Praying for Revival in the CRC

Reverend Nam Soo Choi, a prayer leader and pastor from South Korea, recently led a community-wide prayer service in Grand Rapids, Mich. in which he called for a revival in the city.

“God’s heart is for Grand Rapids. I can sense there are people praying in this place,” said Choi during the evening service that capped a day-long prayer school at Brookside Christian Reformed Church.

“Because of your prayers, Grand Rapids will be revived.  Because of the prayers of Grand Rapids, the United States will be revived. Grand Rapids will be a place of spiritual revival in the land,” he said.

The Christian Reformed Church’s Candidacy Office and the Great Lakes Regional Office of Christian Reformed Home Missions sponsored Choi’s visit on Sept. 25.

The day began with morning prayers at the Prince Conference Center on the campus of Calvin College. It was followed from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. by a prayer school at Brookside and ended with the evening service.

In his morning session, Choi said, “I sense Grand Rapids on fire! ...  God is going to use you and your prayer ministry to change and revive the nation. Through your prayers, national disaster will be diverted.”

He went on to say, “Run to the embrace of God. Run into the breast of God. Paint with the blood of the Lamb. Hold onto the promise of God’s salvation. Rush back to the seat of prayer. Find a place to go on a regular basis for intimate communion with God himself.”

Nam Soo Choi, who now travels the world with his message of prayer, planted a church in South Korea with a handful of others in the early 1990s.

Backed by the power of prayer, 2,000 members were added to his church in the first year.

Today the church is one of the largest Evangelical Presbyterian churches in South Korea, with a membership of about 20,000. It supports more than 30 missionaries worldwide and a prayer school that reaches out to some 70 nations.

Choi said he prays in his church building every day. On Saturday nights, for instance, he prays for two hours over every seat and for the Lord’s presence to fill the service the morning.

During his evening presentation, Choi preached from I Kings 18:41, which comes after Elijah’s prayer for a fire to fall on the altar of Baal on Mt. Carmel.

In this verse, Elijah says to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” 

“Before he could even see the cloud the size of a man’s hand, he could hear the sound of the rain coming! Can you hear it?” asked Choi.

“Grand Rapids, can you hear the sound of revival coming? Listen to the sound of big rain for Grand Rapids. God will bring revival through the praying church.”

The sound of rain, of revival, he said, will come to the person “who has sacrificed him or herself on the altar of prayer.  The church’s end is not suffering. It is revival. It will revive.”

He said, “The church is to become a lighthouse for God’s city.  People in darkness are looking for a lighthouse. The church needs to upgrade our prayer life to pray for the nation as well.  The church’s role is to give Jesus to this world. The power is in prayer.”

Choi encouraged people to pray continuously for the vision God has given for the revival of Grand Rapids, for the revival of the church, for the revival of the Christian Reformed Church.

“When God gives a vision, we must never give up praying for it.  Elijah prayed seven times, the number of completion, and we are not to give up until God’s will is accomplished.”