Following God in Prayers

Praise God! Immediately following the Day of Atonement, we can celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles! In order to follow God, we must match pace with Him. On the Jewish calendar, the first 15 days celebrate Rosh Hashana – the new year! It is 5781 this year. Immediately after Rosh Hashana, it is Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement. Next is Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. So, since September 19, our whole church has been led by our Heavenly Father into this flow, both during our Sunday Services and also on a personal and individual level. As this new year begins, we begin to follow God’s pace.

Earlier, I shared what I received from God – that our church has entered into a third cycle. On the Day of Atonement, we all confessed our sins together, obeying God’s leading. The purpose of this sin confession was to restore our relationships with God and between our co-workers, disciples, and cell members. Although we still have more sins to confess that we can’t even see, this act of confession has at least brought us into awareness that we must restore our relationship with God and with each other. The land has been cursed due to the sins of man. When we confess our sins, the land is also restored. How precious it is to remove our curses and also tear down the walls between people!

We need to not only follow God, but also we need to know Him more. Some Christians, especially of the younger generation, might easily fall into a mindset thinking that “God should do something to solve social issues, like political deadlocks.” However, the fact is that amidst these difficulties, we should understand God’s will more so that we may follow Him. We should not instead ask God to follow us! We might be shaken by the present situation of society or even the world, and question why God doesn’t do anything. Actually, we see these as problems because we don’t know God. The Proverbs tell us, do not be wise in our own eyes, do not just do whatever is right in our own eyes. That is to say, we should not use our own judgement to try and define good and evil.

We must learn to understand God’s will. Sometimes, we do not understand what is actually happening. But instead of acting according to our emotions or what we hear, we should follow God. What we see or hear is often just surface knowledge, or even totally false. We must learn to follow God and walk in truth, rather than following our own eyes and ears, or current affairs, or news. We must trust God.

I see God’s leading of our church into a third cycle. This is a new beginning! God wants us to have blessings upon blessings and victories upon victories. God has destined us to be blessed and not cursed. In Tuesday and Wednesday (29-30/9) morning devotions, as we read the Bible, I deeply feel that the God that we follow is the God who blesses us, and not a god who curses us. How shall we enter into these blessings? By prayer.

I still remember when I came back to Hong Kong from Vancouver in 2001. The first thing I did after arriving at the hotel was to kneel down and pray. God revealed to me, “I will do work in Hong Kong, so you should go back to Hong Kong to work.” I told God that after returning to Hong Kong, I would not leave again. Originally, I had gone to Canada to avoid the issues in 1997, but now God has called me back and I have followed Him to Hong Kong. I want to see God’s work in Hong Kong. I will work after God’s work, and will follow Him closely. From 2001 through to now, I have been on a victorious journey.

Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that we will follow God fearlessly in prayers, in submission, and in faith. God hears our prayers. We prayed earlier that we may resume onsite service gatherings for Sukkot – and on Tuesday (29/9) the Government announced a relaxation on “religious gathering restrictions” for Friday (2/10). They will allow worship services to resume at 50% capacity. How exciting it shall be to see one another again onsite, after eleven weeks!•[2020.10.04]