BLACKSHEAR, Ga. – Kim Strickland favors the serenity of a pond on the edge of her property in Blackshear, Ga., for prayer. “It is where me and God can get some business done for sure.”
At the pond God birthed in her a plan to saturate the U.S. with prayer and fasting every day leading up to and including the 2020 national, state and local elections.
This Southern Baptist layperson has enlisted a few Georgia pastors and the Piedmont Okefenokee Baptist Association (POBA) to help, including fellow Christians at Bridge Community Church in Blackshear. The 365-Plus Prayer Project encourages Christian churches in every state to enlist 365 people to fast and pray in succession each day leading up to the elections, as well as on election day.
“Here I am just doing my best to do what God said, to implement this plan, and I want it to be in all the states,” Strickland told BP. “Can you imagine if we just had 10 churches in every state with 365 people praying, on election day we would have 182,500 people fasting and praying for our elected officials.”
It’s not about political parties, Strickland told BP, but about praying for all Americans, all 2020 candidates and continuing for all victorious candidates after election day.
“Even though I know that we are … praying that our government officials, all of them, from the president to our local mayor, will have the heart of Christ,” Strickland said, “I do believe that the goal is truly just that America will return to holiness, that America will be one nation under God, that America will no longer be divided, that America will be a country that our Lord Jesus Christ can smile upon. This is really what we desire.”
POBA Mission Strategist Greg Benfield serves on the project’s leadership team.
“The idea is to have someone praying and fasting from each church that participates, for them to have someone praying and fasting for the local leadership, state leadership, national leadership as we’re leading up to that election,” Benfield said. “Regardless of who (wins), that we are praying for that person to a) seek God’s will and b) for the Church to be praying for leaders as it commands in the Scripture.”
Strickland unveiled project plans at the Southern Baptist PrayerLink meeting Oct. 3-5 in Pittsburgh.
The project kicks off Nov. 2 and continues through Nov. 3, 2020, with free downloadable resources available at mypoba.com.
Recommended prayer supplications and pleas include:
– that people are saved, put their faith in Jesus Christ alone, and that families and relationships are restored and healed;
– as people come into the family of God, they are also able to recognize the enemy who desires to hurt our Nation and will boldly stand in opposition to him;
– that the church of Jesus Christ will grow into every community where it is not currently thriving;
– that all leaders elected at every level will have the heart of the Living God, including earnest prayer for the U.S. president, U.S. senators and representatives, governors, state legislators and local government leaders;
– that our leaders will love their fellow citizens, the nation of Israel, and other nations.
Completing the 365-Plus leadership team are Bridge Community Church pastor Chris Roberts; Greg Carter, pastor, Walkerville Baptist Church, Blackshear; Mary Ann Braswell, pastor, Blackshear First United Methodist Church (Strickland’s employer); Chris Tolbert, Bridge Community Church member, and Strickland’s husband Serge Strickland.
Written by Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.