There scarcely was a single person in the town, old or young, left
unconcerned about the great things of the eternal world…and the work of
conversion was carried out in a most astonishing manner and increased
more and more; souls did as it were come by flocks to Jesus Christ.
…This work of God as it was carried on, and the number of saints
multiplied, soon made a glorious alteration in the town, so that in
1735 the town seemed full of the presence of God: it never was so full
of love, nor joy, and yet so full of distress as it was then. There
were remarkable tokens of God's presence in almost every house…God's
day was a delight. The congregation was alive in God's service, in
tears while the Word was preached; some weeping for sorrow and
distress, others for joy and love, others with pity and concern for the
souls of their neighbors. --Jonathan Edwards
"Return to Me," declares the Lord Almighty, "and I will return to you." --Zechariah 1:3 (NIV*)
This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, 'Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty.'"
--Zechariah 8:20-21 (NIV)
When the bottom falls out, there's only one way to look. That is exactly the moment God comes with power to His people. The inescapable fact is that we need God. Every great work that has been accomplished in and through my life has been preceded by prayer.
Little did I know that as Fred Bishop, Fred Starkweather and I were preparing to go to the Communist Youth World Festival, there were two men in East Germany praying. In the mountain village where they lived, they set aside a week to pray and fast.
The youth of East Germany had been turning en masse to atheistic teaching. The churches were left empty. The year prior to the Communist Youth World Festival, the elderly Pastor Bush had taken me one Sunday morning to a beautiful cathedral in East Berlin. But it was practically empty. Only a handful of people were there, and most of them were older than sixty. There were no young people.
The two laymen mentioned above saw the same thing happening all across their nation. After a week of intensive prayer, they began a youth meeting.
About 60 young people came to the meeting. The next meeting had 100 in attendance. It continued to grow until there were 1,000 in attendance. Young people came from throughout East Germany.
They decided to have meetings in five major cities. The meetings grew rapidly. After the Communist Youth World Festival, I attended the gatherings in three of the cities. In one location, 1,500 young people filled a large cathedral. I'd been told to be prepared to preach on the cross of Christ.
As I sat in this huge cathedral what hundreds of East German youth, my heart was thrilled. They began to sing with the joy of the Lord. The leader asked how many people were from that city. Almost all raised their hands. Then they asked how many people were from other cities in East Germany. A few raised their hands. The third question came, "Is there anyone here from outside the German Democratic Republic?"
Only two of us raised our hands. The other young man was from Hungary. Some people had met him on the street and witnessed to him. They invited him to come with them to the services, and I was serving as an interpreter for him because he spoke no German but on Hungarian and English.
The leaders had prepared me beforehand for the last question, "Is there anyone here from outside Europe?" My hand was the only hand raised.
The speaker at the pulpit asked, "And from where do you come?"
When I responded, "San Antonio, Texas," a roar of applause broke out.
When the applause calmed down, the speaker said, "You have come from such a long way. You must come and bring us greetings."
As I made my way to the platform, the crowd began to applaud. The greeting I brought them lasted close to an hour. After the service, young people swarmed about me. For well over an hour, they asked questions about my relationship to Jesus. They hungered to learn more.
In another city, the young people prayed for an hour before the services began. They then took their guitars and marched through the streets singing and inviting young people to worship with them. It was unbelievable.
I gave my testimony in yet another city where 5,000 young people meet regularly to worship Jesus. The cathedral holds only 2,500 people; therefore, they must have two worship services. I had never seen young people so spiritually hungry. Seeds of a great awakening are in East Germany. Those seeds were planted in the hearts of the youth of that nation solely through prayer.
|
