Several years ago I went to Ethiopia where I preached a major evangelistic meeting in a city located near Sudan. The reason I went to Ethiopia is because of what happened there the previous year. God moved in an extraordinary manner. I was overwhelmed with what I saw and experienced.

Ethiopia had been under communist domination for 19 years. When freedom of worship finally came to believers in the country, Evangelical Christians found themselves divided. Consequently, there had been no major evangelistic meeting in Addis Ababa for over 26 years. A pastor from Rwanda, Joseph, went to Ethiopia to tell them about our ministry. He was armed with many experiences of answered prayers. He had seen God open doors in difficult countries such as Rwanda and Burundi. He knew that nothing was too difficult for God.

After talking with the leaders about my coming to Ethiopia for an evangelistic meeting, the pastors and leaders prayed and agreed that it was God's will to conduct an evangelistic crusade. Therefore, I went to the country and saw an incredible move of God's Spirit. Believers were hungry for a great outpouring of God's Spirit. They prayed. And they watched the mighty hand of God move. More than 300,000 people attended the meetings in four days, and thousands gave their hearts to Christ.

There was something that took place in those meetings that confirmed why God had worked in such a marvelous manner. I was on the platform on the soccer field, but I noticed that behind me in the stadium was an area where 200 men were sitting. After 45 minutes, these men left and another 200 men came and replaced them. Then, 45 minutes later, those men left and even another 200 came and replaced them. This happened four times during each evening.

At the close of the worship service, I asked one of the pastors about the 200 men changing every 45 minutes. He told me, "Those are the praying men. There's an area under the stadium that will hold 200 people. There were 200 men praying in that area and every 45 minutes a new group would come and replace them." I was overwhelmed at what I heard. That meant that 800 men were praying every time I went to that stadium to preach the gospel. There's no wonder why God moved in such a mighty manner.

Evangelism is on the heart of God. The Bible clearly tells us that God's loves a lost and dying world. The world is on the heart of God, and the world ought to be on the hearts of God's people. When it is, then we'll begin to weep for those who've never come to know the Savior. Prayer is the secret to evangelistic outreach. Prayer is intimacy with God and when we're intimate with Him, we'll seek His kingdom to come in the hearts and lives of the peoples of the world.

Humble, holy, praying men and women have always been God's method of evangelism. He's still looking for such people because prayer prepares the heart of an unbelieving generation. Jesus said, "no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him" (John 6:65 NIV). We don't reach people with the message of Christ because we're super salesmen or great orators. We get through to people because the Father has done a deep work in their hearts. It's because the Holy Spirit has drawn them to the Savior. Prayer releases the Holy Spirit to tear down spiritual walls that have been built in the hearts of a lost and dying world.

No, God's method hasn't changed. He's still looking for a humble, holy praying man or woman. When He finds such a person, watch out! All the resources of heaven will be released, and the spiritually blind will see and broken hearts will be mended.