[Shepherding the sheep with one heart] The endless thirst for the Lord

  • 2017.12.28 10:35


This is a story from my childhood. I ran to the neighboring church after school whenever a conference was held.  It was full of people who were crammed into the chapel. I could hardly find a space among them, even though I had rushed to arrive as early as possible. I raised my voice, holding my shoes above my head, saying, “excuse me!” At the same time, I squeezed through the people so that I could sit in the very front row.  People lifted their feet as I squeezed through so that they wouldn’t step on me.  So I quickly slipped into the gaps that they left.  Once I found a little space, I quickly sat down.

 

People frowned at me but I did not care at all, because my one concern was to keep my soul alive in a time of famine with the Word of God.  After he had finished preaching, the pastor said, “Feel free to go home after praying”.  So people started to leave in the middle of the night.  But I cried out to the Lord all night until just before the morning service started, crying out about my spiritual problems.

 

 “Ding dong ding dong” A peal of bells from the church rang out. Then I joined the morning worship singing ‘Oh, Spread the Tidings Round’ which was a favorite hymn at that time. After the sermon, I prayed with all my heart again. I prayed very fast in order to ask more from God. The more I prayed, the more God answered. 

 

Some might argue “does God answer more just because you pray more?”.  I am not talking about the sort of prayers that the Pharisees prayed in public, but rather the prayer of faith.  Always remember that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are also desperate to lead faithful lives.   

 

 

Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from the church newspaper #544 (Dec. 02, 2017)