Home Christian News ‘Birthed out of Prayer’: First Orlando Intercessor Leads Life of Prayer

‘Birthed out of Prayer’: First Orlando Intercessor Leads Life of Prayer

The 2022 International Christian Film Festival in Orlando honored Dawkins-Cole in May, awarding her for leading prayer at the festival since its inception in 2012.

When Hurricane Ian struck Florida, she mobilized prayers across the DIMI network and its partners to pray for those impacted by the storm, aided by her adult daughter Kerry-Ann Cole, whom she describes as her “No. 1 prayer partner.” Dawkins-Cole organized the prayer outreach while caring for her brother Samuel, who is recuperating from surgery in California.

“They have been praying and reaching out to the communities as much as they can,” she said. “They’re reaching out and touching the lives of people in different places in Florida and are connected to the pastors to pray for them.”

Prayer has been important to Dawkins-Cole since her childhood. She recalls her father and mother leading the family in prayer, including when the family received monthly support from Southern Baptists in the states.

“I remember my dad, when he would get his little check, he would say to my mom, he used to call her nurse, he would say, ‘Nurse, the monthly stipend check has come from the Home Mission Board and we’re going to pray over that check,’” Dawkins-Cole remembers. “So he would take that check, he would lay it on the table, and my mom and us – all the children – would lay hands on that check and my dad would say the prayer, ‘Lord bless it and multiply it.’ So that’s our connection to the Home Mission Board through the Southern Baptist Convention.”

She awakens early each morning to pray, she said, and prays as she goes about her day.

“I just see my life as a work of answered prayer. So, I’ll walk in the supermarket and the Lord will show me something, and I’ll just start prayer. Prayer is a natural part of me,” she said. “Prayer for me is a lifestyle.”

People often ask her for advice, she said, on how to invigorate their prayer lives. She encourages others to arise early and spend quiet time with God, as Jesus modeled in Scripture.

“And when you do that, it becomes a lifestyle. It is such a sweet fragrance, a sweet time, that you can’t help but want to have that time,” she said. “You don’t have to fight to pray, because now you’re tuned with the Holy Spirit, and He prompts you how to pray and when to pray because now, you are one.”

This article originally appeared here.