pray in multiple churches in Killeen, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso and in other small towns and communities, McGee told the Texan. In Georgetown, participants met at a park gazebo to pray.

Steve Washburn, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Pflugerville, started out under the tree at the Capitol and took a young deacon inside the Capitol to pray with him, laying hands on the office doors of legislators and leaders.

“We were just asking for the Lord to protect what happens in this building because as this building goes, so goes the state of Texas and as Texas goes, so goes this nation,” Washurn said.

Describing being inside the Capitol as like being in a “spider-web” of sorts, traversing various hallways and corridors, Washburn said. He added that since the legislature is not in session, it was the perfect time to be able to wander around and pray in that manner.

Exiting the building, Washburn said it was a very positive experience to see people he recognized outside gathered into small groups reading their Bibles and praying. He watched as people visiting the State Capitol grounds walked by respectfully and appeared to smile in agreement with the message those gathered sent by their presence.

“It was just a very positive, joyful announcement to most people coming by that we were Christ-followers and we were lifting up the Capitol and the state to Christ,” Washburn said.

Watching people come and go, and pray, throughout the morning, was encouraging to McGee, who said he has been involved in the Day of Prayer movement for many years.

“That we still have the freedom and ability to do that and that God still answers our prayers, is exciting,” McGee said.

Speaking with one young man, McGee learned that the man and his friends, once a month, walk around the Capitol to pray for the state and country.

“It’s exciting this has been going on before we even did this,” he said. “Most people like us, we don’t know who prayed all around Texas. We don’t know; only God does,” McGee said.

McGee said he learned of another woman who goes inside the Capitol tundra and sings the Lord’s Prayer once a week. “It was like, ‘Thank you Lord.’ It’s exciting to see what God’s people are doing. It isn’t just us organizing it; God is organizing it.”

Washburn, who went from the “Praying Across Texas” event Saturday, to his own local monthly prayer meeting with local pastors in Pflugerville, said he is encouraged by the new direction the local group, which he initiated years ago, has taken.

About 17 conservative evangelical pastors meet regularly to eat, pray and discuss a current topic of interest, he said. The Aug. 3 meeting changed with each of the pastors inviting several members of their congregations to the meeting.

“It was a very sweet time,” Washburn said. “We have asked each other and we are praying about how to reach the community for Christ and to share the Gospel.”

Washburn said the monthly opportunity gives the men, and now some of the members of the various churches in the community, the chance to see how pastors of other denominations and those who are non-denominational, get along.

“I told these men I feel closer to them because of their conservative positions than some of the more liberal Baptists,” Washburn said.

After two days of prayer meetings in two locations centering on his country, state and community, Washburn said he was struck by an irony at the Capitol Aug. 2.

Shortly after the prayer initiative, thousands of pro-Palestine protestors participated in a rally at the State Capitol supporting a defeat of Israel.

“It was a God thing that the Christians got there first and had already bathed the entire campus in prayer and honeycombed the Capitol in prayer,” Washburn said.

Ultimately, he said, “We were praying for the Lord’s ‘reign’ and ‘rain,’ as well as the salvation and holiness of Texas.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry sent greetings to event organizers July 30.

“Throughout our history, Americans have turned to prayer and reflection during times of strength and weakness and in moments of joy and despair. Prayer is an opportunity for majestic communion; through it, joy is amplified, pain is comforted and emptiness is filled up.

“I join you in believing in the power of prayer, and I thank you for your commitment in praying for government leaders, our state and our nation,” Perry wrote.

Earlier this year he declared May 1, 2014, “A Day of Prayer” on the anniversary of the National Day of Prayer.