Calling Central Arkansas Pastors to Pray for Marriage

Ray Williams Updated on Extraordinary Prayer, Flourishing Families

The ABC News headline on December 3 read:

 “Sites Match Potential Co-Parents, Skip Love and Marriage”.

Rachel Hope of Los Angeles says she’s ready to be a mother again.  She’d like to get pregnant next month.  The thing is, she has no idea who the father will be. Hope is one of a growing number of Americans interested in exploding the old 1950s notion of the nuclear family. She’s not looking for love.  She wants a co-parent.  .  .  Hope already has two kids from two different fathers: Jesse, 22, whose father was her childhood best friend, and Grace, 4, whose father is her current housemate, Paul Wenner.

Stories like the one above along with others in the last few weeks such as the Phil Robertson (Duck Dynasty) controversy, and of legal challenges to the “Arkansas Defense of Marriage Act” are some of  the latest reminders of what we know and feel.

God’s design for marriage is being actively opposed by our culture as never before in our generation.

It’s not just our culture however; we are facing it in our churches.  Bill Elliff, Senior Teaching Pastor at The Summit Church, recently wrote:

“Every church and pastor I know is struggling with the devastation of families in their midst. More than any day we’ve seen, our families are under attack. We need to everything possible TOGETHER to help turn the tide. And, it would seem, the very first and best course is to unite together in prayer inviting the Creator of the family to send a mighty revival in the families in Central Arkansas. John Bunyan said, “We can do more than pray after we’ve prayed, but we can do nothing but pray until we’ve prayed.”

It is out of this sense of urgency and need that Family Life Ministries and the Nehemiah Network are inviting Central Arkansas Pastors to a special time of “Prayer for Marriage” on Friday, January 17, 11:30-1:00 at the FamilyLife Headquarters.   (Lunch provided)

Let’s unite together to cry out to God for marriages in our churches, community, and our culture.

Ray Williams
Ray Williams has served as the Founder and President of CityChurch Network since its beginning in 1999. Previously, he served in multiple pastor roles at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock for 38 years. He and his wife Carolyn love to attend movies and travel together. They have two daughters and seven grandchildren who know him as “Papa Ray.” He graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in 1977 and earned an M.A. in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication from UA Little Rock in 1985. He is pursuing a Doctorate of Ministry through the Antioch School for Church Planting and Leadership Development. His training as an Army Airborne Ranger and active-duty service as an Infantry officer in the 82nd Airborne Division from 1977 to 1981 earned him the nickname “Ranger Ray” with some of his long-term friends.