(By A. J. Tomlinson, White Wing Messenger, February 1, 1941)
The result is soon told. At about the time his case was first named to that praying circle, with no knowledge on his part that they were interested in him, he suddenly dropped the use of intoxicating drinks, and from that hour he has been absolutely free from the alcoholic craving. Within a week the cavils at religious doctrines ceased. Then his prejudice against Christian usages and people gave way. The coat of mail, which he had worn for twenty years, dropped from him; and his heart lay bare to the power of truth and the Holy Spirit. His childhood’s faith returned to him, frighted with the teachings, the songs, and the prayers of a sainted mother. Then followed a period of profound despair. “No other sinner,” said he, “can have sinned so damnably as I have sinned. No hell can be worse than I endure. O, that I could sleep and never wake again!” For ten days or more, this despair continued, prayer being made for him without ceasing. He seemed unable to pray for himself. He begged like a child to be taught how to pray. His locked lips were like a premonition of retributive speechlessness of guilt at the day of judgment. He was gloriously saved.
Think over this incident until you can realize that that wonderful change was all brought about in answer to group intercessory prayer, as well as individual and powerful intercessory prayers. God saves the hardest of sinners in answer to prayers. If some of our sisters who have wicked and unsaved husbands would band yourselves together and pray in a similar manner, no doubt you would be able to save you husbands from a drunkard’s hell, or from the hell of an amoral life. Importunate prayers have prevailed in many instances when everything else failed. I tell you, it just seems to me that more and lasting prayers should be prayed. These long and loud, and even screaming prayers, have been the means of bringing many hell-bound souls to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. I feel like saying, Men pray! Women pray!
I am afraid too many of our people undertake to shift the responsibility of the salvation of the lost upon the sinners themselves. But we are more responsible than many think. It is our duty to give them the message and pray that God will apply the truth to the hearts of the sinners. Then when God seems to be so against the sinners that He does not convict them, we are expected to become intercessors in their behalf. Upon the Christians hang the destiny of sinners to a greater degree than many think. We are responsible for putting on revivals in every community. And upon our prayers depends the revival—whether it will be a revival or just a protracted meeting. Just to say that you have given them a chance to get salvation because you have preached to them does not release you of any further responsibility every time. The Bible shows clearly that we are to pull the sinners out of the fire by our working and striving. We are to strive in prayer in persuading and working hard to get them interested so they will yield to the convicting power of the Holy Ghost.
Our Book does not teach that we should let sinners alone till they send for us and want us to show them how to get saved. It rather teaches us to push ourselves upon them and warn them, and pray for them and give them the salvation message whether they want it or not.
We set up our tents and send out invitations for them to come, and many do come, but the majority do not come. We go on a few days and, too often, our evangelists never go out over the community and take the message to them. If they come to the tent, it is all well and good, but if they do not, too often they take down the tent, go elsewhere and leave the community with a large number who have never been brought under the influence of prayer and preaching because they do not come to the tent.
I am giving out this message for the purpose of creating a greater interest in prayer on the part of our blessed people. I want them to strive in prayer and not stop with our common way of praying. I want them to struggle and earnestly labor in prayer. Of course, I want the seekers to strive to enter in at the strait gate, but I do not want our people to let the sinners alone till they come as seekers. Every sinner should be warned of eternal judgment and become scared for fear he will land in hell before morning. And it is my desire to stir our people in prayer—and not so much the sinners. Do not warn the sinner without much prayer. A warning without prayer will never move a sinner to repentance. Preaching without prayers by the preacher or others will never move sinners to repentance.
It is not enough to preach the gospel, and say you have given them the message and the light and that that shifts the responsibility upon them. That is not the way to look at it. There must be intercessory prayers and prevailing prayers before the responsibility can be shifted from the shoulders of the preacher and workers.
I want this to soak deeply into the heart of every one of our workers and even into the hearts of the members. In fact, it is very necessary that every member be a worker in some way, and always strive for valiant success.
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).