Story, photos by Steve Nash – Special Contributor to BrownwoodNews.com
With song, prayer and scripture reading, about 40 people gathered Thursday in Brownwood’s Pat Coursey Park to commemorate the National Day of Prayer.
Dennis Williams, pastor of NorthRidge Baptist Church in Early, organized the 90-minute event, which featured more than a dozen pastors and other community members who led prayers for the community, state and nation. Williams, Jodie Armstrong and Cathryn Davis sang gospel solos and were among those who prayed aloud.
“We’re here to tell of his glory among the nations, his wonderful deeds among all the people,” Williams said as the event began.
After the event ended, Armstrong, the owner of Brownwood Music, said:
“This is the official National Day of Prayer, and communities and cities all over the United States are having some sort of prayer vigil. Dennis Williams put this together here for this area, and he asked me if I wanted to pray for the community. I was absolutely scared to death, but honored.
“Because our only hope is prayer. That’s our sword. And we sometimes do that last. We really should do that first for every problem that we run across. So I was highly excited about this.”
Armstrong said there should have been a large attendance, but added, “it only takes two. God promises us in his Bible that we’re two or more gathered in his name, and we cry out, there’s great power.
“All he needs is two people of the same mind asking for Jesus to help whatever it may be, our police department, our city, our community, our state, world, all this sort of thing. We have got to be diligent about the only hope we’ve got, which I believe is Jesus Christ. And that’s what we were here today to do.”
