The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16b
For fifteen years from 1981 to 1995, in one Chinese city there were many
cases of murder, armed robbery, rape, gangs of thieves, local village local
tyrants were rampant and small children were being kidnapped, taxis were being
robbed and taxi drivers being killed. People’s hearts were nervous. Traffic
related disputes were increasing and society was not in a peaceful state. There
were less than 3000 believers in the city.
At this time, the Holy Spirit moved Sister Zhou to the city. This Christian
sister helped the church there for over one month. She received a burden while
praying that the church should set up a prayer watch. So, the first prayer watch
group was established. When it started, there were only 6 people. On Sundays
these six people would all watch and pray simultaneously.
After almost six months of this kind of prayer, the national police cleaned
up and eliminated the triad gangs and local village tyrants and brought about a
change for a better environment in the city.
At the time when children were being kidnapped, old Sister Chang began to
fast and pray. Every day she would pray saying, “O Father God, save and rescue
these children. Send an old granny to look after them!” After a year’s time, the
problem of children being kidnapped was transformed.
One problem would be solved and then another problem would come up for
prayer. The rate of deaths in that city due to traffic accidents was an average
of one to two people per day. Many more than that were injured daily. They then
decided to make the city’s traffic safety to be a special prayer topic. They
prayed and relied on God to solve the traffic problems.
From 1995 until now, small groups of prayer watches have expanded from one to
three core groups. Each person prays at a designated time and the time for
prayer rotates to another person in the group. It has now expanded into a large
prayer network. Now the city is peaceful and safe. The work of the gospel is
stable and steadily expanding. There are more than 30,000 Christians in the city
attending meetings.
The people’s attitudes and appearance all seem like they are renewed.
Although there are many laid-off workers, they seem to be able to find enough
work to still be able to feed their families. This truly is the effect of
prayer. It is the work done by our Father for the city.
RESPONSE: Today I will recommit myself to believe in the power of prayer
and practice that belief.
PRAYER: Pray for the problems in your city or community. Ask God for
like-minded partners.
No comments:
Post a Comment