King's Business - 1964-08

I sn ’ t it just like the Lord to place us at the right moment, in the right place? Even if it did hap­ pen to be at midnight, high above San Francisco in a jet and after a long banquet! Dr. Ralph Byron, brilliant head of surgery at City of Hope, had been the main speaker and I had been the soloist for a Campus Crusade for Christ banquet and now, tired, yet victorious, we were flying home to Los Angeles. We had been talking about prayer. A quiet little bell was going off somewhere in the middle of me. Prayer, my prayer life, my hus­ band’s and my prayer time. “ Pray­ er,” he was saying, “ is the whole key to my life — the key to my suc­ cess!” “ But let’s be realistic, Doc­ tor,” I was thinking. “ After all, I have a prayer time, I know its value, but I am continually fantastically busy.” Finally, I asked him to tell me all he could about his prayer life. After all, he was far busier than I could ever dream of being. This is what he told me: About nine years ago he read and claimed Ezekiel 22:30. He vowed that day to be the man to fill the gap. Yet each day came and went and he noticed no change, that is, until one special night, when -he heard some vital statistics. The speaker told of a poll that had been taken of 800 ministers. The minis­ ters were asked, “ How many pray one hour a day?” Not a single hand was raised. “ How many pray one half hour a day?” A few hands went up. “ How many pray twenty min­ utes a day?” A few more went up. Dr. Byron was horrified. He thought ministers spent hours each day pray­ ing. “Why I spend at least twenty minutes each day,” he congratulated himself! He was a little premature, because when he actually timed him­ self, a few days later, he found he prayed (slowly and twice) only the grand total of AO seconds! At the conclusion of the poll, the results showed only a few ministers even prayed ten minutes each day. This so stirred his heart that he began from that day to this to spend one hour of prayer each day. He read the life stories of great men of God—Moody, Spurgeon, and oth­ ers, and found they never spent less than one hour in prayer each day. So he made 5:30 to 6:30 A.M. his time to pray. It was at this point that I asked him the sixty-four-dollar question that had risen in my heart. “When, in that busy, hectic schedule of yours, do you pray with your wife?” “ At night, for one hour,” he an­

swered. “ One HOUR?” I thought, “ I f we tried to pray one hour at night it would be good-night in a matter of seconds!” Dr. Byron read my mind and began to tell me of the exciting method of prayer that he and his wife have used. When I reached home, I told Dick, my husband, about the kind of pray­ er life Dr. Byron had suggested, and Dick enthusiastically agreed he would begin. It would work like this. First, we would claim Matthew 18:19. We both knew Matthew 18: 20, but we claimed verse 19 and began realizing what it actually said:* “Where two of you on earth agree in asking anything it will be granted to you by my heavenly fa­ ther” said Jesus. That first night, it was Dick who led a short sentence prayer for his work. Then I prayed a short prayer for his work. Then he prayed for Mr. Smith and I fol­ lowed by praying for Mr. Smith. Each time he would introduce a sub­ ject dear to his heart and then I would follow by praying for it, too. The next night it was my turn to lead and I prayed for Mrs. Jones. Then he prayed for Mrs. Jones and on it went. We had no idea where the time went and the very first night we prayed this way we had not wanted to pray too long, as we were both tired, but we were amazed to find we had spent 45 minutes! The secret is to keep the prayers short and not to ramble off the sub­ ject. Then we began to notice some very subtle changes taking place. We were completely united on some issues on which we had never seen eye-to-eye. I needn’t tell you how vital this is to making your mar­ riage a team effort. Also, I began to notice that when it was Dick’s turn to introduce the subject he would include something that was dear to my heart. It was thrilling to realize that he loved me enough to care to pray for the particular things that I was concerned about. I in turn, began to be burdened over his problems, his concerns and his heartaches and through this new ap­ proach to prayer was able to become a far more understanding wife. I could write a book about the many things God has been doing in our life since we have begun this prayer life together. But why don’t you write your own book? What would happen in your own life if you and your husband, or you and a dear friend spent an exciting hour like this each day? I wonder what the results for Christ would be in your own sphere of influence. I KNOW what it’s done in ours! *Phillip’s translation THE KING'S BUSINESS

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