"In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping
bitterly.
And she made a vow, saying, 'LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your
servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a
son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life ..." 1
Samuel
1:10-11a (NIV)
Hours before I was conceived, my mom got on her knees.
"Lord, if You will give me a baby tonight I will dedicate it to You and for
Your
service all the days of its life. Amen." God answered her prayer that night,
and
all my days have been devoted to Him in large part due to the fervent
prayers of
my mom.
My mom followed in the footsteps of millions of
mothers
who prayed for their children. From the time of Samuel until this very day,
some
of our most influential Christian heroes became history makers because of
their
mothers' prayers.
Samuel's mother Hannah poured out her soul to the Lord
for
years, pleading for a son. Eventually, God granted her prayer requests with
her
son Samuel, who Hannah dedicated to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:10-11a). He grew in
wisdom, became a great prophet and judge, and led the Israelites into
victory
over the mighty Philistines.
Susanna Wesley raised her sons, John (one of the
greatest
evangelists of the 1700's, speaking to crowds of more than 20,000) and
Charles
(who wrote over 9,000 hymns still sung today) in a home dedicated to the
Word of
God and prayer. In the midst of raising 10 children, she would spend two
hours a
day in personal prayer. On days she couldn't find a place of solitude, she
would
lift her apron over her head to be alone with God.
George Washington was known for his humility,
perseverance
and dignity. His mother Mary raised him and his siblings as a single mother
after her husband died when George was 10. It is recorded that she went to a
nearby rock outside her house to pray continually. George wrote letters to
his
mother while on the battlefield of the Revolutionary War, that he escaped
death
when bullets went through his coat and horses were shot out from under him.
Miracle after miracle happened to George, and he honored his praying mother
with
these words: "All that I am I owe to my mother."
Billy Graham has led nearly three million people to
freedom in Christ and has preached the Gospel to more than 80 million people
during his lifetime. He has said of all the people he has ever known, his
mother, Morrow, had the greatest influence on his life. She would gather the
family to listen to the Bible and pray together. She and his dad would pray
for
Billy each morning at 10:00.
Every Christian mother contending, interceding and
praying
for her children has the potential to change the course of history for God's
glory. Our world is in need of God-filled history makers to rise up. I'm
going
to pray more diligently than ever for our children and their future and will
stand on these promises of God:
Matthew 21:22, "And whatever things you ask in prayer,
believing,
you will receive" (NKJV).
John 14:13-14, "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will
do,
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name,
I
will do it" (NKJV).
I will pray as my mother, Hannah, Susanna, Mary, and
Morrow did for their children. I will pray for my children and for
generations
to come with unwavering passion and persistence. Will you join
me?
Let's rise up and be strong in the Lord and in the
power
of His might as we pray to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we
can
think or imagine.
Father, You hear our prayers, and You promise to answer them,
according to Your will. Teach me how to pray for my, and other's, children
that
they might become fishers of men and bring You glory. In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
In The News:
(WNS) -- One of the first things Eric Foley, the
co-founder of Seoul USA, learned about the North Korean underground
church is that it is not a group to be pitied. About 10 years ago Foley
asked a member of the underground church how he could pray for them. He
recalls the North Korean’s response, “You, pray for us? We pray for you …
because South Korean and American churches believe challenges in the
Christian faith are solved by money, freedom, and politics. It’s only
when all you have is God do you realize God is all you need.”
Foley estimates about 100,000 Christians live in North Korea, with about a third of them in concentration camps. Unlike the Chinese underground church, North Korean Christians can’t risk gathering together because spies are everywhere. Instead, they worship in their own household or in the common areas, like while walking down the road out of earshot.
As North Korea fell under Communist rule after World War II, Christians realized they would soon face intense persecution. Some escaped to South Korea, where they could worship freely, but those who stayed chose four foundational pillars of Christianity they could pass on to future generations: theology through the Apostle’s Creed, prayer through the Lord’s Prayer, ethics through the Ten Commandments, and worship through the Lord’s supper. At least one of these elements is present in each of the North Korean underground churches.
To learn more about the Bible, Christians who are able to leave the country on work trips meet with missionaries and memorize Scripture to share with others. Physical copies of the Bible are rare for poor households, as government officials regularly check their homes. If officials find a Bible, the government will send the family to concentration camps or kill them. Seoul USA has been able to send Bibles over to North Korea using balloons — 50,000 Bibles dropped into the country this past year. The group also produces short-wave radio programs with North Korean defectors reading the Bible, as about 20 percent of North Koreans illegally own radios.
The government deems Christianity a threat because North Korea’s Juche ideology, which mixes Marxism with worship of the “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung and his family, is partially copied from Christianity. Kim, who attended church until eighth grade, took Christian concepts like the trinity, church services, and hymns and made it all about himself. If people found out about Christ, they’d see Kim and his lineage as the frauds they are.
With a zero-tolerance policy for Christianity, Christians are careful who they tell about their faith. They don’t reveal their belief to their spouses until years after marriage, and they can’t tell their children until they turn 15, as teachers are trained to extract such information from students.
Foley found that children of Christian families don’t even realize they’re sitting in an underground church meeting. One man said every week his grandfather would gather the family together and give them the same 10 pieces of advice. Later he realized his grandfather was passing down the Ten Commandments.
Foley has also met defectors who “know Bible stories told differently or some Christian songs. North Korean Christians are very careful to pass on the treasure and for their family members to guard it and only over time realize what it is.”
Members of the church have told Foley they see concentration camps as just another mission field — North Korean officials have had to separate Christians from other prisoners because they keep sharing the gospel. Faced with such danger, North Korean defectors are often disappointed with what they see in the South Korean church.
“They are sad to see the faith is very different from their own,” Foley said. “The North Korean faith life is built upon this idea of being faithful to carry out what God has given you to do even in the face of impossible opposition.”
While many South Korean and U.S. groups want to help North Korean Christians escape the country, defectors often have a hard to readjusting to their new homes: 16 percent of them end up committing suicide. Seoul USA sees its role as discipling the church in North Korea by providing resources like the radio and Bibles, as well as starting Underground University to train North Korean defectors to become missionaries to their own people.
So as churches gather for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) on Nov. 3 (Nov. 10 for some churches and organizations), Foley hopes Western churches realize they have much to learn from their North Korean brethren.
“IDOP too often becomes pray for the poor persecuted Christian. We want to challenge that idea: Freedom in Christ is something you can have even in the darkest corner of the world.”
c. 2013 WORLD News Service. Used with permission.
In The News:
North Korean Christians Pray for 'Free' Christians to 'Realize God is All You Need'
Monday, November 04, 2013
Foley estimates about 100,000 Christians live in North Korea, with about a third of them in concentration camps. Unlike the Chinese underground church, North Korean Christians can’t risk gathering together because spies are everywhere. Instead, they worship in their own household or in the common areas, like while walking down the road out of earshot.
As North Korea fell under Communist rule after World War II, Christians realized they would soon face intense persecution. Some escaped to South Korea, where they could worship freely, but those who stayed chose four foundational pillars of Christianity they could pass on to future generations: theology through the Apostle’s Creed, prayer through the Lord’s Prayer, ethics through the Ten Commandments, and worship through the Lord’s supper. At least one of these elements is present in each of the North Korean underground churches.
To learn more about the Bible, Christians who are able to leave the country on work trips meet with missionaries and memorize Scripture to share with others. Physical copies of the Bible are rare for poor households, as government officials regularly check their homes. If officials find a Bible, the government will send the family to concentration camps or kill them. Seoul USA has been able to send Bibles over to North Korea using balloons — 50,000 Bibles dropped into the country this past year. The group also produces short-wave radio programs with North Korean defectors reading the Bible, as about 20 percent of North Koreans illegally own radios.
The government deems Christianity a threat because North Korea’s Juche ideology, which mixes Marxism with worship of the “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung and his family, is partially copied from Christianity. Kim, who attended church until eighth grade, took Christian concepts like the trinity, church services, and hymns and made it all about himself. If people found out about Christ, they’d see Kim and his lineage as the frauds they are.
With a zero-tolerance policy for Christianity, Christians are careful who they tell about their faith. They don’t reveal their belief to their spouses until years after marriage, and they can’t tell their children until they turn 15, as teachers are trained to extract such information from students.
Foley found that children of Christian families don’t even realize they’re sitting in an underground church meeting. One man said every week his grandfather would gather the family together and give them the same 10 pieces of advice. Later he realized his grandfather was passing down the Ten Commandments.
Foley has also met defectors who “know Bible stories told differently or some Christian songs. North Korean Christians are very careful to pass on the treasure and for their family members to guard it and only over time realize what it is.”
Members of the church have told Foley they see concentration camps as just another mission field — North Korean officials have had to separate Christians from other prisoners because they keep sharing the gospel. Faced with such danger, North Korean defectors are often disappointed with what they see in the South Korean church.
“They are sad to see the faith is very different from their own,” Foley said. “The North Korean faith life is built upon this idea of being faithful to carry out what God has given you to do even in the face of impossible opposition.”
While many South Korean and U.S. groups want to help North Korean Christians escape the country, defectors often have a hard to readjusting to their new homes: 16 percent of them end up committing suicide. Seoul USA sees its role as discipling the church in North Korea by providing resources like the radio and Bibles, as well as starting Underground University to train North Korean defectors to become missionaries to their own people.
So as churches gather for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) on Nov. 3 (Nov. 10 for some churches and organizations), Foley hopes Western churches realize they have much to learn from their North Korean brethren.
“IDOP too often becomes pray for the poor persecuted Christian. We want to challenge that idea: Freedom in Christ is something you can have even in the darkest corner of the world.”
c. 2013 WORLD News Service. Used with permission.
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