Bishop's Page

Many of us are familiar with the story of Jesus' visit to Mary and Martha's home in Luke 10:38-42. Like many typical Asian women, Martha was hurrying round the house doing all sorts of chores to ensure that the Master enjoyed the best hospitality. As Luke puts it, 'Martha was distracted by all the preparation that had to be made' (v.40). Mary on the other hand 'sat at Jesus' feet listening to what he said' (v.39). You can well imagine what happened. Out of sheer exasperation, Martha came to Jesus and said: 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me' (v.40)! Not fair! But the Master's reply is instructive: 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her' (vv.41f).

Perhaps this is not untypical even today. There have been times when I have been to church meetings held in homes, where there have been great times of worship and prayer, with a good speaker bringing a message from the Lord. But the hostess and one or two other friends, worried about providing the best hospitality and food, rush around so much that they miss out completely on what is of greater importance. What happens in such instances however illustrates what takes place in much of Christian life. One senior church member came up to me and confessed recently (not his exact words but in essence), 'I have been so concerned about DOING things for the church all these years that I have forgotten about the greater importance of BEING with our Lord in worship and prayer, and the study and meditation of the Bible.'

Often, as Christians, we forget that we are God's children, and that God is our Father in heaven. In the midst of all our busyness, we forget that like any loving and caring Father, God desires fellowship with us. Many of us are parents. Now suppose our children say to us: 'Mum and Dad, I really don't have much time for you because I am very busy with my own things. So don't expect me to come and see you, chit-chat with you, or go out for dinner with you. But if you have any thing you need done, just let me know and I don't mind doing it. 'How would we feel as parents? Clearly we will be deeply disappointed and grieved. How then do you think our heavenly Father feels when we are so busy doing things for Him that we have no time for fellowship with Him?

At the heart of our relationship with God is our prayer life. Those who have gone deep in their personal walk with God know what prayer is. It involves reading and meditating upon the Scriptures, worshipping and giving thanks to God, asking for forgiveness and cleansing, interceding for the church and the world, listening to His whispers of love and seeking His will for our lives, and waiting upon Him for grace for holy living and power for ministry. But these things can only happen when we like Mary have learnt to sit at the feet of Jesus, spending much unhurried time with Him!

When we look at Jesus, we see exactly the same pattern in His life. Read through the gospels and note the numerous times when they speak of Him repeatedly waking up early in the morning, or going off to a quiet place in the midst of busyness, or spending long hours through the night in prayer, communing with His Father in heaven. We see this same pattern throughout His ministry, from the very beginning, when He spent forty days fasting and praying in the wilderness, to the last hours just before his arrest, when at Gethsamane he sought His Father's will and strength to obey it. There can be no doubt that the clarity of purpose and power which marked His ministry flowed out of His time spent in prayer to His Father.

When we read about the lives of the giants of faith who have gone before us in church history, we see exactly the same pattern. Again and again, it is those who have learnt the secret of prayer that God has used powerfully for His own purposes. Brother Anthony, one of the pioneers of the monastic movement, spent 20 years in the desert seeking God in prayer. The result was that his heart was purified and will strengthened. Only then did he return to his own people and ministered with great spiritual authority. The biographies of the great Asian Christians of the past like Sadhu Sundar Singh, Pandita Ramabai and Bakht Singh of India, and Pastor Hsi, Watchman Nee and John Sung of China tell the same story again and again.

Writing towards the end of his life, after having been used by God to do a great work of revival in China and many Chinese churches in Southeast Asia, John Sung said: 'In the past, I deemed evangelism the most important work, but now I see that prayer is more important than anything.' Again in a letter to some Singapore churches leaders he wrote in 1941, he urged them to earnestly seek God through prayer for revival: 'For God to do a work of great revival, He must first give us a deep hunger and thirst … If there were one hundred evangelistic teams in Southeast Asia that have tasted of the sweetness of prayer, the whole of Southeast Asia would turn to the Lord … For 98 days now I have been praying with brothers and sisters here. Sometimes we pray for 5-6 hours nonstop, without feeling fatigued … If every church could have one of these teams, it would receive revival.'

Over the past one year and more, the Presidents of the various Annual Conferences, together with the members of the General Conference Executive Council (GCEC), and myself have spent much time discussing the place of prayer within the whole Methodist Church in Malaysia. We are convinced that what we need to see is a prayer movement sweeping through our churches afresh. We are agreed that we should seek to foster the practice of prayer at every level of the church. Every local church ought to have a regular weekly prayer meeting. Every Annual Conference will hold a Prayer Conference during the coming year. Some of these have already taken place, and others will be held later in the year. For example, I was privileged to have been present last month at the TAC Prayer Conference in Klang where for the first time they had close to 400 people attending. What an inspiring and spiritually uplifting 3 days it was as the whole congregation lifted their voices in unison to worship God and to intercede for His church! And I am looking forward to attending those of other Annual Conferences in the coming year. These Prayer Conferences of each Annual Conference will then lead up to a major prayer conference for the whole Methodist Church to be held next year.

The GCEC is now also actively planning for the 'Methodist Prayer Convention 2007', to be held on 31 August to 2 September next year. This will be the first time we are planning something like this, on a scale never at-tempted before. We believe that God is calling the Methodist people in this country to come together to worship and pray as one body. We are looking forward to a great gathering of Methodist Christians in this country coming together with one major focus and one only-to PRAY! More details of this conference will be announced within the next few months. But we urge as many of you as possible to mark out those dates next year, and come and join us for this coming momentous event. Pray too with us now that the Lord will watch over and direct all the necessary preparations for this event. Pray too that He will so prepare the hearts of His people that He will be able to release the fullness of His blessings upon the whole church as we gather together to pray!

We come back to the Martha syndrome that plagues many of our lives. We live in an age which glorifies human abilities to get things done (just think about 'Malaysia Boleh')! We easily forget that, whilst what Martha was preoccupied with was indeed necessary and good in itself, she missed out on what is better as a result. Mary had made the right and wiser choice, and that 'will not be taken away from her.' What about you and me? If we would be wise, we would begin by ensuring that each day each of us is spending time (between half an hour to an hour, or more) alone with our Lord. May God give us grace to choose wisely!