Day of Prayer caps week of events

By Editor | May 12, 2011 |

More than 100 people were on hand for the Fayette County Prayer Breakfast last Thursday morning at the Crawford-Hale American Legion Home in Vandalia.

Dr. Kevin Childers was the master of ceremonies for the program, which was organized by a committee of local clergy and laymen. It included prayer services earlier in the week for city and county government, and local schools.
The Rev. Dr. Roger Grimmett of First United Methodist Church gave the invocation, and Marla Ainscough provided a musical number.
The speaker for the breakfast was Dave Bell, publisher of The Leader-Union.
With the theme for the national prayer breakfast being “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” Bell recalled a treehouse, or fort, that he and his brother had as children growing up in Iowa.
He also recalled a visit last month to Fort McHenry near Baltimore, Md., by he and his wife, Jane, as they chaperoned members of the Vandalia Community High School band.
“However, as Martin Luther penned 'A Mighty Fortress,' he had another type of fortress in mind. He was speaking of God as our spiritual fortress,” Bell said.
He said that in the Book of Psalms, there are many references “about God being our fortress, our rock, our redeemer, our deliverer, our stronghold, our refuge and our shield.
“What powerful images,” Bell said. “Indeed, God is a place of safety and comfort in times of trouble.”
He said that God’s fortress is a place of protection, a place of preparation and a place of action.
Referring back to the beginning of his speech, Bell said he remembered when his childhood fort was lost when the tree died and then fell down during a storm.
“All worldly things – like wealth, power, strength and material possessions – will eventually fail us,” Bell said.
“God is the only fortress that will last,” he said. “In the battle of spiritual forces, God will win.
“It’s all about the mighty fortress we have in Jesus,” Bell said. “And that fortress will never fail.”

Following the meal and the program, participants in last Thursday’s National Day of Prayer breakfast spent the final 15 minutes of the event praying with others at their table. Each table was assigned a topic to pray for.

Dave Bell, publisher of The Leader-Union, was the speaker at Thursday’s prayer breakfast on the national day of prayer. He spoke on the topic of this year’s national day of prayer theme: ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.’