Thursday, December 06, 2007

HEARTS ON FIRE


The apostle Paul, Luther, Wesley, Whitefield, Knox, Edwards, Finney, Spurgeon, Moody--each shared a common denominator: a fire in their belly. They each were so eaten up with the gospel and thirsty for Christ and filled with the Holy Ghost, they could not stand idly by while others perished. They saw nothing but eternity, worshipped a holy God, and served a risen Christ; living not for earth nor its gains but living only for heaven and its rewards. When they preached, they linked the devil with sin and the cross with salvation. They preached hell and its fire and Christ and Him crucified. Not one of them feared King, Queen, or Pope; and not one of them sought the compliments of men."

--E.A. Johnston, Realities of Revival (Taken from Uplook Magazine, October 2007)


WHAT IS ONE SECRET TO THEIR HEARTS ON FIRE?

Paul, Luther, Wesley--what would these choses ones of God be without the distingushing and controlling element of prayer? They were leaders for God because they were mighty in prayer. They were not leaders because of brilliancy in thought, nor because of their exhaustless resources, their magnificent culture, or their natural endowment; but they were leaders because, by the power of prayer, they could command the power of God. Praying men means much more than "men who pray by habit." It means "men with whom prayer is a mighty force," an energy that moves heaven and pours untold treasures of good on earth.

The great need of the church in this and all ages is for men of such commanding faith, of such unsullied holiness, of such marked spiritual vigor and consuming zeal, that they will work spiritual revolutions through their mighty praying. As someone has said,

Natural ability and educational advantages do not figure as factors in this matter; but a capacity for faith, the ability to pray, the power of a thorough consecration, the ability of self-littleness, an absolute losing of oneself in God's glory, and an ever present and insatiable yearning and seeking after all the fullness of God. Our need is for men who can set the church ablaze for God, not in a noisy, showy way, but with an intense and quiet heat that melts and moves everything for God.


--E.M. Bounds, E.M. Bounds on Prayer, Praying Men and Personal Purity