By Wendy Ledbetter
The Arkadelphian

In 2016, God gave a message to Arkadelphia resident Missie Kramer.

“He told me He was going to change the course of history,” Kramer said during a telephone interview this week.

With that message in her heart, she created the Arkadelphia Women of Prayer, a local group of women who come together with a daily plan for praying for the city. According to Kramer, the group’s goals from the beginning was to create “a Godly world for the next generation.”

From the beginning, Kramer felt the key was to have a united group of women praying for the same thing on the same day with the same scriptures as their base. She created the Women of Prayer United calendar that provides the information to keep that unity going.

Kramer said the women pray for “seven mountains of societal influence.” These are broken down by day, with the women praying for their local churches on Mondays and families of the community on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, the prayers focus on local education and on local government on Thursdays. On Fridays, the group prays for local businesses, the media, and entertainment.

The prayer calendar is available on the Women of Prayer United website, located at www.wopunited.org. The calendar is available free for download or viewing, so it may be printed or pulled up to remind those involved of the day’s focus.

“So we’re all praying for the same thing, on the same day, using the same scripture,” Kramer said.

Very soon after forming the group, God made it clear to Kramer that this was not just a local endeavor.

“I didn’t know what that meant,” she said. The she began making connections outside the community, “and I realized God was saying … it’s for the whole nation.”

Over the past seven years, the group has continued to grow and now includes women from 18 states.

According to Kramer, the group has grown through Facebook and the Women of Prayer United’s website, and “through a woman who knows someone who has known someone else.”

While the women pray daily from home, women also meet at the local office at 2503 Pine Street, Suite 3 on the third Tuesday of each month at noon and at 5:30. Meetings typically last about an hour. There is no charge and everyone is welcome.

Through those meetings, “We’re praying individually everyday but also together,” Kramer said.

The first weekend in March each year, members of the group come together and celebrate answered prayer. They celebrated their seventh event the weekend of March 5^th at the local event venue, Blakelytown.

Noted guests included Tennessee singer Judy Jacobs, historian David Barton from Texas, and film producer Tammy Lane who produced Washington’s Armor. Kramer’s mom, Hettie Lue Brooks and daughter-in-law Lindsey Perry were also on hand, as well as Malvern musician Roy Hale.

Kramer said “women from all over” joined in the event.

The group does not stop at praying at home or at their offices. They regularly take to the streets, walking and praying over the people of the community. They walk the aisles of Walmart just before Black Friday each year,

“Most people in this community will be in Walmart during those weeks. We pray this will be a Godly city.”

A few years ago, hundreds of volunteers spent 90 hours reading the Bible aloud, sending the Word of God over the community. They have prayed outside every local school, the local pregnancy center, the courthouse, and the jail.

And the result?

“God’s hand is moving in our nation,” Kramer said.

She cited the recent announcement of a major factory coming to Clark County.

“We’ve been praying for seven years for job opportunities in Arkadelphia. So that’s an answered prayer for us because we’ve been praying for more jobs.”

The group is for women, though Kramer says a few men will occasionally “drift in.” There is a group called Arkadelphia Men of Prayer who meet in the same office at 6 a.m. on Tuesdays. Kramer says the women’s group is open to anyone and is not denominational. Anyone who uses the prayer calendar is invited to let the group know they are joining in the prayers. Visitors are welcome at the office, which is usually manned on Tuesdays and sometimes Thursdays.

“Each of our groups has their own story of how God has answered prayer,” Kramer said.