WITHOUT ADVANCE WARNING!

Walking to the podium, I was mentally reviewing my brief remarks. Without advance warning, the Holy Spirit quickened a rather startling insight to me about something that had happened nearly forty years ago. It wasn’t a bad insight; in fact, it was rather thrilling because it answered a question that had been lingering in my mind all these years. However, I had my remarks already prepared and I had worked hard on them. As I approached the dais, I wanted to stop, look up to heaven and shout, “Why did You wait until now? How am I supposed to fit this insight into my remarks? Couldn’t You give me at least five minutes’ advance warning?” It really is amazing how dumb I can be at times, as if the Holy Spirit doesn’t know what He is doing.

I’ll come back to the story in a moment but first let me tell you where this happened.

Carol and I were in Colorado Springs attending a gala celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Dick Eastman’s presidency of Every Home for Christ. I was one of the speakers at the dinner that honored Dick and his wife Dee for their wonderful leadership of the ministry.

I joined the staff of Every Home for Christ (known in the early days as World Literature Crusade) in 1974 to become the Executive Vice President. Dick Eastman joined the ministry in 1976 to broaden and develop the prayer ministry of EHC.

Prior to Dick’s coming we had a prayer ministry, as it was the understanding of the founder, Dr. Jack McAlister, that the ministry would never be able to achieve its goal of taking the gospel to every home in the world without prayer. We talked a lot about changes in the ministry that would allow us to better achieve our goals, but with all the talk, not a lot of changing was going on. But after Dick came and a much stronger prayer ministry began to develop, changes began to happen!

The changes did not happen suddenly, however, nor did they happen the way we thought they would. It was as though heaven said, “We have heard your prayers about winning the lost and they will be answered in the affirmative. But first, before those answers come, some changes must be made in other parts of the ministry or you will not be capable of handling what We have to give.”

Lo and behold, God went to work on the headquarters team and brought to the surface things that had to change. We tend to talk about change as though it’s no different from going into the closet and taking off one set of clothes and putting on something else, something different.

Most people do not understand that change is often painful. When God begins to speak to us about changing things that we have clung to for years, it can be uncomfortable when we say we will obey. When God begins to change things in an organization that has essentially been the same for thirty years, it often involves people who have become very set and settled in their ways. They don’t always respond to change with grace—and so it was at EHC in the late ’70s as God began to prepare the ministry for the future.

I was very intimidated as I walked to the podium to share my brief thoughts. Part of the intimidation came from those who had already spoken. The Master of Ceremonies was Paul Cedar (former pastor of Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, CA, and the former head of the Evangelical Free denomination). The first speaker was Dr. James Dobson; the second was David Green (owner of the Hobby Lobby chain of stores). Also speaking was Cindy Jacobs (head of Generals of Intercession ministry) and there were brief video messages from Joni Eareckson Tada, Pat Boone, Dr. Jack Hayford and others. I kept saying to myself, “I must be here for comic relief.”

In the few seconds it took me to arrive at the podium, feeling very unsure of myself, the heaven-sent thought crystallized in my mind: “The prayer ministry brought about the changes in the leadership that were necessary for the possession of what God had for the future, and EHC would not be where it is now without those changes. Today EHC is taking the gospel to hundreds of millions in China, India, Asia, Africa, Europe and into many of the closed nations of the world because the prayer ministry was developed, broadened and deepened.”

Somehow the Lord enabled me to say what He wanted me to and not make a complete fool of myself.

To sum up this whole train of thought, let me put it this way: If you want to see breakthrough in your life then get serious about prayer. Talk to God and be persistent about it (see Matthew 7:7-8). But do not tell God how to answer! You may ask for one thing and He will start working on something else. Don’t get mad . . . cooperate with Him! He knows what is best because He is God and you are not!

“The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (James 5:16, Amplified Bible).

“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are sure to miss the future.” (President John F. Kennedy)