RAIN! in Hong Kong

PRAYER FOR RAIN

On June 26, 1997, an intercessor in Hong Kong sent an urgent e-mail prayer request to intercessors all over the world. First among the prayer requests was a section entitled "Proclamation." You can read that section just below.

PRAYER REQUESTS
(1) PROCLAMATION (a) The Lord reigns forever! Your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord. (Ps.146:10)
(b) The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish from His land. (Ps.10:16)
(c) You are my King and my God, Who decrees victories for Jacob. (Ps.44:4)
(d) See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. (Rev.5:5)
(e) When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses.(Jer.10:13)
(f) After that comes the sound of His roar; He thunders with His majestic voice. When His voice resounds, He holds nothing back. (Job 37:6)
(g) Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No! It is you, O Lord, our God. Therefore, our hope is in You, for You are the One Who does all these. (Jer.14:22)
(h) Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the Voice of the Most High resounded. He shot His arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning, and routed them.(Ps. 18:12-14)

THE RAIN COMES

June 30 to July 1, there were a number of overnight prayer meetings in Hong Kong. At one of them, those gathered sang,

To this dry and barren land, send your rain, send your rain.
Lord, we need your touch again, send your rain, send your rain.
Let it rain, let it pour from heaven, let it rain, let revival roll.
We need your rain, we need your streams of refreshing for every thirsty soul."

(by Andy Park)

During the silence which followed this song, those assembled heard thunder. Soon it began to rain. It rained, and rained with thunder and lightning. And it kept raining. The Hong Kong Observatory reports that from July 1-18, 679 mm of rain fell, making it the wettest first 18 days of July since Hong Kong began to keep records in 1884.

GOD'S VOICE THROUGH THE RAIN

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:18-20 (NIV)

Since it is plain that God uses his creation to speak to men, especially about his wrath and judgment, it is reasonable to ask what God is saying through Hong Kong's abundant rain. Those listening here have sensed him saying a number of things.

REVIVAL

We have been asking God to visit Hong Kong for years. Many see this rain as a sign that he is answering that prayer. He is sending upon us the cleansing, refreshing and renewal we have prayed for. And he is an awesome God.

I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things. "You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it." Isaiah 45:6-8

TEARS

A number of intercessors sense that God is weeping over Hong Kong, reminding them of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem.

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace -- but now it is hidden from your eyes." Luke 19:41-42 (NIV)

JUDGMENT

1. Idolatry Hong Kong's reunification celebrations included a Buddhist prayer convention at Hong Kong stadium, attended by 40,000 people. Buddhist monks also prayed for Hong Kong for 30 hours, finishing early in the morning of July 2.

During the heavy rains, there have been more than 200 landslides reported in Hong Kong. On July 2, at around 5:00 am, one of them damaged the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas located near Pai Tau Village in Shatin. Some of the 13,000 idols were thrown down by the mud flow, including one of the most popular idols in Hong Kong, the goddess of mercy, Kwan Yin. One Chinese newspaper captioned their photos of the fallen Buddhas: "He cannot even help himself." On July 7 and 8, the entire temple complex was ruled unsafe and closed by court order.

Besides affecting Hong Kong, heavy rains also caused flooding in Macau, Taiwan and China's Guangdong province.

Taiwan's holy trees, high places of worship on the mountains, were damaged. One large tree was split by lightning. Half collapsed into the road. The other half must now be supported erect with cables to prevent complete collapse.

The city of Guangzhou is protected from river flooding by levies. During these recent rains, the levies had to be reinforced and collapse was feared. These levies were last breached and Guangzhou flooded in 1919.

2. Foundations tested "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that hose, and it fell with a great crash." Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

3. Man's pride brought low The world watched and listened to Hong Kong's reunification ceremonies, as men declared that men, by their own power and efforts had made Hong Kong a great city. With nothing more powerful than small drops of rain -- not even a great storm, not even a typhoon--God closed Hong Kong's schools and courts, flooded streets, collapsed hillslides and brought traffic to a standstill.

Surely Hong Kong stands only by God's grace. Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat -- for he grants sleep to those he loves. Psalm 127:1-2 (NIV) May God bring forth all his plans and purposes for Hong Kong.

The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every stately vessel. The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear. Isaiah 2:12-18 (NIV)

To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.

Did you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you form the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. Isaiah 40:18-24 (NIV)

FALLING ROCK

Traffic advisories warned motorists to avoid roads posted with the sign "falling rock," while landslides were reported throughout Hong Kong.

And we hear God warning us to quickly throw ourselves upon Jesus, that he may break us of our pride, "He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed," Matt. 21:44, lest we end up crying out with others at the opening of the sixth seal: Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty and every slave and every free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" Rev. 6:15-17 (NIV).

Thank you for praying for Hong Kong

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