8 Lessons We Can Learn from the Church in China
3rd Lesson: Fervency in Prayer
Tract by Asia Outreach
I grew up in China, and I recall that our neighbor had a little house in the garden.
It was named ‘The Little Ark.’ She had this house built when she became a Christian. It was to be used by visiting pastors like a ‘prophet’s chamber.’ But it was also used as a fasting and prayer closet. I remember Christians, including my mother, would go to the ‘Little Ark,’ and for days they would fast and pray.
Even as a young boy, I was moved by the fervency of their prayers. And that fervency has never left China’s Christians.
On one of my visits to China with two co-workers, we visited a lady who had been imprisoned for 23 years. She had been released just the week before. We went to her little shack. We brought her food, medicine, clothing, money, and of course a Bible. That woman was a saint! She has spent most of her life in China’s labor camps because of her faith. As we were about to leave she said, “Can we pray together?” Then that sister began to pray – very softly she began to pray. When she prayed, we felt as though the ions and molecules in the atmosphere were suddenly charged! We could almost sense the vibrations of the presence of God. Just like the Book of Acts: “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.” (Acts 4:31)
Suddenly we sensed this moving and shaking. We could sense this woman was shaking the throne of grace, and attacking the very gates of hell! She prayed very softly, but she was perspiring all over.
We were immersed in an atmosphere of grace, communion, intercession and spiritual warfare. She was reminding God of His promises and pledging her obedience to Him. We came out of her room as though we had just been in the very presence of God. We were awed. What an experience of prayer!
I remember taking a director from a leading Scandinavian mission society into China. He wanted to meet some Chinese Christians. It was a rather sensitive time, and this director – blond, tall, big and so outstanding, could be noticed two miles away! Nevertheless we visited a Christian lady who had been in prison for years. When we got to her home, it was obvious that it would not be proper for us to stay too long. In fact, we should not stay at all. There was no time for greeting or for fellowship or anything.
And this Christian lady just came up to us and began to pray. The power of God came down like a thunder-bolt, hit that six-foot-plus director, and struck him to the ground. He didn’t like that! And quickly he got back to his feet. Then – just like that, bang – he went down again! The atmosphere was so charged with the presence of God.
On our way back to the hotel, that director just sobbed and sobbed. He told me, “I didn’t understand one word she said, but when that woman prayed, I felt I was brought right into the presence of God and I just couldn’t take it. No, it’s not really what she prayed, but the sincerity and fervency – I have never experienced anything like this.”
If I have to describe the difference between our prayer life and the prayer life of those Christians in China, the best scene of comparison would be that of the Garden of Gethsemane – the difference between the way Jesus prayed and the way the three disciples prayed. Jesus prayed in great agony and fervently, His sweat fell like great drops of blood. But the disciples? They fell asleep!
So often it seems that our prayer life is like going to a ‘spiritual super-market.’ We go with a shopping list: “Lord, give me this and bless me with that.” How about for once, we go into His presence and recognize that He is Lord? Have you ever seen slaves go to their Lord and demand, “Give me this, give me that, and do this for me?” Slaves are supposed to kneel down before their lord, waiting for him to speak, replying, “Yes, lord, yes, master.”
As far as our prayer life is concerned, we are so often on the talking side, and God is on the listening side. There must be a change in our prayer pattern. We must develop a sense of fervency, a sense of submission, a sense of recognizing identities – who we are, and who God is. Let us rediscover the art of prayer, of clinging to the throne of God and shaking the very foundations of the gates of hell!
Amen!