HEARTS AFLAME: DIVINE PROMISE AND PROVISION
Pray Without Ceasing
By RICHARD TING
In 2001 a group of us were fellowshipping after SCEM (SCGM as it was known then) Monthly Breakfast Meeting. We agreed that it was time to organise a National Missions Conference (which became the GoForth NMC from 2002). We formed an organising committee and started planning. The budget came up to $400,000. We started with no money and no bank account. The targeted date for the NMC was nine months away. We started praying.
I can still remember vividly how Rev. Kuan Kim Seng (now Bishop Kuan) called me to meet him at his office at 12 noon for prayer. It was urgent. We have a 4pm deadline to pay $40,000 deposit for the booking of Suntec City for the NMC. We knelt beside the coffee table in his office at St. John’s Chapel. We prayed that if it were God’s will for us to proceed with the NMC, the money will come in before 4pm. We further prayed for God to show us if He wanted us to have another NMC by providing surplus fund after the first NMC. God answered both our requests. The money came in just in time for us to pay the deposit. There was also a surplus of $40,000 after the NMC 2002.
Prayer is key in our daily living and service. It is our vital communion and communication with God. We must not attempt to do anything for God without first talking with Him. We must pray and pray; and seek Him. He delights in our prayer.
It is very important for us to pray without ceasing. Prayer is the foundation for our daily living and service. Scottish Moravian hymn writer, James Montgomery (1771-1854), wrote, “Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, the Christian’s native air …” We cannot live without air; likewise, we cannot live without prayer. Yet for many of us, prayer is the last resort when all our human’s efforts are exhausted and there is no one and nowhere to turn to.
One of my favourite verses is 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing” by Paul. This was also taught by Jesus. In Luke 18:1-8, “And Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” In every moment of everyday, whatever we do and however important, we must pray without ceasing.
Let us abide in God’s holy presence and enjoy an unbroken communion with Him.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
RICHARD TING was a member of the organising committee of the first GoForth national missions conference in 2002. He served on the board of SCGM from 2005-2008 as well as a missions pastor with the Anglican church. Currently his main focus is in equipping leaders in Indonesia and Malaysia.
SCGM 40TH ANNIVERSARY DEVOTIONAL CAMPAIGN
40 FRiends of SCGM have been invited to take part in our 40-Day Devotional Project to help raise funds for SCGM’s 40th Anniversary. Each day starting 20 November 2020 to 31 December 2020, SCGM will publish one devotion written by our 40 FRiends in our FundRaising effort and celebration of God’s goodness and provision over the last 40 years!
Through their devotional reflections, we pray that our FRiends of SCGM40 will bless and encourage many to reflect upon God’s Presence, Protection, Provision, Purification and Power in Missions.
