While considering what I should be writing first and foremost as a prayer to The Lord and as a platform to share my heart with my brothers and sisters in this local Body of Christ, I felt a prompting to share with us that Sunday 1st of June is the day when many churches around the world and our blessed nation will be gathering for a global day of prayer (GDOP) ~ it does not matter which denomination or tradition we hail from, the Body of Christ on earth will be praying with one single cry: "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV)"
At this juncture, I would like to take this opportunity to share portions of the global day of prayer agenda for Singapore:
1. Busyness: the overcrowding of the soul
Richard Foster says: "In contemporary society, our adversary majors in three things: Noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in 'muchness' and 'manyness' he will rest satisfied. Psychiatrist Carl Jung once remarked: "Hurry is not of the devil, it is the devil."
We have a choice. We can change for once. We can stop the mad rush. We can drop out of the rat race. We can resist distractions. We can return to simplicity. We can renew intimacy with God.
First things first: will we put our house in order?
"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. (Psalm 27:4 NIV)"
2. Barrenness: the sufficiency of self
We have relied on ourselves more than God. We have trusted in our own reasoning more than the power of the Holy Spirit. We have depended on our own own resources more than God's generosity. We have a choice. We don't have to stay that way. We can make a U-turn. We can return to God wholeheartedly. We can resolve to live centred in Christ. We can be faithful. We can be fruitful.
First things first: will we put our house in order?
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5 NIV)"
3. Blindness: the searing of the conscience
We are guilty of injustice. We have not treated everyone equally. We are guilty of indifference. We have ignored the weak and vulnerable. We have a choice. We can love God by loving others. We can do good by serving the needy. We are guilty of immorality. We have given in to unbridled lust. We have feasted our eyes on shameless filth. We have called good evil and evil good. We have a choice. We can return to God in holy fear. We can seek cleansing from the inside out. We can be salt and light to change our world.
First things first: Will we put our house in order?
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27 NIV)"
Let the above prayer agenda not be reserved just for the global day of prayer on the 1st of June, but let us continue to pray until something happens in our nation: restoration, revival and first things first, let Singapore be known for our love, faith and hope in Christ. Amen.
