Morning Prayer

Martha Janzen

Nepal is a Hindu kingdom where until recently it was against the law to become a Christian. Even so, God's Spirit was at work in this land, and thousands of Hindus have become Christians, often at risk to their personal lives. This has been accomplished through prayer--earnest, consistent prayer. Nepali Christians do a lot of praying, often very early in the morning.

In the 1980s, I was a secretary in the United Mission to Nepal office, and I had an opportunity to observe such dedication to prayer. When my young friend Gopal told me that he got up at 5:30 every morning to attend prayer meeting at his church, I thought he must be kidding. Just thinking of always getting up at 5:30 made me feel tired. But he looked fit and alert; rising early must have agreed with him. All night prayer vigils and periods of fasting were also part of his

experience.

Perhaps all first-generation Christians are like that, I reasoned. They have this earnest zeal. They appreciate their new life in Christ more than the rest of us do. We who have grown up "Christian" are different.

But I was uncomfortable with this reasoning, and I began to ask some questions. Have we who are second, third or fourth generation Christians become safe from Satan's attacks? Are we so strong in ourselves that we hardly need to pray at all? And where are we in regards to intercessory prayer? Have we forgotten the vast numbers who depend on us to remember them before the Lord?

As missionaries, we prayed regularly and frequently. But at 5:30 in the morning? I said to Gopal, "I think 5:30 in the morning is awfully early."

He shook his head. "Do you know the Pashupatinath Temple?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "I know of it." It is one of the most holy temples in the Hindu world, situated on the northeast edge of the city of Kathmandu.

"There," he said, "they go to pray at 3:30 every morning."

Martha Janzen is a retired Mennonite Central Committee worker.

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