As the "gaokao", the annual national college entrance examination kicked off last Monday, a church in Shaanxi Province, held two consecutive days of fasting and prayer meetings for students taking the exams.
In Shilipu Church in Baoji, more than sixty believers participated in the meetings.
During the fasting and prayer meeting on June 7, a sister read out the name list of children taking the exams, as reported by the congregation. In the morning, they prayed for the Chinese examination, and in the afternoon, they prayed for the math session.
On the second day, this sister read the list again, and then they prayed for the comprehensive liberal arts and the comprehensive science tests in the morning and also for the foreign languages test in the afternoon.
The participants prayed, “We pray for the Spirit of revelation to drive and help each candidate to perform well in the examinations. We also pray for our brothers’ and sisters' children who are taking the college entrance examinations, that the Lord would show great favor in training qualified personnel for the nation among those candidates, and for the Christian Church in China.”
The second item was intercession for the hearts of students taking the entrance exams: “We pray that God would lead, help, accompany and enlighten the children's minds to know and rely on Him in their studies and practices. We pray that God would guide them to look to Him for His mercy and blessings. Let the children understand that any choice they make is part of God's good will and plan, and may the children not be afraid, for the Lord in whom we believe is with us, and He is our God, Emmanuel, and will be with us.
“Finally, we pray for the weather and for the students’ mindset.”
More than twenty believers were moved to pray individually, and the two-day fasting and prayer meeting ended on June 8 after the believers said the Lord's Prayer together.
(The author is a Christian in Shaanxi.)
- Translated by Wylie Sun