These remarks were delivered on March 25, 2026 as part of the President’s Community Prayer Luncheon, held at McLane Stadium.

Good afternoon.

My name is Ben Simpson. I serve as Associate Director of Spiritual Formation at Baylor’s Truett Seminary. It is an honor to be invited to be part of today’s Prayer Luncheon.

I would like to thank President Livingstone and her team for offering me the opportunity to continue directing our attention toward God during this hour of fellowship, and at this moment in the Christian year, as we remember the final days of Jesus’ life, his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his passion and crucifixion, and his glorious resurrection.

It has done my heart good today to see former students and friends in this room, some who share today in leadership. Those who know me a little better know this: I am a casual dresser. Some are wondering where my boots are. I’m out of uniform. But as I thought of this occasion, I heard a voice. That voice said, “Ben, you should wear a suit.”

You might be thinking, “Ben heard this from the Lord.” Maybe so. But the voice I heard belongs to my mom.

God has spoken through my mom. Maybe this was one of those occasions.

My mom belongs to the Baylor class of 1975. My dad graduated from Baylor in 1976. I’m a 2002 graduate, as is my wife Molly, who is here with us. I have several other family members who have attended or graduated from this institution.

There are countless other individuals who have been part of my life story that have been formed and shaped by Baylor, and for this I am very grateful. This is another reason why I am honored to be part of today’s gathering and am very glad something like this is part of our institutional life.

I believe God has graciously interwoven this University into the kingdom of God, and in ways both hidden and plain chosen to include us in the outworking of the divine purposes in history and on earth.

I do not believe we have been perfect. I do believe that we have been the beneficiaries and instruments of a patient, longsuffering, slow-to-anger, abounding-in-love, gracious God. I pray that we would be good stewards of the riches of our spiritual inheritance that we have received. I pray we would be humble, returning glory where it is due.

In his book Sacred Fire, Catholic priest Ronald Rolheiser writes:

One of the oldest, classical definitions of prayer defines it this way: “Prayer is lifting mind and heart to God.” That sounds simple enough, but it is not at all easy to do. It is rare that we actually open mind and heart to God in order to show God what is really there. Mostly, we treat God as a parental figure or as a visiting dignitary and tell God what we think God wants to hear rather than what is actually on our minds and hearts at a given time. Consequently, we have a rather narrow range of thoughts and feelings that we consider suitable for prayer. Most of what we actually think and feel is considered too base for prayer. We feel we are praying only when we feel good thoughts and warm feelings—that is, when we feel like praising God; when we feel altruistic, pure, and centered; when we have positive feelings toward God, others, and nature; when we feel the desire to pray; or when we yearn for moral improvement (p. 173).

Rolheiser would say that prayer is inclusive of those positive sentiments but involves much more. It involves the whole of us, the whole of our lives, ranging from ecstatic experiences to the commonplace and mundane. Prayer is inclusive of our private and devotional efforts. I do hope each person here seeks to “pray continually” as 1 Thess. 5:17 instructs, and keeps appointments with the Lord, petitioning God daily in the secret places.

But prayer also involves our public and priestly office as ambassadors and spokespersons for Christ. It involves our praying with and alongside the church for the world. God has called us to serve as intercessors, as those who pray not only on our own behalf, but on the behalf of all people, in all places, at all times these words, “Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Rolheiser notes that our greatest act of fidelity in prayer is evidenced in action, in the doing. He observes that our feelings wax and wane, ebb and flow. This room contains a wide range of feelings about ourselves, about our churches, about Baylor, about Waco, about the United States, about global events, even about God. But we are here. We are here to pray.

Rolheiser writes:

The great spiritual writers assure us that, without exception, we will all have seasons within which our prayer is dry, boring, and can be done only on the basis of dogged willpower and commitment. Those same writers then go on to affirm that, because this will be true for everyone, the one, single, nonnegotiable rule for prayer is simply this: show up! Show up regularly, irrespective of feelings and irrespective of method. We cannot guarantee how we will feel on any given day, but we can guarantee that, short of an emergency, we will appear. It is not important which method of prayer we use, only that we pray. We show our fidelity to God not in our feelings but in our commitment (p. 210).

I will add that our feelings are not unimportant. They should not be ignored or neglected. In fact, they are welcome before God. In the domain of prayer, feelings are significant, but not ultimate. Our commitment to God, and by extension to prayer, must be established, rooted much deeper, anchored, fixed within our souls. But why should we be so committed?

Let me provide three reasons, all in brief.

First, we have been invited to abide in the source of all life, to remain in Christ himself, for in him all things were created, visible and invisible, thrones, powers, rulers, dominions and authorities, pulpits, departments, colleges, boards, congregations, committees, ministries, and offices, made through him and for him; and in whom all things hold together by the word of his power. I am drawing together claims that are found in John 15:1-4, Colossians 1:15-20, and Hebrews 1:3.

I’ll expand further on what is found in John 15. These words were spoken during that first Holy Week, just on the horizon for us. In John 15, Jesus says we are clean because of the word he has spoken, that we are to remain in him as he remains in us. Christ is the vine. We are the branches. God’s action–grafting us into the vine that is Christ–has a purpose. It is this: we are to bear much fruit—fruit that will last.

We bear fruit by drawing our life from the vine. If we remain in him, we can ask for whatever we wish, and it will be done. Furthermore, the fruit we bear will be to the glory of the Father. Jesus’ joy, the Father’s joy, and our joy are then made complete. The love of the Father, the love of the Son, and our love are bound through the love of the Holy Spirit, happily given to us (Luke 11:13), God’s children, who are then to love one another as we have been so loved.

Do you want to remain steadfast in your commitment to pray? Let the love of God stir your feelings. Act because of God’s love for you.

Second, let me remind you of the cross. In John 15:12, Jesus says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” In the very next verse, he adds, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus dies for his friends, and more. Romans 5:8 says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus called his disciples friends while they were still sinners. See John 15:15. Having died for us while we were yet sinners, God has not only called us friends, but saints.

The cross is God’s sign that we are known to the bottom, seen to the extreme, and loved beyond our capacity to plumb or fathom. That which is within us that would keep us from fellowship with God—bondage to sin, standing under the curse of death—has been addressed with finality. The cross is God’s means by which we have been exalted to the heavenly places, and aseated with Christ in whom our life is hid. See Colossians 3:1-4, and Ephesians 2:1-10.

Why pray?

Why not? Do you see what God has done for us?

Thirdly, and even more briefly, Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.

In Acts 2:22-24, Peter addresses the crowds and says:

Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

There is a broad diversity of Christian leadership in this room. There are different races, ethnicities, nationalities, backgrounds, and beliefs. There are different denominational traditions represented, different theologies, different emphases in mission and gospel work. Why are we in this room together? Why are we here to practice fellowship, and to pray?

Because God raised Jesus from the dead. It is this God who calls us, who invites us, who beckons us to pray.

Look to your right and to your left. Turn around, if you are at the front, survey the room, if you are at the back. These men and women have been gathered by God to pray with you, alongside you. Baylor educates around 20,000 students. There are over 1,500 full and part-time faculty at Baylor, and over 2,000 members of our staff. Our area has a population of around 245,000 people. Not all have heard, or been invited to receive, the good news of the kingdom of God.

Relatively speaking, this is a small gathering. Peter Maurin, the long-time associate and ministry partner of Dorothy Day, would say something like: “When you don’t know what else to do, keep going to meetings because Pentecost happened at a meeting!”

And a relatively small meeting, at that. There is a multitude around us. It is my prayer, that today, we would ask God to pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, that we might be a radiant witness to the gospel of and about Jesus Christ, that all in our area might hear and receive new life in and through him. I hope you will join me in that prayer.