Prayer gatherings planned for Middle Georgia during 9/11 weekend

Gwen Weston and Emily Dennis are calling Middle Georgians to prayer during the coming 9/11 weekend.

“We’re asking people to join together Friday, Sept. 9, from noon to 1 p.m. to pray for our nation and communities,” Weston said. “And because 9/11 falls on Sunday this year, we’re asking pastors to designate time during their Sept. 11 service to pray.”

Weston is the Macon-Bibb County coordinator for the nationwide Cry Out America prayer initiative.

Dennis is the Houston County coordinator and also serves as state co-chair for the event, along with Ruth Larson of Milledgeville.

Weston said Cry Out America is a coordinated effort to bring Christians together to pray for local and national revival. She said it’s the second year a Macon group has taken part in the effort, which began nationally shortly after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

“I think the idea of a coordinated prayer effort is significant. To have a corporate cry that goes up to God from a large company of Christians at the same time is a powerful way for us to humble ourselves and show we’re serious about seeking God,” she said. “God is gracious and promises to heal our nation if we humble ourselves, turn from our sins and pray. We might disagree on some of the solutions to problems, but I think everyone in the U.S. agrees we face difficult issues that defy easy answers. I believe the first step to solve these issues is to humbly ask for God’s mercy and help.”

Weston said using Sept. 11 as the date for prayer is a remembrance and a recognition that Americans have traditionally turned to God in prayer in treacherous times.

“I remember my parents talking about World War II and how almost everyone had family members or friends involved in the war,” she said. “They said people were continually praying and meeting for prayer. After 9/11, there were record numbers of people gathering for prayer and attending church. There was an intensity and an urgency; everyone felt personally involved. But prayer dropped off soon after 9/11 and we need to regain that urgency in light of the troubles we face as a nation, in society, across racial lines, in our families — in every area. We need to pray.”

Weston said the Macon-Bibb County Cry Out America gathering will last one hour and be at the Macon House of Prayer, 4013 Northside Drive.

She said all are welcome and encouraged all to attend. She said she personally hopes at least one member from 100 different Macon-Bibb congregations attends.

Dennis said the Houston County gathering also will be one hour, from noon to 1 p.m. on Sept. 9. She said it will be on the lawn of the old courthouse building on Carroll Street in downtown Perry. Dennis encouraged attendees to bring lawn chairs, and she said in case of rain participants will meet in the sanctuary of the nearby First Baptist of Perry at 1105 Main St.

Dennis said to help pastors focus on prayer on Sept. 11 there are prayer points, sermon notes and other Cry Out America 2016 materials available at awakeningamerica.us.

“It would be so great if people would make sure their friends know about the Sept. 9 prayer gathering and that their pastors know about the 9/11 prayer focus,” she said. “It would be wonderful if pastors would commit to pray and sign up their churches at awakeningamerica.us. But whether they sign up or not, we’re asking pastors to please, please, please take time to pray for our nation on Sept. 11.”

Dennis agreed with Weston that the need for prayer is great.

“We face challenges equal to or greater than we did after the 2001 twin towers terrorist attack,” she said. “There’s such unrest, such racial tension, such uncertainty in the economy, such strife in families. We need a touch from God on society and our children, on our homes. I believe we need a return to biblical standards and we need to recognize that a primary standard is to love God and to love others. Within that is a call to be gracious, to forgive and to love that we just don’t see around us enough today. We need a God infusion. I so hope people will come pray and tell others to come.”

Tom Phillips is part of the national Cry Out America executive cabinet, a vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and executive director of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. He said in a phone interview that in talking with visitors to the Billy Graham Library from all over the country it has become clear to him that there is a grassroots prayer movement building in the U.S.

He said he sees such prayer as a sign of coming revival in the church and an awakening toward God in the culture.

“I hear of pockets of prayer that fit together like a mosaic,” he said. “Every piece is as important as the other whether it’s two widows praying together or something large like Cry Out America. It takes all of them to make the whole.”

Phillips said he believes love and forgiveness will be hallmarks of the coming move of God in society.

“When it comes to an awakening in our secular society, it’s similar to how in the Bible the Apostle Paul wasn’t looking for Jesus but Jesus was looking for him,” he said. “When Paul came face to face with Jesus, his heart was broken by God’s love. Paul received forgiveness. Our culture isn’t seeking God, but God is seeking people in our culture. He offers them the same love and forgiveness.”

In Milledgeville, Larson said there will be a Cry Out America gathering on Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. at the south gate of Georgia Military College. She said the event will feature reading through the Bible in one hour by multiple, simultaneous readers. Larson also suggested participants bring lawn chairs.

For information about Cry Out America 2016, Dennis said visit the national website at awakeningamerica.us or contact her at 478-929-5795.

This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 9:00 PM.