In 1984 Dr. Paul
Yonggi Cho was pastoring a large church in Korea. As a scholar of the Bible, Dr. Cho knew the
only catalyst for revival and safety from the government was prayer. However, the logistics of his congregation
made gathering for a weekly prayer meeting difficult. Taking his plan from Ecclesiastes 4:12, (GNT)
“Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone.
A rope made of three cords is hard to break.” Dr. Cho asked his
congregation to connect in groups of three and set aside fifteen minutes one
day a week to pray. They did not have to
physically come together for prayer, simply stop and pray where they were at
the same time of day once a week. With
his large church, he believed that there would be three people praying 24/7
across his city. The Korean Christian
church exploded. 12,000 converts a
month were being added to the Kingdom of God.
I have borrowed
Dr. Cho’s idea on several occasions in my life.
For three years, four Mama’s with prodigal sons prayed every Sunday
afternoon for their boys. One of the four has returned to the Lord, the
remaining three have reconnected with those Mama’s and are slowly turning their
hearts to home.
Three RFK camp
staff members from three different camps in two states joined together on
Sunday nights for a year to believe for our summer camps that minister to neglected
and abused children. One director reported
her staffing issues had never been easier or more efficient in ten years. Another camp experienced extreme opposition
during planning that was overcome in implementation.
Over the course
of the last few months, many calls for prayer have gone out from churches; many
congregants have answered. I was one,
but I confess, I have grown weary. However, I also confess that I am
desperate. If He does not act, we will
not survive. So, I ask two things of you
today:
2.
Gather three
friends and set a time to pray together weekly between this week and September
26. Some suggest 7:00-7:15 am or pm in
honor of 2 Chronicles 7:14.
We are God’s children and we must humble ourselves, pray
and turn from our wicked ways. It is our
only hope. Don’t think about it, do it!
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