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The long-term Servants in China told us that prayer is the greatest thing we can do to help China become the country God intends it to be. Several times a week we broke up into groups of two to four and went on prayer walks all over the city. We prayed in universities, at shopping centers, outside elementary schools, in busy city-centers, in quiet gardens, at national monuments, over historic sites, outside the gates of government buildings and lots of other places, too.

We often prayed at Buddhist temples for those worshipping the golden idols and also for the monks who have dedicated their lives to a false image. In the picture above you can see two of my friends praying for an old blind beggar outside a Buddhist temple. It was a common sight to see disabled people begging outside temples hoping somebody would throw a few cents their direction for “good luck”. None of the Buddhists I spoke with in China were “following” the Buddhist religion for any reason other than the hope that they would have “good luck” and make more money.

One night, towards the end of our trip, we all piled into a city bus and headed to one of the parks. This particular park occupies one of the highest points in the city and has a big tower which offers a 360 degree view of the city from the top. We all climbed up, Erica with her guitar, and we began to worship, pray, praise and proclaim God over the city. Looking back on my time in China I think this was one of the best moments of the entire trip. It was amazing to be up there looking over the city at night, with all it’s lights, traffic and earthly distractions and to be proclaiming God as King over it all. To be asking for His grace, mercy and blessing on the millions of people around us.

As impressive as the lights of one of the world’s largest cities were, they paled in comparison to the heavens stretched out over them.

Here are some prayer points for China.