May Your Ministers Be Burning and Shining Lights
Editor’s note: Prayer metabolizes the gospel, enacts the gospel, and transforms and empowers gospel movements. Prayer is and must be the heartbeat of China Partnership’s work to serve, train, and resource Chinese house church leaders. As believers in China face increased pressure from a hostile world and an inhospitable government, we ask you to join with us and kneel before God in praise and petition for our brothers and sisters there.
Tim Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and a prolific writer. This prayer comes from China Partnership’s prayer event at The Gospel Coalition 2019 in Indianapolis.
As you read, we invite you to pray with us for the Chinese church as she navigates new and uncertain times.
Lord, give the ministers of China deep humility, burning love, well-guided zeal, and a single life for your glory. And then, even if men and devils do their worst, may the gospel go forward.
I pray, Lord, that you would give those ministers love for their neighbor. Being beaten down, sometimes humans are unable to love. Let them have love for their neighbors, and let them have strength for their work, even when they're weary. Give them a grasp of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, not falling into either liberalism and worldliness or legalism and moralism. Father, teach them how to not only grow in suffering themselves; teach them how to teach their people how to grow in suffering.
Lord Jesus, when you were on earth you pointed to John the Baptist, one of the great ministers of history, and said he was a burning and shining light. What a compliment. We pray that you would make the ministers of the Chinese church burning and shining lights. Shining, because they have a light of truth; burning, because they have passion for the truth. Do not let their doctrine get ahead of their experience, or their experience get ahead of their doctrine. Make them burning and shining lights.
We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.