Rich Mullins wrote a song entitled, “We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are”. How many times I have discovered this to be true! I thought I knew a little about prayer until I stood with those brothers in Benin who gathered before the sun rose to lift their prayers to our Lord. When I realized afresh that I was not as strong as I thought I was, I asked them to pray for me and the American Church.
In the year 2000, Samuel Lamb, a pastor in the underground Church in China, was asked how Americans could help. “Tell them to pray for us. Pray for revival; pray for more new converts; pray for more strength to stand firm because persecution is still severe.”
But perhaps those who have gone through the fires of persecution have something to teach us. They may know how to cry out to God. They may know something about intercession. They know what type of faith is needed to endure. And they know to pray for souls. When Moses came down from the mountain after fasting forty days and nights, he found his people in terrible sin. What did he do? For forty more days and nights he fasted. During this time he lay prostrate on the ground and begged God not to destroy His people.(read Deut 9) What brings such disregard for self and such concern for others?
John Hyde was an American missionary to India at the turn of the twentieth century. His constant prayer was, “O God, give me souls or I die!” Was he sincere? The Holy Spirit is the source of such praying. The passion we need comes from Him. It is a passion full of an uncommon love that offers the most precious possession for the souls of men. Anyone who desires such passion is invited to humbly come to the One who knows how strong we really are.
“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” Revelation 3:17-19