Saturday, May 21, 2005

Prayer And Spiritual Life II

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (Matthew 5,8)

Image hosted by Photobucket.comOf all the people that I have had the pleasure to meet, I believe noone has made such an impression on me like dr. Wilbur Chapman. Once he wrote to a friend: "I have learned a good lesson concerning prayer. During one of our series of meetings in England the audience was very small. But then I received some lines that told that an American missionary had gone in to pray down the blessings of God over our work.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comHe was known as 'Praying Hyde' . Soon after this everything was changed. The auditorium was filled up, and fifty souls received Christ as Saviour in the first altarcall. When we were to leave that night, I told Hyde that I wanted him to pray for me. He came to my room, turned the key in the door, fell down on his knees and laid still for five minutes without his lips even uttering a single word. I could hear the heartbeats. I felt warm tears flow down my face. I understood that I was in the presence of God.

Then I saw Hyde turning his face upwards with the tears flowing from his eyes, his lips whispering: 'O Gud!' Then he was silent for at least another five minutes. Then, with a certain conviction that he was talking with God, he opened his heart in intercessory prayer for me in a way that I'd never heard a human being pray for another human being before. I had been on my knees before God and learned from a human being what prayer really is. Now I believe in the power of prayer like never before."

Dr. Chapman has also said this: "It was those moments on my knees together with John Hyde that made me conscious of what real prayer is. I owe him, more than anyone else, that I know something about prayerlife, about a life consecrated to God.

...I saw Jesus Christ again. I caught a glimpse of his prayerlife. I received a new longing, that I've still got to this very day: that I really had to become a man of prayer. God, the Holy Spirit can teach us."

Teach me to pray, Lord, teach me to pray;
This is my heart-cry, day unto day.
I long to know Thy will and Thy way;
Teach me to pray, Lord, teach me to pray.

(from page 64 and 65 in the book "A Kneeling Christian" by an unknown christian)

2 Comments:

Blogger Calyn said...

Hey, I was just reading your blog and it was so encouraging to read what you've wrote. Hope you're having a wonderful day! God bless.

6:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The prayers change everything... amen

3:16 AM  

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