Back from the prayer mountains

45Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 46"It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be a house of prayer'[b]; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'[c]" (Luke 19:45)

Last night, I returned from a trip to the Osanri and Kwang Lim prayer mountains. It was an awesome, awesome experience!! I went to declutter my mind - to slow down, to seek God. But God's nearness in the quietness and beauty of nature just blew my mind. God esteems prayer because it honours Him. He esteems it because it glorifies Him when He answers our petitions.

One lady in our team - a 65-year-old woman - taught us something profoundly touching through her testimonies. She prays about the smallest things. She is a housewife and cooks for her Peranakan family. She prays for God to help her cook a good meal for her family. She prays that He will strengthen her knees so she can go up and down the mountain. She prays. She had been an idol-worshipper for all her life, but her daughter prayed for more than 30 years that she should come to know the one true God. Because of that faithful prayer, God appeared to the elderly lady in dreams - until she could no longer deny his Lordship. I had never heard God save a person in Singapore through dreams before (I thought God only moved through dreams to reach out to people who live in lands where the gospel is closed). That night, my eyes were opened to a new truth.

I learnt that wars are won and fought on prayer. Because when we pray, we plug into God, the greatest power there is. And He moves on our behalf. When we pray, He does more than we can do to take lands, transform lives and do the impossible. No wonder Jesus wants the church to be, above all, 'a house of prayer'.

Prayer today: Father God, may I be, above all, a person of prayer. And help me hear you clearly when I do, so we can dialogue each day as daughter to Abba Father, servant to King, friend to friend. In Jesus' name, Amen.