Saturday, March 11, 2000

Drought doesn’t dampen spirits
By LORETTA FULTON
Senior Staff Writer

A flood of pray-for-rain services in recent weeks has failed to produce much precipitation, but that’s not really the point.

Rather, religious leaders say, the point is to put people in touch with God, especially those who may have been disconnected for a while. In January, the Most. Rev. Michael D. Pfeifer, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo, urged the churches in his diocese to devote four days to praying for rain.

Pfeifer noted it did rain in some parts of the diocese, but not necessarily as a result of the prayers. Prayer did, however, shower the participants with blessings.

“It brings us into closer relationship with God,” Pfeifer said.

The recent 20th annual Round-Robin Revival in Haskell, which focused on “Repentance and Rain,” drew more participants than anyone could remember from previous years, said the Rev. Kevin Hall, pastor of First Baptist Church.

“We focused on repentance first and then rain,” he said.

Humans tend to turn to God when the world around them looks bleak, Hall noted. The ministers who planned the revival saw the drought as an opportunity to grab people’s attention.

“They had bigger ears to hear,” Hall said.

Opportunities abound for participating in a prayer service devoted to rain, but for those who prefer staying at home, the Abilene Reporter-News has created a Web site called prayforrain.net.

The site, which can be accessed at that address, features Scripture relating to rain, a chat room for people to exchange comments, a place to add your own prayer or personal drought experience, drought polls and links to other Web sites devoted to drought news.

Drought sites that already exist deal mainly with statistics and the status of the current dry spell. The new Web site will allow people to get involved on another level, said Danny Reagan, director of new media at the Reporter-News.

An extended drought could adversely affect many people in this area, with dire results.

“It may get really bad and people will need an outlet,” Reagan said.

The prayer Web site is designed to provide such an outlet.

Praying for favorable weather is as old as man himself and religious leaders believe it is healthy if approached correctly. In the February newsletter of the Abilene Baptist Association, director Truman Turk urged praying for rain and commented that it might be good to reflect on what prayer is and is not.

“Prayer is not some magical action which results in us getting what we want,” Turk wrote. “Prayer is not even the actual words we say. It is what is in our heart as we attempt to commune with the Father.”

That is why in Haskell, the emphasis at the Round-Robin Revival was placed on repentance first, and rain second.

“As you read the Bible, many times people forgot God and God forgot them,” said Hall, the Baptist minister who preached at one of the services.

Praying for rain may or may not produce immediate results, but both Hall and Pfeifer, the Catholic bishop, noted that God’s time and his plan are different from man’s.

“We see part of it — God has all the pieces,” Pfeifer said. “We believe as Christ did that it all goes back to God.”

Sample Prayers for Rain

Episcopal:

O God, heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ has promised to all

those who seek thy kingdom and its righteousness all things necessary

to sustain their life: Send us, we entreat thee, in this time of need,

such moderate rain and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the

earth, to our comfort and to thy honor; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Roman Catholic:

O God, in whom we live, move and have our being, grant us seasonable rain, so that, when our temporal needs are sufficiently supplied, we may seek with more confidence after things eternal. May the rain you send renew the parched earth, provide a bountiful harvest, and reward our faith and trust in you. We pray this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Lutheran:

Grant weather that nourishes all of creation. Keep us, hold us, gracious God. Amen.