Be A Prayer Warrior in Christ’s Army!
From the desk of Rev Zheng 4 February 2024
Oswald Chambers, the writer of the classic work My Utmost For His Highest, “Prayer is not the preparation for the battle; it is the battle. The battle of Calvary was won in Gethsemane.”
This is taught both in the Old and New Testament. When the Israelites were battling the Amalekites, Moses was at the top of the hill lifting up his stuff. Whenever the stuff was lifted high, the Israelites won. Whenever the stuff was lowered because Moses was tired, the Amalekites won. The lifting of the stuff signified the people’s prayer. (Ex 17)
In the book of Ephesians, Paul urges believers to put on the armor of God and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and charge forth by “pray(ing) in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Eph 6:18)
In other words, believers rely on prayers to win spiritual battles. For example, in organizing a gospel rally, prayers sustain the preparatory work and every work on the very day, such as the preaching, the weather, attendance, functioning of the PA system, the hearts of the hearers…etc.
Once, Rev Spurgeon brought a group of visitors to a basement room of his church and told them, “This is the engine room of the church”. They saw no engines but a group of people on their knees, holding hands, praying. Indeed, prayer meetings are the pulses of a church. It is weak when the church is weak.
Rev Lai taught us that the revival of a church always begins with prayer meetings. However, it is common for prayer meetings to have low attendance, especially when life in Singapore is so hasty. I know of a few churches trying to boost attendance by shifting prayer meetings to Sunday. But they see no improvement and eventually have to call it off.
We started the “Prayer Warrior’s Pledge” in 2016 to ablaze our prayer meetings with greater fervor. Since then, brothers and sisters have gathered at a prayer meeting every January to take the pledge together as our outward and mutual commitment to uphold the church’s prayers.
I urge you, brothers and sisters. Take home this call and think about how you may restructure your schedule and make time for prayer meetings on Wednesday evenings in 2024 prayerfully. It could be once a week, fortnightly or others. We will be taking the pledge together during the Sunday service next week. Take a pledge card from the receptionists when you arrive next Sunday and fill in the intended frequency of attendance before service begins. Thereafter, we shall recite with joy, “I am a soldier, a prayer warrior, in the army of Christ!”
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