“He Has Given Me No Message”

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.” — from Zechariah 4

In 1904 John and a few friends began to long for God to wake up the churches of the Punjab. They made a promise together. Every day, soon after noon, they would pray for half an hour, and they would keep on praying “till the awakening comes.” They called themselves the Punjab Prayer Union.

That same year, Christians began to gather for a big meeting each year at a town called Sialkot. They came to study the Bible, to pray, and to ask God to make them more like Jesus. John went every year.

In 1905 nearly three hundred people came, and John was asked to give the morning talks about the Holy Spirit. He asked the pastors a hard question: “Is the Holy Spirit first?” When you preach, he asked, do you put God’s Spirit in front, and keep yourselves behind him?

The next morning everyone waited for the next talk. The speaker came in and said quietly, “I thank God, He has given me no message for you to-day.” People were surprised! Then the leader of the meeting stepped aside and said, “The Holy Ghost is leader of this meeting.” The mission’s report does not give the speaker’s name, but John’s friends were sure it was John. He had taught people to put God first, and now he did it himself.

What happened next was wonderful. People began to tell God they were sorry for wrong things they had done. Then great joy came, and they sang psalms of praise again and again. A room was set aside for prayer, and after the first day or two it was never empty, day or night.

It is good to work hard and get ready. But the most important thing is to let God lead. You can ask him every day, “What do you want me to do?”

Dear God, please be first in my life. Help me to listen to you and to follow where you lead. Amen.