It may seem ironic that a spiritual awakening may be taking place at a time when our nation is in its worst spiritual condition ever. But God's sovereign hand seems to move mightily when God's people are desperate about their situation.
The entire book of Judges chronicles the cycle of Israel's spiritual rebellion, oppression by foreign forces, and plea for God's hand of mercy. For example, in one story the Israelites rebelled against God and served the false gods of Baal and Asherah. God's anger burned against the people and they were subjected to foreign oppression for eight years. But, finally, God heard the cries of the Israelites and he raised up a deliverer, Othniel (Judges 3:1-11).
Today our nation is worshiping an array of false gods: materialism, secularism, hedonism, relativism, New Age mysticism and others. We are seeing again and again the results of our moral decay and misplaced worship: soaring crime rates, sexually transmitted diseases, breakdown of the family and declining educational standards.
Yet God is raising up a new army of prayer warriors to fight this spiritual warfare. And many of these prayer warriors are in established churches across America.
The prayer movement is by no means limited to one denomination or Christian group. Pockets of fervent prayer are evident in churches I visit and consult.
The Korean Example
A similar prayer movement began in Korea more than 60 years ago. It only gained notice in America in the early 1970s and received its greatest attention when Seoul hosted the summer Olympic games in 1988 and the Christians in the area decided to have a single gathering for prayer. One million Christians gathered in an outdoor area to pray specifically for the Olympics!
Korean Christians now meet routinely for pre-dawn meetings. One American leader, during one of his visits to Korea, was scheduled to attend one of these meetings, but, a severe storm that had taken more than 60 lives the previous night continued to rage into the day: "The rain and wind were so ferocious at five the next morning that I wondered if anyone at all would leave their homes for a prayer meeting. But the driver showed up, we went to the church and arrived after the meeting started; if someone had not reserved seats for us, we would not have had a place to sit. The 4,000-seat sanctuary was packed! What a prayer meeting!"
Many Korean churches are expanding their prayer ministries with all-night sessions. It is conceivable that 250,000 Christians in Seoul are praying every Friday throughout the evening.
Yet other churches in Korea have purchased mountains on which they have built prayer retreat centers. Thousands of Korean Christians are always present on these mountains.
American Christians like models to emulate. For many years the model of cell groups in Korea was held high as the method of church growth for our nation. While cell groups may very well be a God-blessed methodology for us, I don't believe it's the key lesson we should learn from the Koreans. Our lesson is not so much the methodology or principle as it is the power behind the principle -- prayer.
Fortunately, many American pastors and other Christian leaders have returned from Korea with a life-changing testimony of the power of prayer. These messages are influencing our churches immeasurably. The American church, particularly, has felt the impact of these testimonies.
There is some evidence today that the great movement of prayer has shifted from South Korea to nations in Africa and Latin America. Will the American church recognize their dependence on a sovereign God and fall before him in prayer? We will look at that issue in my next few articles.
Thom S. Rainer is dean of the Billy Graham School at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He is the author of 15 books and an active speaker and consultant on church health.
