After seeking the Lord’s leading, and with much godly counsel, the National Day of Prayer Board of Directors was so pleased on August 22nd, 2017 to announce Dr. Ronnie Floyd’s assuming the role of President of the National Day of Prayer. Dr. Floyd will oversee the national operation of mobilizing individuals, churches, denominations and organizations to unified public prayer for America throughout the year, which will culminate annually on the first Thursday of May, when the whole country observes the National Day of Prayer. The NDP Task Force, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is confident Dr. Floyd will build on its legacy and that of godly leaders, Vonette Bright and Shirley Dobson who served for decades and Anne Graham Lotz who served last year in transition, so this ministry will increase its level of commitment to become all God wants it to be in the future.

Dr. Floyd recounts. “Leading this national ministry operation is a calling in my life. This calling is not new but goes back to moments in early 1995, when God called me to pray and fast for America for forty days. This journey revealed to me the deadliness of my own personal pride and placed upon my heart the future of our nation in a way that changed the trajectory of my life and ministry since that time.” He asks prayer for this important leadership role into a new day for prayer in our nation and as he continues his vital ministry as Senior Pastor at Cross Church in northwest Arkansas.

Without a shadow of a doubt, prayer has always been at the heart of our nation’s founding and history,” said David Butts, chairman of the board of the National Day of Prayer and founder and president of Harvest Prayer Ministries. “The mission of the National Day of Prayer is to mobilize our nation to unified public prayer for America. Our heart is to see a mighty spiritual awakening in America.”

“As we step into a new phase of carrying this mission and legacy, I believe we couldn’t have found a man more passionate or dedicated to prayer and spiritual awakening than Ronnie Floyd,” Butts said. “Throughout his life, he has demonstrated he is a leader with a unique calling to lead others to unify together to pray for our nation and the need of spiritual awakening. America is blessed to have him as the new president of the National Day of Prayer.”

Other members of the National Day of Prayer’s board of directors expressed their support for Dr. Floyd. “Ronnie Floyd is one of the great Christian leaders in America. I believe he has been uniquely prepared and called by God to give leadership to the National Day of Prayer at this important time,” said Paul Cedar, chairman and CEO of Mission America Coalition.

“Dr. Ronnie Floyd has a heart that beats for the very things that mirror the heartbeat of God,” said Dick Eastman, international president of Every Home For Christ. “He radiates a passion for a great Christ Awakening in our nation born out of a sweeping revival of the Church in America unlike ever before.”

Pat Chen, founder and president of First Love Ministries International, Inc., said, “Dr. Ronnie Floyd is a voice to our Nation for healing, unity and spiritual awakening.”

Dr. Floyd, in a letter to his congregation announcing his new role as president of the National Day of Prayer, said, “In this desperate and urgent hour when turmoil and division is evident in America and security threats are being made against America, it is imperative that we do all we can right now to mobilize unified public prayer for America. America’s greatest need today is to experience the next Great Spiritual Awakening, and we know that no great movement of God ever occurs that is not preceded by the extraordinary prayer of God’s people. The National Day of Prayer mobilizes unified public prayer for America. God can do more in a moment than we can do in a lifetime.” Dr. Floyd requested his congregation to pray for him daily as he leads the National Day of Prayer and expressed hope in the future of the movement.

Dr. Floyd, who brings decades of expertise and passion for revival and awakening to the National Day of Prayer, has a long history of leading prayer movements in America. He was a prominent figure in the Promise Keepers movement of the 1990s and spoke at the organization’s 1997 event “Stand in the Gap,” where an estimated 1.4 million people filled Washington, D.C.’s National Mall. The event is still considered one of the largest religious gatherings in American history.

In June 2014, Dr. Floyd also carried his passion for prayer, revival, and spiritual awakening when he was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), America’s largest Protestant denomination. In his two-term tenure as president of the convention, Dr. Floyd led Southern Baptists to focus on prayer, evangelism, racial unity, repentance, and calling out to God for the next Great Spiritual Awakening. In one of the most striking moments of the 2016 SBC Convention, Dr. Floyd and Dr. Jerry Young, president of the National Baptist Convention, led a panel titled “A National Conversation on Racial Unity in America.” This historic event in Southern Baptist history was recognized by national media and sparked conversations of healing and unity within the movement.

Dr. Floyd also hosts his popular leadership podcast, Ronnie Floyd on Life and Leadership Today, and has written multiple books on leadership and prayer. He has pastored the Cross Church congregation since 1986. Today, Cross Church has a membership of over 20,000, making it the largest church in the state of Arkansas and one of the largest in America.

As part of his vision as new president, Dr. Floyd sees the National Day of Prayer becoming a larger multi-church, multi-denominational, multi-ministry, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-generational movement. He also believes the National Day of Prayer can become America’s leading provider of prayer resources and strategies, engaging Americans daily via the digital world. Dr. Floyd’s life mission is to help usher America’s next Great Spiritual Awakening, with prayer being the driving catalyst of this spiritual movement.

Excerpts from NDP and Ronnie Floyd websites   

For Dr. Floyd’s weekly NDP articles go to https://www.nationaldayofprayer.org or Visit https://ronniefloyd.com

For Dr. Floyd’s hosting of Life and Leadership podcasts Subscribe: iTunes/Android/ RSS

Follow Dr. Floyd on Twitter and Instagram @ronniefloyd