Prayer is Life
I read Jaeson Ma's most recent blog entry and found out he's gone to a monastery for 40 days to seek God..and to help farm, haha. Sounds odd, but it makes sense. Biblical metaphors and parables really come alive when you can actually examine the things Jesus refers to, like the different types of soil and the need to till, and the wings of an eagle (I experienced that one in Mongolia..man, they can soar). A lot of what Jaeson writes is what God has also been speaking to me lately..the importance of living a quiet lifestyle, with a simple heart seeking God in prayer and letting that be enough. By now it sounds kind of cliche, but I'm learning again that the one thing we need--seriously, one thing--is just to seek God and know Him intimately, because all else will fall into place when we do. Though there are mountains to where I want to go, God is the One who can move those mountains..so instead of trying to move them myself, all I need to do is seek the Lord, and it is His joy and my joy being made complete in doing so.
Here are excerpts from his blog post that really resounded with me:
"In November of last year I spoke at one of the largest churches in the world in South Korea. After I had spoken my first session from the pulpit, the Sr. Pastor rebuked me personally by saying, “Young man you don’t pray enough!” I was convicted when hearing this, although I do pray 1-2 hours a day, I knew the Sr. Pastor was challenging me to go beyond my norm. He then said, “If you pray 1 hour a day you can survive. 2 hours a day you can have a ministry. 6 hours a day God can use you to change a country. 8 hours a day and God can use to shake the nations!” After he said this, he made me promise him I would pray 6 hours a day when I returned back home to America. I did my best, but to no avail. I’ll be honest I haven’t been praying 6 hours a day since that challenge from the Sr. Pastor Yoon.
A few weeks after I returned from South Korea with this personal challenge to pray 6-8 hours a day I had a prophetic dream. In the dream the same Sr. Pastor walks up to me. He says to me, “Young man do you know the key to how I started this great church and ministry? The key is that I actually have a full time day job. I work 8 hours a day at another occupation while leading this great ministry.” I said, “How is it possible that you can work at another occupation 8 hours a day and still run this incredible ministry?” What is your occupation? Pastor Yoon then said to me, “My day time occupation is that I am a farmer. I sow and plant seeds 8 hours a day!” The dream ends.
When I woke up from this dream I knew the clear meaning and interpretation. This Sr. Pastor’s key to having such a great church and fruitful ministry was that he sowed seeds of prayer 8 hours a day. The occupation and priority of prayer was his ministry and the key to his success in obeying God by living a dedicated and disciplined lifestyle of radical prayer. Again, I was convicted about this and begin to ask the Holy Spirit to confirm my path to a disciplined life of 8 hours of prayer a day.
The Holy Spirit is leading me into this time of silence, solitude and prayer so that I can rediscover my first love, be reawakened to what is true, good and beautiful, to be set free from the dictates and pressures of this world and be refocused back on what really matters, my relationship with God. I am going in with nothing and coming out with nothing. I have no expectations other than knowing this is God’s will for me and I am ready to face whatever demons needed to be faced in my inner most being. With Christ, I will overcome. I feel like this is a test of manhood, the test of a true hero, which is to lose it all and still be willing to fight, to persevere and to overcome all odds with courage in the face of fear. I’m ready as I can be, expectant of one thing, to know Him more."
I'm reminded by this that prayer is life. It sounds intense, praying so many hours a day, but I see a huge difference in my own heart when I pray and when I don't. I have no ability to love when I don't pray. Though it's a sacrifice many days, if I don't pray my spirit man withers and I have nothing to say or offer in ministry--only things I've learned of yesterday. I look up to and seek to emulate these mighty men of God who preach prayer because they know how completely essential it is. It is their full-time job, and if it weren't so, if men didn't pray and seek the face of God every day, the church and the world would deteriorate so much more rapidly. I'm thankful for their conviction because if men in ministry didn't pray, church would be a complete show. All we can rely on for power and effectiveness in ministry is prayer being our source, nothing else.
Here are excerpts from his blog post that really resounded with me:
"In November of last year I spoke at one of the largest churches in the world in South Korea. After I had spoken my first session from the pulpit, the Sr. Pastor rebuked me personally by saying, “Young man you don’t pray enough!” I was convicted when hearing this, although I do pray 1-2 hours a day, I knew the Sr. Pastor was challenging me to go beyond my norm. He then said, “If you pray 1 hour a day you can survive. 2 hours a day you can have a ministry. 6 hours a day God can use you to change a country. 8 hours a day and God can use to shake the nations!” After he said this, he made me promise him I would pray 6 hours a day when I returned back home to America. I did my best, but to no avail. I’ll be honest I haven’t been praying 6 hours a day since that challenge from the Sr. Pastor Yoon.
A few weeks after I returned from South Korea with this personal challenge to pray 6-8 hours a day I had a prophetic dream. In the dream the same Sr. Pastor walks up to me. He says to me, “Young man do you know the key to how I started this great church and ministry? The key is that I actually have a full time day job. I work 8 hours a day at another occupation while leading this great ministry.” I said, “How is it possible that you can work at another occupation 8 hours a day and still run this incredible ministry?” What is your occupation? Pastor Yoon then said to me, “My day time occupation is that I am a farmer. I sow and plant seeds 8 hours a day!” The dream ends.
When I woke up from this dream I knew the clear meaning and interpretation. This Sr. Pastor’s key to having such a great church and fruitful ministry was that he sowed seeds of prayer 8 hours a day. The occupation and priority of prayer was his ministry and the key to his success in obeying God by living a dedicated and disciplined lifestyle of radical prayer. Again, I was convicted about this and begin to ask the Holy Spirit to confirm my path to a disciplined life of 8 hours of prayer a day.
The Holy Spirit is leading me into this time of silence, solitude and prayer so that I can rediscover my first love, be reawakened to what is true, good and beautiful, to be set free from the dictates and pressures of this world and be refocused back on what really matters, my relationship with God. I am going in with nothing and coming out with nothing. I have no expectations other than knowing this is God’s will for me and I am ready to face whatever demons needed to be faced in my inner most being. With Christ, I will overcome. I feel like this is a test of manhood, the test of a true hero, which is to lose it all and still be willing to fight, to persevere and to overcome all odds with courage in the face of fear. I’m ready as I can be, expectant of one thing, to know Him more."
I'm reminded by this that prayer is life. It sounds intense, praying so many hours a day, but I see a huge difference in my own heart when I pray and when I don't. I have no ability to love when I don't pray. Though it's a sacrifice many days, if I don't pray my spirit man withers and I have nothing to say or offer in ministry--only things I've learned of yesterday. I look up to and seek to emulate these mighty men of God who preach prayer because they know how completely essential it is. It is their full-time job, and if it weren't so, if men didn't pray and seek the face of God every day, the church and the world would deteriorate so much more rapidly. I'm thankful for their conviction because if men in ministry didn't pray, church would be a complete show. All we can rely on for power and effectiveness in ministry is prayer being our source, nothing else.
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