[People] We Are Offering up Prayer upon Prayer - Prayer Devotees Who Were the Source of Strength to the Church Growth
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January 10, 2010 |
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Senior Deaconess Sungsoon Wui, President of Prayer Devotees' Mission and members are praying for the kingdom of God; for the church, Senior Pastor, the Lord's servants, national evangelization, world mission, the congregation, etc.
We visited members of Prayer Devotees' Mission who are dedicating their lives through prayer. We thought the atmosphere would be only holy and quiet for they are praying over 6 hours a day. But, one thing we found in particular was that there was a lot of laughing in the place! "Prayer seems to make us young." They looked energetic because of the life of prayer. And there were overflowing testimonies from their lips. To those who ask them "Does prayer provide you with any bread?" or "How can you take care of your family if you pray day and night?" Their answers follow. "Because we prayed for the kingdom of God and the congregation for hours each day, our family became more peaceful, and we received material blessing as well. Most of all, we received the blessing of our souls prospering through prayer." It is just as it is written in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." But above all, members of Prayer Devotees' Mission confess that they were most thankful for the fact that the church was protected by prayer in difficult times and overseas crusades were successfully held and greatly glorified God.
# Isn't It Demanding to Pray All Day Long?
It could be hard to pray for a long time. But prayer devotees are fulfilling their duties with joy and thankfulness while they are looking up at the rewards in heaven. Their faces are bright with happiness because they have faith. After communicating with God in prayer, they have fellowship through a group meeting at lunchtime. This too is a source of strength in their life of faith. They are workers who are faithful not only in prayer but also in many areas of the church. During the weekdays they concentrate on prayer and on the Sabbath day, they are working faithfully as offertory guides, ushers and choir members, and some of them volunteer at the kitchen of the Fellowship Room. Especially, they are in charge of serving patients during lunch time. All these faithful prayer devotees share one hope. This is what they confess: "How could I pay back the grace of Father God and the shepherd? I want to quickly become a man of spirit and then whole spirit and thereby become strength to the church and the shepherd with prayer of deeper aroma of goodness."
# Faithfulness! Daily Schedule of Prayer Devotees
There are 171 members including 20 members in special group and 17 layman devotees in Prayer Devotees' Mission. They have a morning prayer meeting (from 10:30 AM to 12 PM) and afternoon prayer meeting (from 1PM to 3PM) from Monday through Friday, and they attend Daniel Prayer Meeting every night. In the morning normal prayer devotees have morning prayer or attend the meeting led by President Boknim Lee (Manmin Prayer Center). When they pray and praise together with the patients and earnestly pray for them laying hand on their shoulders or hugging them, tears come from the depth of heart. After they pray with patients and members, joy and fullness are given from above. During joyful lunchtime, they gather together in their groups and eat at the church restaurant. A cup of coffee they drink after eating tastes so sweet that all the fatigue seems to go away. At 1 PM, they again gather at the prayer place and start praying with topics such as Senior Pastor and the Lord's servants, the construction of sanctuary, revival at the worship services, church finances, Manmin Prayer Center, national evangelization, world mission, and relief to name but a few. Layman prayer devotees pray from 8 PM to 8:40 PM after work.
# I Want to Know about Prayer Devotees
The Prayer Devotees' Mission consists of 19 groups according to member's date and year of birth. And each group prays for specific departments, missions and church organizations assigned to them. For example, the first group prays for the Registration Office, General Affairs Bureau and WCDN (World Christian Doctors Network). The second group prays for the Editorial Bureau, Translation Bureau and MIS (Manmin International Seminary). The third group prays for Children's Sunday School and Manmin Kindergarten and the fourth group prays for Overseas Mission, Foreign Parish and Interpretation Department. The prayer devotees visit the departments or missions for which they pray every 3 months or at the beginning of the year and receive the prayer topics. Then they become happy with the thoughts they are being encouragement and strength to someone and accomplishing the kingdom of God and His righteousness through prayer.
# Wish to Become a Prayer Devotee?
The age of prayer devotees ranges from 33 to 55. Particularly, Senior Deaconess Ye-soon Park, 96, still remains as an honorary member by the consideration of Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee. There are qualifications to becoming a member of Prayer Devotees' Mission (Guidance Pastor: Pastor Heesun Lee, President: Senior Deaconess Sungsoon Wui). First, they should be at least a deaconess because they must have faith. To pray without limitations, their family should become evangelized. And they have to be well aware of what is happening in the church, love the shepherd and have an earnest love toward the souls. In addition, they must be a worker who works in many areas for the kingdom of God. All the prayer devotees are united as one in heart. Not only do they fervently pray in agreement, but they share a deep love just like family. So, this is a shortcut to becoming a man of spirit, and whole spirit. We expect church members' interest, prayer and support. The Prayer Devotees' Mission aims to have 700 people as members including 300 members of special group. Also today, all prayer devotees are offering up fiery prayer hoping for the days when they pray together with more members.
At 2009 Prayer Devotees' Mission's Devotional Service held on Sunday, May 31, representatives of devotees were glorifying God with special songs.
Who Are Prayer Devotees?
George Muller, called 'Father of Orphans in England,' fed over 2 thousand orphans in answer to his 50 thousand prayers. Saint Augustine was raised by his mother Monica's prayer of tears. Also, our church could experience great revival thanks to the dedication of prayer devotees who have cried out in prayer day and night. Prayer devotee means people who are dedicated to God with prayer. It started at the time the church was founded in 1982 with 6 people including the late Senior Deaconess Ae-ja Ahn, Senior Deaconess Jungsoon Lee, Senior Deaconess Sunja Choi. They considered their prayers for the nation and people, church and the construction of the sanctuary and world mission as their life. They prayed for the patients who came from all over because of the healing works manifested by Pastor Jaerock Lee at that time. They gave intercessory prayer for those people and planted faith by visiting patient's families. Even today, all the prayer devotees are crying out in prayer without changing for the kingdom of God.
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