Upcoming Events
Prayer Mountain
May 28, 06:34 PM
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door.” ~Matthew 6:6
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Seoul, South Korea. I was there as the guest of the Kwanlim Church, the largest Methodist Church in the world. Interestingly, Seoul is also home to the largest Presbyterian Church as well as the Yoido Full Gospel Church which boasts the largest membership of any church in the world – over 800,000 members.
Kwanlim church has what they call “Prayer Mountain” on the outskirts of the city. It is a retreat/prayer center. The prayer life of the Koreans is enviable. The mountain itself has a lovely, paved pathway with several prayer stations along the way, each depicting various aspects of the life and ministry of Jesus. A pilgrimage to the top includes stops at each point.
At the retreat center and church, there are prayer rooms which are 3X5 wood floor rooms with a single ceiling light and a small cushion on the floor. Nothing else is in the room. You go in and shut the door; a small light on the outside indicates that the room is occupied. From there, you pray as along as you like. Koreans pray for hours and some as along as all night. I went in with the goal of praying at least two hours. Quite a test for my Western prayer commitment.
It was an amazing experience but not in the way one might expect. I was deeply convicted that I was there primarily to feel something, for something remarkable to happen or to receive some word from the Lord. God made it clear from the outset that I was not to seek after these things but that I was there to maintain the discipline and commitment to prayer. In short, it was not about me, what I would experience, receive, or feel. I was there to stand the watch and intercede before God.
I had the sense that I was to remove all adornments, even though I normally wear but a few. My ring, glasses and watch all came off. Sometimes I knelt and other times I merely sat on the floor praying. I prayed for usual kinds of things, family, future, and other issues. Then I asked the Lord what He might want me to pray for and I got the sense that I was to pray through the whole Bible.
So I began at Genesis and prayed about God’s creation and original design for all things. I prayed through the advent of sin and asked God’s forgiveness that His design had so fallen. I thanked God that he chose Abraham and formed a nation, Israel, to embody His blessing and promise. And so I went, through the exodus, the reign of David, the division of the nation and the exile. I prayed through the coming of the Holy One of God, the Lord Jesus, and the extending the promise to the Gentiles. I prayed through the early church and the modern age all the way through the coming of Jesus and the close of the age.
It was, to say the least an incredible process – one which, among other things, reminded me that we are grafted in to God’s purposes from the beginning to the fulfillment and that we are part of a design that is greater that just us in the present time.