When Korea's former president Lee Myung Bak was serving his term, he presented himself as an able and strong "bulldozer." For instance, his colleagues were amazed at how he could sleep for only four hours at night and still wake up on time for meetings the next morning.
Lee wrote in his book titled "Mother", "The reason my body automatically wakes up at 5AM is because our family used to have morning prayer time together when I was a kid. Morning prayer time became a family kept rule put in place by my mom, a devout Christian.
"The sound of prayer felt like a lullaby to me, especially when I felt sleepy. However, each time I heard my name mentioned in a prayer, I become alert and enjoyed the feeling of being prayed for.
"I often think about how powerful it is to have my mom's prayer over me for the past 20 years, 365 times in an year, 3650 times in 10 years, over 7000 times in 20 years, all during the same time of the day.
"Now, occasionally, alone in the quiet with my eyes open, I feel like I can still hear my mother's prayers ringing in my ears. Rubbing my sleepy eyes, listening to prayers becomes my other school, as well as proof of my mom's love."
Lee Myung Bak was born in a devout Christian family and served as an elder at Korea Hope Church. His humble, passionate service won the hearts of brothers and sisters. Lee Myung Bak was also the mayor of Seoul, during which time, he had publicly declared to allow God to reign over the city of Seoul.
As the president, Lee Myung Bak and his wife, Kim Yoon-Ok attended the 2011 National Prayer meeting and at the request of the moderator, knelt down with other attendees to pray.
[Editor's note: Jane Hsu translated the article.]
