Prayer Journal: December 13, 2025 “How Should We Begin?”
2024 Southeast Asia Evangelism Lecture 1
Theme: “Opportunity of 237” (Acts 1:1-8)
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:10, 6:33, Acts 1:3, 19:8
When we face challenging times, we ask: “How should we begin?” If the start is wrong, nothing works, and that is exactly why so many things we do do not work.
The disciples asked Jesus, “How should we pray?” And Jesus answered clearly: pray for the kingdom of God to come. He repeated it again. Asking for this and that is not real prayer, because God already knows what we need. Therefore, He said, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
And at the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus did not give a casual instruction—He spoke about the kingdom of God for forty days. Not four days—forty days. It was His final pulpit message. And He even called them separately to Mt Olive. You must catch the point quickly.
Paul realized it, although he wasn’t even there!. And God entrusted world evangelization to him—simply put, the evangelization of Rome. But the tragedy is that most Christians still do not know what prayer is. That is why, before we talk about evangelizing Musanze, Jimma, and Africa, we must first receive real answers.
This is what the Jews missed. They did not even understand original sin. There are many churches like that. Anyone—even an unbeliever—can repent of personal sins. But original sin cannot be solved that way. That is why Christ had to come. They also do not know the reality of Satan, what Satan has done, or how Satan works. So they looked at Jesus and asked foolish questions: “Are you the leader of Satan? Are you casting out demons?”
And shockingly, even the apostles failed to understand it. They did not grasp what Jesus was saying. So if we are not careful, we become like that. Look at what happened: Peter kept going to the mission fields where Paul was laboring and kept saying different things. The most miserable thing for a pastor is this—when church members say, “Our pastor is not the gospel.” That is misery. And the problem only got worse: everywhere Paul went, they insisted, “You still must keep the Jewish law.” James spoke like that, and it is recorded in Galatians 2. They even said, “You still must be circumcised.” Paul could not bear it. He confronted Peter directly: “Do you keep the Jewish law perfectly? Why do you tell others to keep what you cannot keep? Is it not only Christ? Were we not crucified with Christ? Is it not Christ who lives in us?” With that, God moved the lampstand to Antioch. And the apostles could not evangelize Rome—not because the field was too hard, but because they held on to the wrong things. Even the medieval church missed it. They did not know at all.
Why did God lead His people to the wilderness for 40 years following the Exodus? Why didn’t He bring them into the land of Canaan? It only takes a week on foot. In the wilderness He gave the crucial meaning of the three feasts. Passover speaks of salvation—the day the blood was applied. Pentecost speaks of the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Feast of Ingathering speaks of gathering the harvest into the storehouse, and that storehouse explains the throne. But the Jews, from the beginning, kept these three in the worst way. God was already warning them from the start.
That is why Jesus called the remnants. He gathered them Himself and spoke three things.
First: Change. There is something we must change. If we do not know this, we cannot move forward. What must we change? We must change the bartizan within us. If you do not change it, you will never overcome Satan’s bartizan. In Matthew 12:26–30, Jesus revealed that Satan’s bartizan is inside you, and it must be changed.
Satan has twelve strategies, and we are imprinted by them. What did Satan give first? “I only think of myself”—that is Genesis 3: you are the center; you are the best; you can be like God. Then comes Genesis 6: you can gain power. Then Genesis 11: build the tower of Babel. That is why Satan’s bartizan stands firmly. Without anyone teaching them, people go worship idols. Without anyone teaching them, they build idol shrines. Without anyone teaching them, they perform rituals and chase meditation.
So Jesus said in John 8:44, even to religious people, “Your father is the devil.” They could not understand, and they faced disasters again and again.
The bartizan in us must be changed by prayer. Change it into the bartizan of the throne. This is why I pray in the morning: “Let the Triune God come upon me as a bartizan. Let the power of the throne come upon me as a bartizan. Let the power You promised come upon me as a bartizan. Let the power that solved past, present, and future come upon me. Let the five powers come upon me. Let the power to overcome the ruler of the power of the air come upon me. Let the CVDIP that sees the age come upon me. Let the three courtyards come upon our church.” It must be changed quickly. If it does not change, you keep calculating, living for yourself, measuring benefit and loss. But we are not people of calculation; we are people of the covenant.
That is why Daniel’s three friends said, “Even if we die, it is okay. Even if God does not save us, it is okay.” Daniel prayed three times a day with thanksgiving. Esther said, “If I perish, I perish.” When the early church gathered in the upper room, it was dangerous—so what? They might be arrested—so what? Evangelism might cost their lives—so what? They eventually won. They overcame the evil schemes of Jews. They overcame powerful Macedonia. They overcame Rome. The early church overcame everything because Jesus changed them for forty days. “Change!” Or you won’t be able to escape from the Nephilim culture. Throw it away. If you follow the Nephilim culture and you and your children will die.
Second: Seek. Find the journey God has given. Find the road the Triune God leads. The three answers are still happening now. Find the ten sure footholds. Find the ten secrets that guarantee victory. Find the five assurances of the throne, the nine flows of the throne, and the lifelong answer of the throne. Today is the camp of the throne—this is our journey—and we continue it by prayer. Jesus begged us to pray for the kingdom of God, but people ignore that and pray only, “Give me this, give me that.” What the world is creating is the Babel culture, and the tower of Babel will eventually collapse.
Third: Build. Build the guidepost of the throne that never collapses. This is the key: Change, Seek, Build. This is what I pray. What else is there to do? Do what Jesus told you to do. You do not even need to pray desperately for good health because it is all included: the guidepost of Mount Calvary that solved all problems; the unshakable guidepost of Mt Olive; the guidepost of Mark’s upper room; the guidepost of Antioch that changed the age; the beginning of missions under complete guidance of the Holy Spirit; the guidepost of Asia; and when the road is blocked, you do not quit or chase other things—you take the turning point to Macedonia; and you also must see Rome—this guidepost.
Paul realized this. In Acts 19:8, before Rome, in the synagogue, for three months he boldly explained the kingdom of God. He did not start with missions—he first received the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After receiving answers, he went out. He reenacted what happened in Mark’s upper room. He built the bartizan first. Then he broke darkness, healed the demon-possessed, and healed incurable disease. That is the journey.
And what did God say? “You must also see Rome.” God even quoted Paul’s confession: “Be bold; you must testify in Rome.” In the storm: “Do not be afraid. You must stand before Caesar.” God did not say, “You worked hard, so I will save you.” God did not say, “You preached well, so I will save you.” God said, “You must stand before Caesar.” Because when someone holds God’s accurate covenant, God quotes their message. If there is still mission to accomplish, you cannot die. If there is no more to do, dying is not a tragedy. Why struggle, hurting yourself and others, just to keep breathing?
So here is the conclusion: do exactly this. You must become addicted to the gospel and prayer. If you become addicted to bad things like drugs, your life will be ruined. But if you become addicted to the gospel, addicted to prayer, you begin to say, “I love praying. Praying is my happiness. Praying gives me strength.” That is addiction. “The gospel is everything. Only the gospel. Only this can save you, your family-line, your church, your region and nation, and Africa. Only this can save the world.” That is addiction. People always do what they are addicted to.
When that happens, three answers come. First, transcendence of time and space happens. Second, 237 and 5,000 finally become visible—because transcendence is at work. Third, unprecedented answers come. Prayer is transcendence of time and space. Only then does 237 connect. By prayer, the 5,000 tribes connect. Then the unprecedented answer comes to each remnant. That is the end. Who can stop you? No one can. Answers will keep coming, and you will be busy—busy receiving this blessing.
We and our remnants must remember. What we need is not a vague devotion, but an accurate covenant. We are not simply “preaching the gospel”—we are preaching only the gospel. That is the accurate covenant. And it is not “let’s try to pray more.” It is only prayer that finds everything. And it is not “let’s do missions,” because anyone can do that kind of missions. For us it is only missions. That is the accurate covenant.
Then we must take the proper attitude. What attitude? To be able to find the life of “only.” Then the life of uniqueness follows, and then the life of re-creation comes. Don’t just try to do the best. Discover the 300% God has prepared for you.
You are truly important. You are God’s chosen instrument to save 5,000 tribes. So, change your bartizan to the bartizan of the throne, seek the journey of the throne, and build the guidepost of the throne through prayer 24.
Prayer. Father, we thank You for giving us the accurate covenant. Establish within us the bartizan of the throne so that we live by only the gospel, only prayer, and only missions. Change our thoughts, our direction, and our attitude. Lead us on Your journey and help us build unshakable guideposts of the throne. Let our prayer transcend time and space, break darkness, and open the way to 237 nations and 5,000 tribes. May unprecedented answers come to every remnant, church leader, and evangelist, for the glory of Your kingdom, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.