Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer. Whether you attended a community event or prayed silently sometime during the day, God was listening. He can’t help hear the cries of His people. He answers the call even when we can’t see it.

Some see the increase in violence and robberies in the Teche Area and throughout the nation as law enforcement not doing their jobs. I see it as the forces of evil rearing their ugly heads because they know their days are numbered. This community and many throughout Acadiana are taking their cities for Jesus, whether or not it is showing to the undiscerning spirit. Keep praying, better yet, praise God.

The Biblical teaching I received in Nashville as a believer in a musical and worshipping arts-friendly city, substantiate the beliefs I have of the future for New Iberia and the Teche Area. South Louisiana is a place that loves the arts. New Iberia is called one of the friendliest cities of America. Tourists are attracted to the area for both reasons. Travel to similar cultural communities and you find out it’s not the number of arts supported or historic buildings in town that make us that way, it is our people.

What makes people eager to greet a stranger as a friend, help someone in time of need, gather any time an event is hosted raising money for one cause or another? It is their foundation of love. They know the love of Heavenly Father and whether they practice sharing their faith opening or merely in actions, the result is the same.

A song I remember from childhood says it all, “They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, they will all know we are Christians by our love.”

A book I highly recommend for artists of all kinds, many who do not yet know they are called of God, is “An Army Arising,” by Christ John Otto, he has others, too. A friend and I have distributed more than 300 of these books throughout the community. It supports the mandate in scripture exemplified when Solomon dedicated the first temple to the Lord. Gideon and Joshua also experienced God’s power and won their battles by the sound of horns — music. God inhabits the praises of His people.

When God inspired Abraham to divide his sons into 12 tribes, one was dedicated to the service of the temple, the house of the Lord. They were priests and minstrels, musicians and singers. The tithe to be brought into the storehouse by the other 11 tribes was to be used by the priesthood because their work was dedicated unto the Lord.

Large churches today have directors of music or worship teams on staff, or give a meager compensation, but certainly not the numbers that should be. Considering the number of musicians and singers in South Louisiana, I’m speculating we got a lot of those Levite genes and therefore the calling and gifts to be used in honor of God. Far too often, they are used for anything but honoring God.

Even great performers like Elvis, Whitney Houston and the man from my childhood that I was able to meet as an adult, Tennessee Ernie Ford, had a calling from God.  They have gone on to eternal rest, or otherwise, but all started out singing in church and kept God a part of their private but fallen lives. No wonder their souls could not find rest when the company they kept and demands on their sold-out lives required more than they could bear. Their gifts and anointing were irrevocable, but not always used for His or their good.

As we await the Day of Pentecost, May 20, let us keep our eyes on Jesus, better yet, let us wait with expectation the One who came after Him, the author and finisher of our faith. Let’s see what Holy Spirit brings forth as a result of the faithful prayer warriors who have been walking our streets and calling on His name to heal our land.

VICKY BRANTON is Teche Life editor of The Daily Iberian.