Prayer E-Book

Yonggi Cho

• Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 347

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Revival comes from prayer. Today's church needs an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Early church leaders like Luther, Wesley, Finney and Moody were filled and refilled with the Holy Spirit. Prayer like theirs was the powerful key to every revival throughout Christian history. Whether you're an ordained minister, a stay-at-home mom, or a new Christian, God can work through you. Join Yonggi Cho and Wayde Goodall in Prayer, the story of Pastor Cho's personal life and successful ministry. Readers will: - understand the different types of prayer, - value the importance of prayer, - learn why, how, and when to pray, - cultivate a lifestyle of prayer, and - receive new revelations of how to listen to the Holy Spirit. Hear the secrets God desires to share with you and be immersed in His profound love.

Leseprobe

Endorsements

Prayer: Key to Revival offers sound biblical principles and personal stories that will motivate you to devote yourself to prayer.

—Doug Clay, author and general superintendent of Assemblies of God

Dr. Cho’s prayer life is the most scriptural, consistent prayer life I have ever known. Let your life be changed by reading this powerful book on prayer.

—Larry Stockstill, author, pastor, and executive director of Surge Project

Prayer encourages the church to continue its passionate pursuit of a powerful prayer life. I’m personally encouraged by the call to pray more effectively today and embrace the commitment of a life devoted to talking to Jesus.

—Edmound Teo, senior pastor of International Christian Assembly, Hong Kong

Prayer will bring a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit to everyone who will practice its teaching.

—Dr. Bob Rodgers, senior pastor of Evangel World Prayer Center, Louisville, Kentucky

No one in the world taught me the principles and the power of prayer like the life and example of Dr. Yonggi Cho. I am thankful for this book and its transformational teaching, which is sure to speak faith and power into a new generation of believers and open their eyes to the world-changing secrets of prayer.

—Joakim Lundqvist, pastor of Word of Life Church, Sweden, and board member of Church Growth International

In 1984, I had the privilege of attending Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea, pastored by Dr. Yonggi Cho. The intensity with which the people prayed in the worship service moved me deeply. I realized how little the western church prays when I saw thousands of people pray all night, rise early for morning prayer time, and continue to fast and pray at Prayer Mountain. Prayer has since become the top priority at King’s Cathedral and Chapels. It is the basis for fulfilling the visions God has given us as a church. I thank God for Dr. Cho’s teaching on prayer, but more than anything, I rejoice that the teachings were modeled personally by the members of the Yoido Full Gospel Church, thus fulfilling Jesus’ word: “My house will be a house of prayer.” Get ready to have your prayer life energized by reading this book.

—Dr. James Marocco, senior pastor, King’s Cathedral and Chapels

This book will stir you to a greater capacity and desire to pray. The church needs this book at this time and season to weep and travail for our nations and bring the life of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. The contents of Dr. Cho’s and Dr. Goodall’s book covers not only the many types of prayer, but it also gives great direction on the boundaries of the Word of God and how to lean on the Holy Spirit. This book is such a blessing to the body of Christ. May it bring much blessing and inspiration to God’s church.

—Rev. Margaret Court, senior pastor, Victory Life Centre, Western Australia

BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC

Savage, Minnesota, USA

BroadStreetPublishing.com

Prayer: Key to Revival

Copyright © 2019 Yonggi Cho and Wayde Goodall

978-1-4245-5862-9 (softcover)

978-1-4245-5863-6 (e-book)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless indicated otherwise, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, USA. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright © 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked MSG are from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture marked KJV is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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Contents

Foreword by Dr. Dick Eastman

Introduction by Dr. Younghoon Lee

Prayer Is the Key

Part I Our Motivation to Pray

1 Seeing through the Impossible

2 Prayer Brings Brokenness and Humility

3 Prayer and Overcoming Satan

4 Prayer and the Holy Spirit

5 Your Personal Response to Prayer

Part II Three Types of Prayer

6 Prayer Is Petition

7 Prayer Is Devotion

8 Prayer Is Intercession

9 Prayer Brings Hope

Part III Forms of Prayer

10 Your Personal Life of Prayer

11 Family Prayer

12 Prayer in Church Services

13 Prayer in Small Groups

14 Prayer at Prayer Mountain

15 All-Night Prayer Meetings

Part IV Methods of Prayer

16 Fasting and Prayer

17 Waiting on the Lord: Meditation and Prayer

18 Persistence in Prayer

19 Praying in the Holy Spirit

20 The Prayer of Faith

21 Listening to God’s Voice

22 The Importance of Group Prayer

Part V Powerful Prayer and the Covenant of Christ Jesus

23 Powerful Prayer and God’s Covenant

24 Get Ready to Be Used

25 The Tabernacle Prayer

Endnotes

About the Authors

Foreword

By Dr. Dick Eastman

Dr. A. T. Pierson, renowned Bible teacher with evangelist Dwight L. Moody and successor to the pulpit of Charles Spurgeon, wrote, “Generally, if not uniformly, prayer is both starting point and goal to every moment in which are the elements of permanent progress. Whenever the church is aroused and the world’s wickedness arrested, somebody has been praying.” Moody added, “Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.”

Dr. Yonggi Cho, on his knees, is one of the first pictures that comes to my mind when I read those words of Pierson and Moody. When one looks at the whole of church history and the human instruments God has used to advance Christ’s kingdom, some earthly vessels tower above others. They have been, first and foremost, men and women of prayer.

I had the joy of first encountering Yonggi Cho and hearing him preach when I was a twenty-one-year-old youth pastor in Wisconsin. Ours was the first church Dr. Cho visited in America just several years after his founding of what is today the Yoido Full Gospel Church, a congregation of hundreds of thousands of believers, in Seoul, Korea. Interestingly, that church began appropriately in a tent, which reminded me of Moses and the Tent of Meeting, where God’s glory cloud would come when Moses would enter. God’s glory did come—and in waves—inside Yonggi Cho’s tent. The rest is history.

Fewer than ten minutes into Cho’s Sunday morning message, I knew I was hearing a man of prayer. You could sense it in every syllable of this young Korean pastor’s less than polished English. Of course, we heard far more than his words; we heard his heart. What an extraordinary faith deposit was invested in my heart that morning! Soon I found myself spending late evenings and Saturday mornings prostrate on some wooden pallets in the church’s furnace room, where I knew no one would disturb me. A hunger for Jesus and a passion for the lost always consumed my prayer. As I look back over some fifty-three years of ministry since, I believe seeds of faith were planted in my heart during that Sunday morning message.

Over the years, I would retell the story of my first encounter with a true man of prayer in hundreds of settings, where I would teach what became the Change the World School of Prayer—a multihour study with more than three million students impacted worldwide. Only recently, some five decades after that special morning, did I have the joy of preaching and leading a Wednesday morning prayer meeting at Yoido Gospel Church in Seoul. I was amazed that every single seat in that gigantic auditorium was filled with a saint ready to cry out to God for revival and global awakening. I was witnessing the fruit of a praying leader who has lived a life of fervent, passionate prayer for sixty years of ministry.

At our ministry’s headquarters for Every Home for Christ in Colorado Springs, Colorado, one can also see the fruit of the seeds of Dr. Cho’s ministry. We’ve imported fifty tons of Jerusalem stone from Israel to build a “Wall of Prayer” (Isaiah 62:6–7) with numerous prayer grottos named after the tribes of Israel—an inspiration I can trace to my own experience in the prayer grottos on Dr. Cho’s Prayer Mountain in Seoul back in 1984.

It is understandable why I so strongly believe God has a message for believers all over the world in Prayer: Key to Revival, which contains Dr. Cho’s lifelong prayer insights and is coauthored by Dr. Wayde Goodall, a brother also mentored by Yonggi Cho. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book that covers more of the practical elements of effective prayer than Prayer. Not only does the intercessor find in these pages evidence of prayer’s impact over the centuries through great people of prayer and faith, but there are also lessons to equip and empower the reader to pursue greater heights of effectual prayer than he or she may have ever imagined.

The authors are also quick to emphasize that God has no favorite children when it comes to prayer. As I too have emphasized over the years, prayer is the divine equalizer. Some preach. Some teach. Some sing. But all can pray. Yes, you can pray like Peter, Paul, or even Dr. Cho! Of course, like any skill or endeavor, prayer can be cultivated; it must be cultivated. The value of resources like Prayer is both the inspiration and insight they provide in this process of cultivation. They equip and encourage believers to remain faithful and persevere.

I welcome you to turn the page and begin your fresh pursuit of the power of prayer. It could very well be your key to personal revival. You won’t be disappointed.

Dr. Dick Eastman International President of Every Home for Christ President of America’s National Prayer Committee

Introduction

Our Lord Jesus Christ lived a life of prayer: “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God” (Luke 6:12). His public ministry was inaugurated with fasting prayer (Matthew 4:1–2), and he always had intimate fellowship with Father God through it and accomplished everything with its power. Even before the suffering of the cross, Jesus prayed to obey God’s will rather than his own (Mark 14:36). Jesus’ life of prayer demonstrates that prayer is the foundation of authentic spirituality and one of the core elements of the Christian life.

Reverend Dr. David Yonggi Cho is one of the greatest men of prayer in Christian history. What he accomplished was done through his ardent prayers. Before he delivered sermons on Sunday, he went to Osanri Prayer Mountain every Saturday to pray to God to give him power and wisdom to preach the gospel for his congregation. Every day, he prayed for more than three hours, which was his routine from the time of his theological seminary training.

As the second senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church, I have tried to pray as much as I can. I think my ministerial success depends on prayer. Prayer cannot be detached from the life of faith. Many Christians, however, experience difficulties because of their lack of prayer. Although prayer is the breath of spiritual life, they do not pray. Without prayer, we cannot walk with the Holy Spirit and keep our faith. Christians, therefore, must always pray—through which we can maintain the fullness of the Holy Spirit and enjoy deep fellowship with God. When we pray, we come to know God’s heart and be led by his vision.

It is an honor for me to write an introduction for Prayer, the second book co-authored by Rev. Dr. David Yonggi Cho and Dr. Wayde Goodall. Their first book, Faith, dealt with Dr. Cho’s theology and spirituality. Prayer delineates the whole prayer life, such as the motivation of prayer, types and forms of prayer, and methods of prayer. This book provides readers with a map of prayer. Christians who do not understand what prayer is or how they should pray can obtain brilliant insights and valuable help from this book.

I pray that God will present wisdom and strength to all who read this book so they become more diligent in their prayers and enjoy God’s blessing and grace.

Dr. Younghoon Lee Senior Pastor Yoido Full Gospel Church

Prayer Is the Key

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

—Revelation 7:9–10 NLT

When the devil sees a man or woman who really believes in prayer, who knows how to pray, and who really does pray, and, above all, when he sees a whole church on its face before God in prayer, he trembles as much as he ever did, for he knows that his day in that church or community is at an end.1

—R. A. Torrey

As we write this book, the Yoido Full Gospel church has grown to many hundreds of thousands of members with hundreds of satellite churches and many hundreds of missionaries. In May 2018, the church celebrated sixty years of ministry in Korea and numerous ministries outside of Korea.

I (Dr. Cho) believe that personal revival and renewal comes from prayer. Throughout the history of Christianity, prayer has been the key to every revival. Both personally and within the church, prayer is a powerful, supernatural key that all believers and leaders need to understand. This wonderful gift is the answer to your personal needs and will help you hear the secrets that God desires to share with faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

The first-century church was born when the Holy Spirit descended during a time of concentrated prayer (Acts 2). After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, Luke wrote, “And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God” (Luke 24:53). The disciples were agreeing in prayer. “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1:14).

The Book of Acts is approximately thirty years of early church history. Before the first missionary journey began, there was much prayer. Through a time of fasting and prayer, the Holy Spirit revealed to the leaders of the Antioch church that they should send Barnabas and Saul to do the work that had been designed for them: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (13:2).

Martin Luther was disturbed with the religious world in which he lived. His deep passion for personal piety caused him to spend much time in prayer while he was professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg. During the winter of 1512, he locked himself in a room within the tower of the Black Monastery at Wittenberg and prayed over what he was discovering in the Scriptures. As a result, the Reformation was born in 1517 after that season of prayer and the study of the Word. The Reformation gives us greater understanding of the biblical truth of justification by faith. Men and women no longer need to live under the impossible bondage of working for salvation. Salvation is a gift of God through faith.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16–17)

After the fires of revival that spread throughout Europe began to drift, the Age of Enlightenment began. This new movement began in the arts and spread to every sector of European society. There was new energy for the pagan concept of humanity’s supreme worth. Reason became the means by which people judged truth and reality, and faith appeared unimportant. People began to look to reason rather than “walking by faith.” An outpouring of the Holy Spirit on believers was desperately needed, but reason seemed to make more sense to people. Theological drift from faith, belief, dedication, the inerrancy of Scripture, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and persistence is a dangerous thing.

In the early nineteenth century, God spoke to John Wesley, the son of an Anglican clergyman from Epworth, England. Increasingly dissatisfied with the state of the Church of England, he was deeply moved by the great need of the poor who had flocked to the cities, where they lived in deplorable conditions. On the evening of May 24, 1738, at fifteen minutes before nine, he was listening to the reading of Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans when he experienced genuine conversion and was born again. Wesley, his brother Charles, and George Whitfield began meeting for prolonged prayer and fasting. As the Church of England closed its doors to their ministry, they began ministering to large crowds in Great Britain and in America. Thousands would gather to hear the powerful anointed preaching of the Word of God. The Methodist revival was born.

Later in the nineteenth century, the Protestant church again drifted from the course set by the early reformers and began to question, Is the Bible without error? Questioning the authenticity of the Scriptures is a dangerous thing. However, this drift is an ever-present challenge in the church today. The result was that people started leaving traditional churches. What did they do? They stayed at home. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, God raised up evangelists, pastors, and hymn writers like Charles Finney, Dwight L. Moody, R. A. Torrey, William and Catherine Booth, Fanny Crosby, and Maria Woodworth-Etter. As part of this Great Awakening, these men and women preached and led under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, motivated by continual prayer and fasting.

In the twentieth century, the spiritual climate was rising again. In Los Angeles, California, the Holy Spirit fell again in 1906 in a revival called the Azusa Street Revival. Methodists and Holiness Christians had been fasting and praying for revival when the Holy Spirit fell as in the second chapter of Acts. Jesus had given those who were assembled together the baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. This revival, which was later called Pentecostalism, has spread throughout the world. Today, the majority of the church in the world is Pentecostal or charismatic.

Today, we are in the twenty-first century. Many Pentecostals and charismatics (members or former members of traditional churches who experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues) are feeling the same secularism that has crept into much of the church. Even Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries have permitted culture to change the truths that they once held and have begun to drift from their original mission and foundation that had a biblical worldview. The inerrancy of Scripture; the definition of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman; the soon-coming return of Christ; the infilling of the Holy Spirit—all are questioned rather than promoted. Students frequently leave these institutions full of doubt and questioning the Scriptures rather than loving the truths that are given in God’s inspired Word.

The early church leaders were filled and refilled with the Holy Spirit. What is needed in our churches, Christian universities, and all our lives is a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

What will bring about the revival that can lead the world away from the brink of total destruction and annihilation? The answer is a new call to prayer!

“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)

At no time in the history of the modern world has there been such an outpouring of satanic influence as there is today. From the pit of hell, satan has wreaked havoc on all the nations of the world. The frequent reports of murder, rape, molestation, terrorism, hatred, lying, abuse to women, gender confusion, and horrible crimes against people are all inspired by the enemy of our souls. Billy Graham said, “Never underestimate Satan’s power, and never underestimate his ability to deceive us and make us think he isn’t to be feared. In fact, he even deceives some people into thinking he doesn’t exist! He is not as powerful as God—but he still is a powerful spiritual force who works against God in every way he possibly can.”2

My (Dr. Cho’s) desire is to share with you from my experience of praying for over sixty years so you will be motivated to understand prayer and pray.

Just as the preaching of the Wesleys kept Britain from following France in revolution in the eighteenth century, so too a new outbreak of revival can bring about the social and political changes necessary to keep us from international destruction, immorality, and lawlessness today.

This book is important for you and for those with whom you have influence. We assume that prayer is a habit and lifestyle that you are hungry to develop. Really, how can we survive without seeking God, developing a wonderful communication with our Creator, and understanding how to listen to His voice?

We are convinced that the reason the Holy Spirit has brought you to this book comes from a deep desire inside you. You want to understand prayer and develop a life of prayer. My (Dr. Cho’s) desire is to share with you from my experience of praying for over sixty years so you will be motivated to understand prayer and pray. We want you to know why you should pray, how you should pray, and when you should pray. Understanding the many different kinds of prayer that exist is very important. What is the link between prayer and fasting? Why does fasting increase the effectiveness of prayer? Is it important to pray in the unknown language (tongues)? How can we listen to the Holy Spirit? What are the different ways to pray? We will answer these and many other questions in this book.

We believe that after reading this book, you will never be the same. Your prayers will have more power! There will be a marked change in your life! Your marriage, children, friends, workplaces, relationships with people, and future will be impacted because of your prayers. Your ministry that the Holy Spirit has given you will be more effective!

We want you to know why you should pray, how you should pray, and when you should pray.

We are working from one simple premise: God has no favorite children. What has worked for us will also work for you. What brought power to the lives of people like Luther, Wesley, Finney, Moody, and so many others can also bring you power. It does not matter if you are an ordained minister, housewife, or new Christian. Your level of education or your station in life is of no consequence when it comes to prayer. If God has worked through men and women in the past, He can work through you.

One of the greatest lies of satan is that we do not have enough time to pray. All of us have the same twenty-four hours each day—ninety-six fifteen-minute segments every day. We have time to sleep, eat, and breathe. As soon as you realize that prayer is as important as sleeping, eating, and breathing, you will be amazed at how much more time will be available for you to pray.

As you read and understand the principles that we will explain throughout this book, take time to pray as you read. Examine the passages that are cited and pray those verses. In this book you will find not just information or formulas for prayer but also Dr. Cho’s experiences of successful praying for over sixty years. Faith is contagious. As you observe people who walk with God, you may find that their integrity, faithfulness, and obedience also become contagious.

Paul encouraged the early Christians to imitate him in his faith. Since the time that I (Wayde) came to Christ through the ministry of an Assemblies of God missionary, I have endeavored to imitate the faith of the godly leaders in Scripture, leaders from church history, and people whom I have personally known who walk faithfully with the Lord. Pastor Cho is one of the people I have watched and endeavored to imitate—in his faith and in his prayer life.

Therefore I urge you to imitate me. (1 Corinthians 4:16)

We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. (2 Thessalonians 3:9)

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13:7)

We have complete confidence in the Holy Spirit, who has caused you to pick up this book. He will speak to you and give you new revelations of how and why to pray and listen. Pray as you read the pages. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring new revelation into your life and to show you the depth of God’s deep, deep love for you.

PART I

Our Motivation to Pray

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

—Jeremiah 33:3

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

—John 14:13

You do not have because you do not ask God.

—James 4:2

The Lord Jesus fasted forty days and nights before He began his public ministry. During His ministry, the Scriptures tell us He often went apart to pray alone. Until His last moment of life on Calvary’s cross, He lived in prayer.

—Yonggi Cho

1

Seeing through the Impossible

“You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

—John 14:14

No principle is more definitely enforced by Christ than that prevailing prayer must have in it the quality which waits and perseveres, the courage that never surrenders, the patience which never grows tired, the resolution that never wavers.

—E. M. Bounds

God has created us in such a way that when we understand why something is important, we are often much more motivated to do something. Often, when we clearly see the why we should do something, we are energized to accomplish much—even when it seems impossible.

The why often motivates us to have faith to do.

Change is difficult for most people. A disciplined and consistent prayer life is a habit that is a challenge for many. However, when we discover the why—the tremendous value, power, and insights that can come from a life of prayer—we change and develop habits that will impact our lives, those we pray for, and what we pray for. When you understand the amazing benefits of prayer, you will change, and you will make this one of the highest priorities in your life.

“Ask me,

and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”

—Psalm 2:8

Motivation works on the basis of desire. For people to pray, they must learn to long to pray. To pray as the Scriptures require, they must develop a great desire to pray. How can you develop this deep hunger to pray? You must see the eternal and temporal benefits of prayer.

Be encouraged! You can see and understand the powerful advantages of your prayers and, as a result, your heart will be opened. God will give you greater revelation of how He does hear you and how He responds to your communication with Him. Along with Paul, we ask “the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!” (Ephesians 1:17–19 MSG).

When we look in the Bible, we see powerful prayers. In the ministry of Moses, we see a man who had power in prayer. He could speak with authority not only to the enemies of God but also to God’s people. When he prayed, plagues came to Egypt. When he prayed, the Red Sea opened before the Israelites. Yet, how did Moses develop his anointed power and favor with God? Moses developed a life of prayer.

Moses mentored Joshua, and Joshua imitated the faith of his mentor, his father in the faith. While Moses was praying on the mountain, Joshua spent the night at the foot of the mountain in prayer. He watched Moses, remained close to Moses, and was loyal to him. His mentor demonstrated how to do what seemed impossible.

Joshua saw the mighty hand of God work through his personal life and as a leader. He served the Lord with his family, and he knew the will and strategy of God in battle. Therefore, mighty cities fell before the untrained army that he led. How did Joshua develop so much power with God? He had learned to pray.

David was a man given to prayer. When he was anointed king of Israel, Saul was still on the throne. David could have been discouraged by the fact only a few recognized his kingdom, yet prayer brought him to a place of trust. He waited for the Lord to place him on Israel’s physical throne. David was strong enough in his relationship with the Lord that he did not kill Saul when he had opportunity. After Saul’s death, David’s first action as the recognized king of Israel was to bring back the ark of the covenant to its rightful place at the center of Israel’s worship. When we look at the power in the kingdom and life of David, we can see the source of his power—a life of prayer. He was committed to prayer because he learned that God would respond to him: “I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer” (Psalm 17:6).

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

—Psalm 17:6

Elijah was the prophet of God during one of the worst times in the history of Israel. At that time, Israel had turned to the worship of Baal. Elijah prayed powerfully, challenging the prophets of Baal. When we remember the story of Elijah we think of his power, but we must see the source of that power. Elijah was a man of prayer. He would spend hours and even days in prayer. This is why when Elijah was taken up in the whirlwind by the chariot of fire, the sons of the prophets looked for him on the mountaintops of Israel (2 Kings 2).

However, no one has ever manifested the power of God like the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Before He entered His public ministry, Jesus spent seasons of prayer alone with the Father. This was the source of His power; He could do nothing unless the Father revealed it to Him.

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. (Luke 6:12)

He went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone. (Matthew 14:23)

Are you tired of the powerless prayers that you hear coming from your lips? Are you ready to enter into a powerful ministry of prayer so your family, neighbors, church, and city understands the power that can come because of prayer? If this is your desire and you will do anything and pay any price, then get ready for God to dramatically change your life by bringing you into a new dimension of power.

There is no reason miracles shouldn’t be taking place in your life. Your prayers can dynamically impact those you love, a ministry that you are involved in, your workplace, and all that you do. There is no reason non-Christians should not be drawn to you as you pray for them. If you are a pastor or church leader, there is no reason why sinners should not be drawn to your church and ministry.

God has always used His people to impact cities, nations, and regions far beyond. One such person was Charles Finney. The stories of his influence for the kingdom of God are full of faith that comes as a result of prayer. One such occasion was when he passed through a small community in upstate New York. Houghton, New York, was a normal town, yet one day as Charles Finney’s train was passing by, the Holy Spirit fell on the sinners in the community. Men in cocktail bars fell on their knees under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and asked Jesus Christ to save them. There are many examples of how God used this converted attorney in powerful ways.

Finney seemed so anointed with the Holy Spirit that people were often brought under conviction of sin by looking at him. When holding meetings in Utica, New York, he visited a large factory there and was looking at the machinery. At the sight of him one of the operatives, and then another, and then another broke down and wept under a sense of their sins, and finally so many were sobbing and weeping that the machinery had to be stopped while Finney pointed them to Christ.3

Finney gives this account of an occasion when he was preaching:

I had not spoken to them in this strain of direct application, I should think more than a quarter of an hour, when all at once an awful solemnity seemed to settle down upon them; and something flashed over the congregation—a kind of shimmering—as if there was some agitation in the atmosphere itself. The congregation began to fall from their seats; and they fell in every direction and cried for mercy. If I had had a sword in each hand I could not have cut them off their seats as fast as they fell. Indeed, nearly the whole congregation were either on their knees or prostrate, I should think, in less than two minutes from this first shock that fell upon them. Everyone prayed for himself who was able to speak at all. I, of course was obliged to stop preaching, for they no longer paid any attention.4

If the Holy Spirit gave Charles Finney such power, should not He give us the same kind of power? Finney, an attorney, rarely shared the key to his power; however, we now know through numerous accounts that the source of Finney’s power was the hours he spent in prayer.

I (Dr. Cho) am convinced that in Korea we have seen just the beginning of the revival God has promised us. The Yoido Full Gospel church membership is many hundreds of thousands, our satellite churches also have tens of thousands of members, and through our numerous ministries and missionaries we are able to impact so many for Jesus Christ. Prayer, and listening to and obeying the Holy Spirit, is primary to all that we do. We are thankful for all that God has done; however, I believe we have not yet seen the power of God as we shall in the future—if we are faithful.

I am so grateful for our senior pastor, Dr. Yong Hoon Lee. We both believe that prayer, and listening to and obeying the Holy Spirit, is why for over sixty years God has blessed our church in such a way. And we sense greater things in the future.

In the church, the power of God is not only seen in healings, deliverances from evil spirits, and massive conversions to Christianity; it is also seen in the open heaven that is over our country. What do I mean by this? When a country has an open heaven, there is freedom and spiritual liberty in preaching the gospel. The level of faith is high, and one does not find a great deal of spiritual opposition. In some countries, it is difficult to preach because there is so much spiritual opposition. Satanic forces that oppose the gospel are strong, and there isn’t much faith. This makes it difficult for those of us who minister the Word of God.

Scripture gives us many examples of an open heaven. In Genesis 28 we have the story of Jacob, who fell asleep and had a dream of a ladder that came down from heaven. Angels were ascending and descending on the ladder. God was at the top of the ladder. This dream led to great change in Jacob’s actions and the path of his life.

Ezekiel experienced an open heaven and describes this in Ezekiel 1:28. “Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”

We see the heavens open at the baptism of Jesus. “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16–17).

The first martyr of the early church was Stephen. Because of his faith in Jesus and his powerful ministry, he was stoned to death. Before he died, he saw an open heaven. “When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:54–55).

One of the greatest persecutors of the early church was Saul (who was also known as Paul). Paul experienced an open heaven when he was on his way to locate and persecute Christians in Damascus. On his way, a bright light caused him to fall to the ground and he heard the voice of Jesus.

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:5–6)

Saul’s life changed, and he gave his life to Jesus Christ. Saul became known as Paul the Apostle, who wrote thirteen books of the Bible and was perhaps one of the greatest preachers of the early church.

The apostle Peter had an open heaven experience when “he saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners” (Acts 10:11). He was in his daily meditation when the revelation that Gentiles were included in receiving salvation through Christ came to him. Peter received this revelation by his open heaven experience. You are probably a fulfillment of that open heaven revelation to Peter.

The apostle John experienced an open heaven when he was in prison on the island of Patmos. He was worshiping, and he saw a vision: “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it” (Revelation 4:1–2).

In Korea, I (Dr. Cho) have found that it’s easier to preach than almost anywhere else. God has given us an open heaven. When I preach the Word of God, sinners immediately respond out of a desire for salvation. Why do we have this spiritual atmosphere? It is the power of prayer.