Following God’s Call: A Journey Shaped by Prayer
Prayer has always been woven into the fabric of my life. Growing up as a pastor’s kid, it wasn’t just something we did before meals or church services—it was how we lived. As I followed Jesus, I longed to grow deeper in my faith, especially through prayer. It was during one of those quiet, prayerful moments that I first asked God a life-changing question: “Am I really called to pastoral ministry?”
That question wasn’t light, and I knew I needed more than just feelings—I needed God’s clear call. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “It would have been a fearful thing for me to have occupied the watchman’s place without having received the watchman’s commission.” Through earnest prayer and fasting, God made His answer unmistakably clear.
After graduating from Gateway Seminary in 2006, I stepped into ministry as the Lead Planter and Pastor of HSBC Bellflower. Those early years were a season of deep growth—both in theology and in my walk with God. I served faithfully in California for almost a decade, and God did more than I ever imagined.
Then, in 2015, something unexpected happened. At a prayer breakfast with fellow pastors, a friend mentioned a church in the Northeast that needed a pastor. I brushed it off at first—“I don’t know anyone there,” I told him. But he had already shared my name. I remember telling him, “Let me pray about it,” and I meant it. That conversation stirred something in me.
As I shared it with my dad and family, we all prayed together. And slowly, through more prayer and fasting, I sensed it—this was one of those “God moments.” He was calling me to something new. In time, I found myself in Boston, ministering in a city far from home. It was challenging—being away from family, navigating unfamiliar territory—but God met me there. My prayer life grew even more. In those quiet, sometimes anxious moments, God became my constant strength.
Over nearly ten years in New England, God opened so many doors—new ministries, leadership roles, opportunities to serve across the region, and I became a member of the Board of Directors in the Baptist Convention (Baptist Churches of New England). But in 2022, everything shifted again.
My father’s health began to decline. He was diagnosed with diabetes and lost his vision. One Sunday, he nearly collapsed while preaching. That moment changed everything. The church in California—our home church, Hillside Southern Baptist Church, began asking if I might return. Then, in December 2023, my dad sat down with me and shared his heart after a whole year of prayer. The church needed me back, and they were expecting me to return by May 2024.
It wasn’t an easy decision. I wrestled with the thought: Would this mean leaving behind everything God had built in New England? I felt torn. But then God led me to Psalm 32:8—“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you shall go; I will guide you with My eye.” And so, as I prepare to return to California, I do so with gratitude—and ready for the new season ahead.
During those moments, I realized something deeper. Though I had always had an active personal prayer life, I realized that there’s something missing— I was really not fostering a culture of prayer. I had drifted from cultivating a culture of communal, Spirit-led, Scripture-fed, Worship-based prayer. Don’t get me wrong, I pray every day. It is expected of a pastor to pray. But I had to admit, I wasn’t praying the kind of prayer that I was called to grow in—God was calling me—not just to a place—but to a posture of deeper dependence on Him.
Next week: How the Ascent Prayer Summit became the spark for that posture of prayer—and why it’s the beginning of something greater.
