Dwight Pate, senior pastor of Church Point Ministries in North Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has locked himself in a prayer room in the hope that his prayers will help combat crime throughout Louisiana’s capitol city.
“It’s impossible for someone to really be sincere by seeking God without drawing other men and women to pray,” the 68-year-old Pate told WAFB News.
Pate believes Baton Rouge’s crime problem can only be solved by the church.
“So I believe that prayer can change the hearts of the individuals that’s creating all the violence,” he said.
This isn’t the first time Pate has locked himself in the prayer room. When he first opened it in 1994, the pastor locked himself inside the room for almost eight months in order to draw people to the building to receive prayer and holy oil.
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In 2000, Pate locked himself in the room again, this time for five months, in order to identify with the pain and suffering of the elderly.
This time around, Pate is praying for a “spirit of peace” to be spread all over Baton Rouge, creating “a new standard of what I call righteousness and brotherly love.”
“There’s gonna be such a move of God among people,” Pate said. “There’s gonna be such a move with some of the most violent people in this city.”
“Instead of [people] out here killing and robbing and hurting people, [there will be people] bringing peace and joy and victory and forgiving and love, [and] you’re gonna have to come out and report it,” Pate went on to tell WAFB.
Pate posted video to Facebook on May 3, the day he locked himself in the prayer room, emotionally sharing what it means for him to be able to be in the prayer room. “What it means to be in the prayer house is that I can just spend 24 hours a day talking to my God—just being with my God and seeing the fruit of God touching your life.”
