From left: Pastor Courtney Selman, Rev. Dr. David Durant, Rev. Eliseus Joseph, Rev. John Carter and Rev. Aubrey O’Neale as they engaged in prayer, ahead of the upcoming National Prayer Gathering, to be held in Independence Square this weekend.
“The more we pray, the less we panic,” was the declaration made by Reverend Eliseus Joseph of the National Network of Pastors and Leaders, as he made an appeal for pastors, leaders and Barbadians in general, to support the upcoming National Prayer Gathering to be held in Independence Square in Bridgetown on Friday March 1 and Saturday March 2, from 6 pm to 8 pm each night.
He was at the time speaking during a press conference convened at Restoration Ministries International at Bonnetts Avenue, Brittons Hill, St. Michael yesterday, which saw a team from the National Network of Pastors and Leaders which is made up of an
inter-denominational group of churches, gathering to discuss the event.
“The more we pray, the less we fear. The less we are afraid of the future and the ongoing challenges that are before us. Prayer empowers us to face the future,” Reverend Joseph remarked.
“There is a lot of fear in our nation, because we have not been praying. When we pray, we demonstrate our reliance on God, because human effort doesn’t produce the results that we want in our society. So reliance on God is what we are trying to bring our nation back to,” he stressed.
Reverend Dr. David Durant of Restoration Ministries meanwhile noted that the National Prayer Gathering is designed to transform the spiritual climate in Barbados, as prayers are lifted up for various social and economic woes.
“This press conference is to highlight two nights of prayer and intercession for our nation. We are calling it the National Prayer Gathering 2019, which is designed to pray and believe God to make Barbados a preferred place or a better place for us to live, to work, to do business, to raise our families, to educate them, to worship and to really see our children and grandchildren inherit things that are extremely worthwhile, where they themselves can experience their full potential and be useful citizens, making a very positive contribution to our society. We feel as a church we have that responsibility to pray for the land, because throughout scripture, we are admonished to do this,” Durant stated.
He added, “Prayer is the high note on our agenda. The Prime Minister [Mia Amor Mottley] called for two days of prayer earlier this month, but we had planned these two days prior to that, so we thought that we would continue with the dates we had and also get involved in the days that they had chosen.”
As such, he noted that an open invitation has been given for all spiritual leaders, citizens and persons in Barbados, including the youth to come out and join in the two nights of intercessory prayer, as the nation seeks to escape from the clutches of gun violence, evil forces that are at work, a cycle of poverty and general economic woes.
“There is nothing like the dynamic power of corporate prayer,” Durant concluded.