The Father Who Sold His Horses

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” — from Acts 16

When Charlie was a schoolboy, a famous American preacher named D. L. Moody came to London. Thousands of people went to hear him. A friend talked Charlie’s father into going to one of the meetings. He did not expect much, but he came home a changed man. He had given his life to Jesus. It was probably in 1875, though people remember different years.

Everything changed at Tedworth. Edward Studd sold his racehorses, keeping just one each for his older sons to ride. He cleared out the great hall, filled it with chairs, and invited preachers to come and tell the neighbours about Jesus.

Charlie and his brothers were embarrassed! When they came home from school, their father kept asking whether they were saved. The boys tried hard never to be alone with him. But Edward did not give up. He kept praying for his sons. In 1877, after only two or three years as a Christian, he died.

The next summer, in 1878, a Christian friend of their father’s came to stay. Nobody is sure what his name was. He found Charlie on his own and asked if he was a Christian. Charlie said he believed in Jesus as much as anybody. Then the visitor showed him God’s promise that whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life. If Charlie believed it, he should thank God for it.

Charlie saw that if God had promised it, it must be true. He knelt down and thanked God, and joy and peace came into his heart. The family remembered that Kynaston and George decided to follow Jesus that same day, each one without telling the others!

Edward did not live to see it, but God answered his prayers. When you pray for your family, God hears you, even if you have to wait a long time for the answer.

Dear God, thank you for the people who pray for me. Help me to pray for my family and friends, and to trust you to answer. Amen.