November 14, 2015
MARSHALL NEWS MESSENGER (11/7/15) - East Texas Baptist University is taking everything to the foot of the Cross with its new on-campus intercessory prayer ministry.
"God answers prayer. When I first became president, I challenged the faculty, staff and trustees to join together in prayer," ETBU President Blair Blackburn said. "I invited them to begin praying for 40 days and we as a university family read Mark Batterson's book 'Draw the Circle, The 40 Day Prayer Challenge.'"
Blackburn said the staff took the 40-day prayer journey together, running June 1 to July 10.
"We prayed daily for the needs of the campus community, prayed for God to reveal himself to us and pour out his Holy Spirit on us," Blackburn said. "We were asking for the Lord to reveal himself to us as we concentrated our focus on Jesus."
That prayer journey led to what Blackburn feels is a series of events steered by God's own hand.
"At that time I sensed God was telling me that we needed to start an intercessory prayer ministry, a dedicated program of prayer ministry where we had the faculty and staff together praying for the needs of the university community and the institution and the university family," Blackburn said. "We invited our trustees, alumni, donors and friends of the university to join us in praying and to partner with us."
The staff handed out prayer commitment cards, or prayer guides, with 25 points of prayer or areas of need that included praying for student recruitment, spiritual life and chapel services, residence life and staff.
"This is a commitment of the university as a Christ-centered institution," Blackburn said. "God laid it on my heart that as I began my presidential leadership that we together would turn our hearts to him. Certainly ETBU has always been a people of prayer but this is a united, concerted effort that we would seek God's face. We were asking God to pour out his wisdom and knowledge and grant us his provision and we want him to our answer our prayer."
God also had it worked out exactly how the university would accomplish that goal, Blackburn said.
About the time Blackburn started feeling that God wanted him and the university to go deeper in their prayer ministry, an Elysian Fields ISD elementary school teacher began feeling that God was telling her it was time to quit teaching and open another door in her career.
"I felt like my time of teaching was over and that that door was closing," ETBU's new Director of the Intercessory Prayer Ministry Leigh Ann Delk said.
"I didn't know what was coming after that. I resigned at (the) end of school year and was just expectant and hoping and waiting on the Lord because I knew that I wanted to be available but I wasn't sure in what capacity that was going to be. I just had the opportunity to come here and be a part of this ministry and by the Lord's grace and provision, just step in."
Blackburn said the timing was perfect and in God's hands the whole time.
"It was fascinating," he said. "We had never met. God knew, at the same time he was stirring in my heart, he knew that Leigh Ann was going to be appointed to do this but she had to be called out of teaching. She was obedient to stop and wait for the Lord to reveal to her the plan. I called her two months later and it didn't take long for me to realize, 'OK, Lord, I hear you. This is what you had planned for me the whole time'."
Delk's husband, Ray, had previously served on ETBU's board of trustees for nine years and is planning to return to the board's vice chair position in January. Delk herself has been involved with the university for more than a decade.
"It was not hard at all to see God's hands of providence working," Delk said. "It was a clear answer to prayer for a way to serve."
After Delk came on board, things really began moving and expanding in the prayer ministry, Blackburn said.
A break room was renovated to turn half of the room into a prayer room, completely with Bibles, paper and pencils for notes, tissues and kneeling benches.
Prayer boxes were set up in five buildings around campus for students, staff and visiting guests to drop a prayer request in, either anonymously or with contact information attached.
"We're beginning to get (prayer request) cards in. It's beginning to take hold," Delk said. "Faculty and staff have really embraced the prayer ministry. Most of the student and guest prayer requests ask for prayer for academics, personal reasons, parents that are ill or a situation at home."
Blackburn said the requests are prayed over in 15-minute intervals throughout the day by staff and also added to a prayer and praise list email that goes out to the university's staff and prayer partners.
"People are hurting," Blackburn said. "Our students have financial needs and they face difficulties in their own families. We believe that we need to encircle people with prayer."
The staff also took up Blackburn's challenge for the month of October to read a chapter from the book of Proverbs once a day.
"The book of Proverbs is full of wisdom and insight and we're seeking God's wisdom and asking God to reveal his wisdom to us as we read together," Blackburn said. "I truly believe if we want God to pour out his knowledge and grant us his provision, we must express our praise and thanks to the Lord and go boldly to the throne of grace to ask God for his continued blessing upon ETBU and to intercede for others."
The ministry's theme verse is Philippians 4:6.
"Prayer is an essential part of us fulfilling our Christ centered mission," Blackburn said. "It holds us accountable to who God has called ETBU to be. God has, from its very beginning, given a vision to our founders for us to be a Christian institution and that is what it has to be."
(Used by permission www.marshallnewsmessenger.com, story written by MNM reporter Bridget Ortigo)