May 3, 2002

Two days of answered prayers

Oftentimes, when you pray you don't see immediate results. I have waited years to see results from some of my prayers, and others I am still waiting on. But sometimes, sometimes...

Wednesday and Thursday this week were two days I shall remember with great fondness for some time, the days when Richmond County celebrated the National Day of Prayer, May 2.

I sat in on several meetings of the local committee which planned the local observances, and reported on their progress as they organized the speakers, the music, the two days of events.

I missed the first couple of meetings, and at the first one I covered for The Daily Journal, the committee had already decided to add something new this year, a 24-hour prayer vigil on the courthouse lawn leading up to the official Day of Prayer.

If I had any doubts about the power of prayer -- which I don't after seeing prayers answered many, many times during my 25 years as a Christian -- those doubts would have been dispelled by what happened on Wednesday shortly after the tent went up.

I snapped photos of some of the committee members putting up the tent at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, then accepted the invitation of Clerk of Court Cathy Wilson to come inside her office to eat some barbecue left over from a supper she hosted the night before as part of her campaign for re-election.

One staple of politics here in the South is barbecue, for which I am eternally grateful. If any creature ever gave a more noble sacrifice than the humble hog in the process of becoming barbecue, my taste buds have yet to encounter such a delight.

So I went in and got a plate of barbecue and came back outside to eat it on the courthouse lawn and got surprised.

When I came back outside, the prayer tent was full, and its first prayer meeting was well under way. Several young men were being prayed over and some of the pastors and others on the committee, and even some passersby stopped to join in the prayers. After it was over, I inquired and found out what had happened.

The deputy clerk of court, Yvette Potts, is a little 5-foot-tall ball of fire for the Lord. She noticed a group of young men waiting outside for court appearances and asked if they would like to be prayed for.

"They said 'Yes', so I said, 'Follow me,'" Potts related. She led the young men to the tent, where two other members of the prayer committee, local pastors, prayed for them. Several passersby at the courthouse also paused to pray at the tent.

Rev. Marshall Norris, pastor of the Church of God of Prophecy in Rockingham, spoke briefly to the young men, and Rev. Clint Scott, pastor of Pine Grove Baptist Church in Rockingham, prayed for the group as they gathered together under the tent.

Rev. W.O. McCullough, pastor of Rock Hill Baptist Church in Lilesville, showed up during the prayer meeting and also prayed. Then McCullough took over for the first hour of the prayer vigil.

"It's a good way to start the Day of Prayer," McCullough said.

Indeed it was. Later that evening, I was proofreading the day's court report and there were several suspended sentences handed out that afternoon. Were some of them the same young men who asked for prayer and got it on the courthouse lawn?

I don't know. But I do know what did happen Wednesday evening, which we reported in The Daily Journal. A youth rally was held by Rev. Dr. Jerry Pipes, a nationally known speaker on drugs and other youth issues, and a good crowd of youths came.

And 12 of those young people came forward, prayed with the local pastors at the rally and received the Lord for salvation. For that evening, the courthouse steps became a stone altar.

Jesus said one soul is worth the entire world. The Day of Prayer had 12 worlds' worth of results on the very first night.

At the official noon observance at the courthouse Thursday, more souls were saved, local Day of Prayer organizers report.

When I got off work Wednesday night, or more properly Thursday morning about 2 a.m., I dropped by the prayer tent.

Rev. Mitchell Roller and six of his members from Sweet Haven Church were involved in serious prayer for their hour of the 24-hour vigil. He told me later they were joined by some members from Cobb Memorial Baptist, but I only stayed for a moment.

I went on home that night, tired from a long night's work, but knowing that in Richmond County on Wednesday and Thursday, prayers were prayed and prayers were answered.

And only heaven knows the full import of those prayers.