We should pray before the Lord for these special fellowship meetings and the work. As we pray, we should pay particular attention to several points. First, we need to pray that the Lord will lead these meetings. For these meetings we should unconditionally submit ourselves to the Lord, open to the Lord, and allow the Lord to freely move and lead us. We should ask the Lord to enable us to correspond with His leading and guidance.
Second, we need to pray for all the brothers and sisters. We should ask the Lord to prepare their hearts and work in their environment so that they can readily receive the Lord’s grace and His speaking and at the same time willingly answer His call and meet His need.
Third, we need to pray before the Lord for our circumstances, our families, and even the weather, asking Him to cause all these things to work together for our good and not become distractions to us in the meetings.
Fourth, we need to earnestly ask the Lord to raise up some saints and gain some who will be for Him. We should ask the Lord to gain some who will have a part in the work; some who will do business and make money for His kingdom; some who can administrate, lead, and shepherd in the church; and some who can truly coordinate and serve in the church. All this needs our prayer. We also need to be led to pray, whether in the meetings or in private, for a certain one or a few individual saints.
Fifth, we hope that in these meetings the Lord will lead us concerning the way to spread His work. If He chooses us and delights in us, we would ask Him to give us the burden and leading concerning the spreading of the work, not only in the Philippines but also throughout Southeast Asia. We are looking to the Lord that He would lead us in this matter; therefore, we should pray specifically for this.
These points are exceedingly important. I hope that we can all prepare and open our spirits to receive the burden of prayer. As we pray together, our words must be clear and our voices must be loud. Furthermore, we should try to keep our prayers short.
Concerning the Lord’s work, we do not want to initiate any kind of movement or stirring up; that is the world’s way of doing things. We do not wish to follow the way of the worldly people, and even less do we wish to initiate any work by ourselves or stir up any matter. We have received grace before the Lord to serve Him as slaves. He is our Master, and we are the slaves whom He has bought. Hence, we are willing to prostrate ourselves before Him and wait for Him to express His heart’s desire to us. If He would have mercy on us and use us, we must tell Him from deep within, “Lord, here am I; send me.” This is not a movement or a stirring up; much less is it something that we want to initiate. Rather, we are waiting before God because He has an eternal intention. He is Jehovah of hosts (Isa. 6:1-8).
For many years we have had a strong feeling within that in Southeast Asia, including Taiwan, although the Lord’s name has been preached for a hundred years and there are many believers among the Chinese, the Lord’s work in this region has not had a proper beginning, nor have the Lord’s churches been properly established. Concerning the preaching of the gospel, we cannot say that it has been done well. Concerning the service of the church, we cannot say that it is strong. Concerning the overcomers in the church, we cannot say that there are many. All these situations have caused us to deeply feel that in order for the Lord to come back to the earth, this region must have a new beginning.
Perhaps some would ask, are we not the group of people whom the Lord would use? Is this region not the area that the Lord is blessing? Would the Lord give up all the people in this region? Indeed, these questions that we have within us are difficult to answer. Naturally, this causes us to feel that we should pray to the Lord, “Lord, we are here. If You work, we will follow.”