Enter into the Era of Taking God as King

Praise the Lord! On Tue 2nd Feb, C-Mo and I gathered senior pastors of Hong Kong branch churches for the very first time to join the curator staff meeting. It was to prepare everyone to enter the 40-day fasting and prayer from 22/2 to 2/4 as we discussed how to pray for Hong Kong and the nations. Unexpectedly, our Taipei mother church held an apostolic conference, calling all her branch churches on the same day. Through this wonderful coincidence, God affirmed us that He was pleased with prayer made in unity of all churches – the prayer priests and Levites made as they take the lead to repent and cry out to God.

During the Morning Devotion that day, we read the last chapter of the book of Judges which really cut to our hearts. Gathering at Mizpah, the Israelites were determined to annihilate the tribe of Benjamin. Yet they built an altar before the Lord and wept bitterly not for their own sins but blaming the tribe of Benjamin. Isn’t it the picture of this age? It is a generation that doesn’t take God as their king, instead it is self-centered and self-righteous; a generation in which everyone does as he sees fit. Therefore, we are prompted to do 40-day fasting and prayer when we confess more deeply for our own sins and repent.

As we read “Judges” again in Morning Devotion, God has unlocked a lot to us: we discover that “Judges” mirrors the modern age. At that time, there was no king in Israel, everyone did as he saw fit. But from the first to the last chapter of “Judges”, Israelites were asking God and carrying out religious rituals in Shiloh. On the surface, they were worshipping God, yet God was never in their hearts. They appeared to be seeking God but they only did according to their heart’s desires. This is something churches today must continuously reflect on: Do we just perform religious duties without taking God as our King?

During the Morning Devotion the next day, we read “Proverbs” chapter 30 when God reminded us to be humble again. This chapter mentions Ithiel who represented people who know God and Ucal who symbolized people acting in flesh. We always think that we are Ithiel but we may be Ucal at the same time. We thought we really knew God but that may not be true. God reminds us – in life, there are many things which are incomprehensible and unfathomable. Hence, we should neither be complacent nor self-righteous, and never despise others.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must have the humble and repentant heart going in the 40-day fasting and prayer. Do not be complacent and consider ourselves godly because we fast and pray. Rather, we need to seek God more humbly and confess sin more deeply. We shall remove the pride and self-righteousness in us and take away the garment of godly religion. Let us pray for the Church and the nations, plead for this willful generation to swiftly turn into a generation who takes God as their King! [2021.02.07]