Mike Robinson on Prayer

Michael Robinson, Men's Ministry Director of the Buffalo City Mission will be praying at this year's National Day of Prayer gathering in Buffalo at Niagara Square on May 6.Why are you involved with the National Day of Prayer?

I am the Men’s Ministry Director at the Buffalo City Mission. Historically our men help to set up and tear down the podium and lights and such so we have always been involved in some way. This year I have been asked to lead one of the prayers. I am a native Buffalonian; I will be praying for local government. I have children in Buffalo public schools, and my family is all here in Buffalo. So Buffalo is very close to my heart. I am praying that God will continue to bless Buffalo and that God would give courage, wisdom and insight to our local leaders to turn us from a city that has been in decline and decay and to lift Buffalo into a place of hope and opportunity with a safe, nurturing environment for our families and with positive schools and programs for our children as well as jobs for those who are able and willing to have a job.

Seeing the great need at the City Mission, how does that affect your prayer life?

I have walked both sides on the line. God brought me through drug and alcohol addiction and some difficult situations that I put myself in. So once I came to the City Mission as the Men’s Director I was able to develop and implement specific programs to help the poor. I have a passion for helping people. The City Mission has been the perfect place for me to move out in this area of ministry.We have developed a case management program and developed a network of service agencies including private, government, faith based, not faith based, etc. to address the specific needs of human beings and reach out to other entities when we need to. So it not only allows me to help those who come to the City Mission but it has allowed me to interact with all strata of society.

Can you relate an example of how God has answered prayers personally or at the City Mission?

Every day is a testimony because I am able to see God work through me and touch other people. I am a person who has been clean and sober for the last fifteen years. At one point, however, I lost every good thing that my parents had put in me. I had lost everything over and over, until November 20, 1994. That day, I stepped to the curb and said to God, “I am just a shadow of the man I should be. But if you will get me up on my feet just one more time, I promise I will look at life through the lens of your Scripture and I won’t turn back.” That was the last time I drank; I have been sober ever since. I completed college, I am pastoring a church and I’ve been married over nineteen years with children. God has blessed me more than I could ever deserve.

Why would you encourage others to come out for the National Day of Prayer?

I encourage everyone to come out because God is real. There is power in collective prayer. I encourage people to come out for those who don’t believe in God so they will see us loudly declaring the goodness of God.

After the National Day of Prayer is over, how can people help be an answer to our very prayers?

Let’s stop passing by that man, that woman, that boy or girl. Let’s stop driving by folks and pretending we don’t see them. Let’s stop blaming people’s pain on their lack of faith for their situation. Let each person individually take an accurate understanding of the Word and love of God to apply them practically in any situation we are in. I understand that everyone can’t go to street corners or crack houses to deal with these people, but they can get involved in many ways with the Buffalo City Mission. Theycan give time, talent and/or treasure. The face of homelessness is not the stereotypical face. I have former professional athletes, entertainers, people with Master’s degrees and doctorates that come to the
City Mission for help.We need to live, teach and walk out the Gospel of Jesus Christ every way we can.