Leader’s guide · 13 weeks
Leader’s guide: Praying Hyde (For Teens)
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This guide takes your group through Praying Hyde (For Teens) in thirteen weeks, one chapter a week. It’s written for teens aged about 13 to 18 and works well for a youth group, a homeschool or a small group. It tells the story of John Hyde, a shy, increasingly deaf American missionary in the Punjab who became known as “the man who never sleeps” because of his praying, and it is careful to separate what the records show from the legends that grew up around him.
Each session takes about 30 to 40 minutes. Open by saying the memory verse together (3 minutes). Read the chapter, either aloud together or at home beforehand (5–10 minutes). Talk through the chapter’s three questions, which come with answers to help you (10–15 minutes). Do the activity (10 minutes). Then close in prayer (2–3 minutes), in your own words or by turning the chapter’s closing “One thing to do this week” into a prayer together, and leave that challenge with the group for the week ahead.
To prepare, read the chapter yourself first and look over the activity; most weeks need only paper and pens, or nothing at all. The book is about prayer, but it also deals with pride, besetting sin, a young man’s struggle with drink, the cruelty of caste, and Hyde’s neglect of his own sleep and food, which harmed his health before he died of a tumour. Keep all reflection on personal sin private, as the activities do, and never ask teens to confess anything in front of the group. Chapter 12 says plainly that rest, food and sleep are God’s gifts, so watch for anyone who seems to be punishing their body or caught in an addiction, follow up gently, and point them to a parent, pastor, doctor or other trusted adult.
Week 1 — Thrust Out Laborers
John Hyde grows up in a minister’s home where his father prays again and again that the Lord will “thrust out laborers” into his harvest. After his older brother Edmund dies, John carries the question of going abroad for most of a year, settles it on his knees, and sails for the Punjab in 1892, later admitting that “self” was at the foundation of his ambition. The big idea: God doesn’t wait for our motives to be pure before he sends us; he purifies them on the way.
“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest.” — Matthew 9:38 (ASV)
Memory verse
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Matthew 9:37–38
Talk together
What prayer did John Hyde's father pray again and again?
Jesus' prayer that the Lord of the harvest would send out labourers into his harvest. He prayed it with his own children listening, and was glad to give his sons to hard work for God.
How did John finally settle whether to become a missionary?
A classmate refused to give him more arguments and told him to kneel in his room until the question was settled. The next morning John said, “It is settled.”
What did John later admit about his motives as a young man?
That he wanted to shine as a great missionary and was proud of his degree. He loved the Lord, but “self” was at the foundation of his ambition.
Activity
Settle It on Your Knees
You will need: Paper and pens
- Ask the group how people usually make big decisions: asking friends, lists of pros and cons, searching online, praying.
- Reread the part where Hyde’s classmate refuses to give him more arguments and sends him to pray, and discuss why.
- Have each person write down privately one question about their future they keep going round in circles about.
- Give everyone three minutes of silence, phones away, to bring that question to God.
- Talk about the chapter’s point that mixed motives are normal, and that God can purify them on the way.
Week 2 — The Crumpled Letter
Boarding his ship, Hyde finds a letter from a friend of his father promising to pray until he is filled with the Holy Spirit, and in his pride he crushes it and throws it aside. After days of struggle he smooths it out, asks God to fill him, sees his selfish ambition, and becomes willing to be a missionary working quietly out of sight. The big idea: some hard words come from people who love us, and the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” — Luke 11:13 (ASV)
Memory verse
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
Luke 11:13
Talk together
What did the letter on the ship say?
Its writer, a friend of Hyde's father, promised that he would not stop praying for John until he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
How did Hyde first react, and what changed his mind?
He crumpled the letter in anger and threw it away. Deep down he knew the writer was right, so he went back on his knees, found it, and read it again until he asked God to fill him.
What was Hyde willing to give up by the end of the voyage?
Even passing his language exams and being noticed. He would be a missionary working quietly out of sight, as long as he had the Holy Spirit.
Activity
Bin It or Smooth It?
You will need: Nothing
- Read out several sample criticisms, some fair and caring and some careless or unkind, such as “You never listen when people disagree with you” or “You’ll never be any good at this.”
- For each one, have the group decide whether it belongs in the bin or should be smoothed out and taken seriously, and why.
- Discuss how you can tell when a hard word is one of the “wounds of a friend.”
- Have each person think privately of one criticism they brushed off recently and ask themselves whether any part of it is true.
Week 3 — A Question in the Street
In his first days in the Punjab, Hyde hears a man ask a preacher whether he himself has been saved from sin, and knows he would have to say no because of one sin that still clings to him. He tells God that either God must give him victory or he will go home, and God assures him he is able and willing to deliver him; years later Hyde is still telling others about his conflicts with sin and God’s help. The big idea: God can break sin’s rule over us, and that freedom is the start of a road, best walked with help.
“Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” — Hebrews 12:1 (ASV)
Memory verse
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:1
Talk together
What question did the man in the crowd ask?
Whether the missionary preaching about Christ as the Saviour from sin had himself been saved from sin in that way.
Why did the question shake Hyde so much?
Because he knew there was a sin in his life that had not been taken away, and he could not honestly preach a Saviour who had not delivered him.
Was Hyde's victory that day the end of his struggle with sin?
No. It was a real beginning. Twelve years later he was still speaking about his desperate conflicts with sin and how God had given him victory.
Activity
Lay It Aside
You will need: A heavy bag or backpack
- Ask a volunteer to walk across the room carrying a heavy bag, then walk back without it, and ask what changed.
- Read Hebrews 12:1 and talk about the difference between a “weight” and “sin which clings so closely.”
- Discuss why Hyde refused to go on preaching until he could testify to the gospel’s power in his own life.
- Give everyone a quiet minute to name their own besetting sin to God silently, keeping it between them and God.
- Encourage them to tell one trusted, mature Christian this week and ask for prayer.
Week 4 — Slow of Speech
Hyde’s first ten years in India are faithful but not especially fruitful: he is shy, increasingly deaf and slow to answer, and the mission committee rebukes him for putting Bible study before language study. Colleagues disapprove of how much he prays, yet he holds no bitterness, saying, “they did not understand me, that was all, they never intended to be unkind.” The big idea: God doesn’t always remove our weaknesses but works through them, and slow, faithful years can be the soil for what comes next.
“And Jehovah said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak.” — Exodus 4:11-12 (ASV)
Memory verse
Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.
Exodus 4:11–12
Talk together
How did Hyde's colleague describe his first ten years in India?
As “steady, patient, but not especially fruitful service.”
Why was Hyde reprimanded by his mission committee, and what did he answer?
He neglected language study for Bible study. He answered, “First things first,” because he had come to teach the Bible and needed to know it.
How did Hyde respond to colleagues who disapproved of him?
Without bitterness. He said they did not understand him and never intended to be unkind.
Activity
Assume the Best
You will need: Nothing
- Read out a few everyday situations: a friend doesn’t reply to your message, a teacher marks you down, a parent seems short with you.
- For each one, have the group suggest first the worst explanation and then the most generous one.
- Reread Hyde’s words about his colleagues and ask what difference assuming the best made to him.
- Challenge everyone to try his response the next time they feel misunderstood this week.
Week 5 — Love Won Him Victories
In the caste-bound Punjab the gospel spreads through the poorest villages after a lame hide dealer named Ditt is baptized and brings his family to Christ, and the number of Indian Christians there grows from 3,912 in 1881 to 163,994 in 1911. Hyde works the Moga district with Indian evangelists such as Jalal Masih, embraces low-caste Christians in public and lives with village preachers as a brother. The big idea: God chooses the people the world overlooks, and the gospel ignores the lines we draw between people.
“but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;” — 1 Corinthians 1:27 (ASV)
Memory verse
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
1 Corinthians 1:27
Talk together
Who was Ditt, and why does he matter to this story?
A lame hide-dealer from the lowest caste who was baptized around 1873, went home to his village, and brought his family and neighbours to Christ. The great people movement in the Punjab began with him.
What was the first step of Hyde's method for village work?
“Begin the day in prayer and praise with your helpers.”
How did Hyde show love across the caste lines of the Punjab?
He embraced low-caste Christians in public, lived and ate with his Indian evangelists in village houses, and was remembered as living with village preachers as a brother.
Activity
Map the Lines
You will need: Paper and pens
- In small groups, sketch, without using any names, the unwritten “caste system” of a typical school or town: who sits where, who gets noticed, who gets laughed at.
- Discuss what crossing those lines looks like, using Hyde’s public embrace of low-caste Christians as an example.
- Talk about why Ditt went home to his relatives instead of moving into the mission compound, and what that meant for his village.
- Have each person decide privately on one person who often gets left out, and one way to spend time with them this week.
Week 6 — The Man Who Never Sleeps
After staying up all night to prepare a Bible talk, Hyde wonders whether preparing himself matters as much as preparing the message, and begins nights of prayer that others soon join. In 1904 he helps start the Punjab Prayer Union, whose members promise half an hour of prayer each day around noon for an awakening. The big idea: the messenger needs preparing as much as the message, and a small promise kept daily can outlast a big resolution made once.
“And it came to pass in these days, that he went out into the mountain to pray; and he continued all night in prayer to God.” — Luke 6:12 (ASV)
Memory verse
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
Luke 6:12
Talk together
How did Hyde's nights of prayer begin?
After he stayed up all night preparing a Bible talk, he realised he had prepared the message but not himself, and spent the next night in prayer instead.
What did Hyde mean by “the preparation of the Messenger”?
That the person speaking for God needs to be made ready before God just as much as the talk does.
What did the Punjab Prayer Union ask its members to do each day?
To set apart half an hour, as soon after noon as possible, to pray for spiritual awakening, and to keep praying until it came.
Activity
A Promise You Can Keep
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read the Prayer Union’s promise aloud and ask why half an hour, not all night, was the point.
- Discuss why Hyde’s friends warned people not to copy his all-night way of praying.
- Have each person write down a realistic daily prayer time for this week, with a fixed time and a length they can actually keep.
- Pair up and agree to ask each other next week how it went, without judging.
Week 7 — He Has Given Me No Message
At the first Sialkot convention in 1904, after a night arguing with God, Hyde speaks honestly about his own struggles and God’s help, and many others begin to pray. At the 1905 convention he teaches that the Holy Spirit is the true witness to Jesus, and one morning a speaker, almost certainly Hyde, says, “He has given me no message for you to-day,” opening days of conviction, confession and joy. The big idea: in whatever we lead or say, the Holy Spirit should go first, with us behind him.
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: and ye also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” — John 15:26-27 (ASV)
Memory verse
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
John 15:26–27
Talk together
What had Hyde been arguing with God about before the men's meeting in 1904?
Whether he should testify openly about his own struggles with sin. He finally obeyed, and his honesty led many other men to pray and confess.
What question did Hyde ask the pastors in 1905?
Whether the Holy Spirit was first in their pulpits, and whether they consciously put him in front and kept themselves behind him when preaching.
What happened when the appointed speaker had “no message”?
The chairman moved aside and declared that the Holy Ghost was leader of the meeting, and each morning meeting was left in the Spirit's hands.
Activity
Who Goes First?
You will need: Paper and pens
- Ask the group to list things they lead, play or speak at: a class presentation, a team, a worship band, a conversation with a friend about faith.
- For each one, discuss what it looks like to care more about how you come across than about what God is doing.
- Read Hyde’s question to the pastors and ask how it might apply to teenagers.
- Have each person write down one thing coming up that they will lead or take part in, with the prayer “Holy Spirit, go in front; I’ll stay behind you.”
Week 8 — That Is My Work
Hyde brings a tired Pengwern Jones into the prayer room, then sends him off to speak, saying, “Go in and speak, that is your work,” while he goes back to pray for him. At the Sialkot conventions prayer goes on day and night; Hyde prays face down, repeating “Wide, Lord,” and dances for joy when people find peace with God, though he also neglects meals and sleep. The big idea: praying for others is real work, the hidden half of what God is doing.
“I am Jehovah thy God, Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt: Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” — Psalm 81:10 (ASV)
Memory verse
I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Psalm 81:10
Talk together
What did Hyde tell Jones at the door of the hall?
“Go in and speak, that is your work. I shall go back to the Prayer Room to pray for you, that is my work.”
Why did Hyde keep repeating the word “wide”?
He was praying Psalm 81:10, “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it,” asking God to enlarge his people's expectation so they would receive what God was ready to give.
How do we know Hyde did not treat skipping meals as a rule?
When the lunch bell rang he asked, “Father, is it thy will that I go?” and then thanked God and went to lunch.
Activity
Behind the Scenes
You will need: Paper and pens
- As a group, list the hidden jobs behind a church service, a school play or a sports match.
- Discuss why Hyde saw praying and preaching as two halves of one job.
- Have each person write the name of someone facing something hard this week, and a time when they will pray for them.
- Encourage them to tell that person, “That’s your work; praying for you is mine.”
- Point out the chapter’s warning too: even Hyde asked God whether to go to lunch, and went.
Week 9 — What About That One?
In 1908 Hyde is in deep travail for the people of his district, praying, “Father, give me these souls or I die!” The famous soul-a-day claims rest on one memoir written years later, while the records and Hyde’s own letter show daily baptisms on touring days, shared with his Indian team. Once, after a family of nine is baptized, he refuses to leave until a tenth person, a boy who had been out playing, is found. The big idea: love counts people one by one, not as a score.
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?” — Luke 15:4 (ASV)
Memory verse
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
Luke 15:4
Talk together
What does the record actually show about the “soul a day” story?
The exact numbers come from one memoir and no mission report confirms them. The records do show baptisms rising for five years in Hyde's Moga district, 685 in 1910, and Hyde wrote that his team had seen over a thousand in two years.
Why did Hyde refuse to leave the village after nine people were baptized?
He believed God had promised ten that day, and he kept asking, “What about that one?” until the family's adopted nephew was found and baptized.
What kept Hyde's prayer for numbers from becoming a quota?
He cared about each person rather than the total, like the Good Shepherd who goes after the one lost sheep.
Activity
Legend or Record?
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read out the legend version of Hyde’s soul-a-day story, then the words from his own letter quoted in the chapter.
- Ask why the honest version is smaller but still extraordinary, and why the word “us” matters.
- Discuss how numbers can turn into a scoreboard, in church, in sport or on social media.
- Have each person write privately the name of one person near them whom nobody seems to notice, and pray for them by name each day this week.
Week 10 — Show Me What Is Lovely
Praying about a pastor whose faith seems to have gone cold, Hyde starts listing his faults and is stopped short, realising he has become an “accuser of the brethren.” He prays instead, “Father, show me what things are lovely and of good report in my brother’s life,” and spends the whole time thanking God for the man, who soon afterwards receives a great spiritual uplift. The big idea: criticism sees people as problems, but thanksgiving sees them as God’s work in progress.
“for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.” — Zechariah 2:8 (ASV)
Memory verse
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8
Talk together
What happened when Hyde began to tell God how cold the pastor was?
He was stopped mid-sentence by the words, “He that toucheth him, toucheth the apple of mine eye,” and he confessed that he had been an accuser of the brethren.
What new prayer did Hyde pray instead?
“Father, show me what things are lovely and of good report in my brother's life.” He ended up spending the whole time thanking God for the pastor.
How did a bad headache lead to baptisms?
Too ill to preach, Hyde thanked God for it and lay in the shade. The village women came to sympathise, he spoke with them about Christ, and they decided to be baptized.
Activity
Three Lovely Things
You will need: Paper and pens
- Ask the group how people sometimes slip into complaining about others, even while “praying for” them.
- Read Hyde’s new prayer from the chapter aloud.
- Have each person privately choose someone who irritates them and write down three true things about them that are good or worthy of praise.
- Give a minute of silence for everyone to thank God for each of the three things, with no “but.”
Week 11 — Tears at a Train Window
A young Brahman known as J. N. confesses Christ, falls into drink, and is taken in by Hyde again and again, even after stealing and selling his clothes. When J. N. leaves on a train, Hyde pleads with him at the window in tears, and the next day J. N. comes back because he could not forget those tears; yet years later his struggle with drink is still not over. The big idea: love doesn’t always fix people, but it can keep them coming back.
“Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears.” — Acts 20:31 (ASV)
Memory verse
Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.
Acts 20:31
Talk together
Why did J. N. come back from Lahore the next day?
He couldn't sleep all night because he could not forget Hyde's tears as he pleaded with him at the train window.
How did Hyde answer the evangelist who complained about his lost blankets?
“If the prodigal had come back to you, you would have taken a stick to him!” He chose to act like the father in the parable, not the angry elder brother.
Why is it important that J. N.'s story doesn't end neatly?
It is honest. Ten years after Hyde's death J. N. was still struggling with drink. Hyde's love didn't fix him, but it kept him coming back.
Activity
No Lecture
You will need: Paper and pens
- Discuss why J. N. came back after the train left, and why one of Hyde’s evangelists found his patience so frustrating.
- Talk about the difference between a message that lectures and one that simply says “I care.”
- Have each person draft privately a short message, with no lecture in it, to someone who has drifted from God or from them.
- Remind the group that if someone they love is caught by drink, drugs or anything like it, they don’t have to carry it alone and can talk to a trusted adult or a helpline.
Week 12 — A Heart on the Wrong Side
After the 1910 Sialkot convention, worn out by sleepless nights and leading meetings with a fever, Hyde sees a doctor in Calcutta who says his heart has shifted to the right side and orders months of quiet. The chapter is careful: this is a friend’s memory of one doctor’s remark, there are medical explanations, and Hyde later died of a tumour; but years of vigils, missed meals and little sleep almost certainly harmed him. The big idea: rest, food and sleep are gifts from God, and Jesus told his tired disciples to come away and rest.
“And he saith unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” — Mark 6:31 (ASV)
Memory verse
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
Mark 6:31
Talk together
What did the Calcutta doctor say about Hyde's heart?
As a friend remembered it, the doctor said the heart was in an awful condition and had shifted from the left side to the right, and he asked Hyde what he had been doing to himself.
Why does the book refuse to claim that prayer moved Hyde's heart?
Because the story is one friend's later memory of one examination, the doctor didn't know the cause, and a heart on the right side has known medical explanations, including illness like the tumour that later killed him.
What does “its just claims” teach about the body?
That the body's needs for food, sleep and rest are real and right, and that neglecting them is not automatically more spiritual.
Activity
Gifts, Not Weakness
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read Mark 6:31 and ask what it shows about how Jesus treated his tired disciples.
- Discuss the difference between Hyde’s spirit of prayer and the form he practised, as his friends described it.
- Have each person write down privately one way they tend to neglect rest, sleep or their health.
- Ask everyone to choose a time to put their phone away each night this week and write it down.
- Remind the group that anyone who feels they must punish their body to be good enough should tell a safe person.
Week 13 — Victory, Victory, Victory
Seriously ill in Britain, Hyde advises a very deaf old woman to use church to pray for the preacher and the people, and goes to pray for J. Wilbur Chapman’s struggling mission at Shrewsbury, where the tide turns. He dies of a tumour at his sister’s home in Northampton in 1912 after weeks of suffering, saying, “Thank God for pain” and “It’s just victory, victory, victory,” with a Punjabi cry of victory for Jesus as his last words. The big idea: the habits of thanksgiving and prayer we build now are the ones we will have when life gets hard.
“but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 15:57 (ASV)
Memory verse
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
Talk together
What did Hyde tell the deaf woman in Llangollen, and why?
That she ought to praise God for her deafness, because it gave her time in church to pray for the preacher and for each person she could see, as he did.
Why did Hyde go back to Shrewsbury, and what happened?
He said he could not leave a brother minister to bear his burden alone. He prayed for Chapman's struggling mission, the tide turned, and at least fifty people responded.
Where did Hyde die, and what were his last words?
At his sister's home in Northampton, Massachusetts, on 17 February 1912, not at Clifton Springs. His last words were in Punjabi, remembered as “Bol, Yisu Masih, ki jai!” (“Shout the victory of Jesus Christ!”).
Activity
Habits for Hard Days
You will need: Paper and pens
- Ask the group to list habits from Hyde’s life across this book, such as giving thanks, praying for others, refusing grudges and carrying burdens.
- Discuss why the chapter says nobody learns to say “Thank God for pain” on their deathbed.
- Have each person choose one of those habits to practise this week and write it down.
- Have them also write the name of one person carrying something heavy, and set a daily reminder to pray for them.
- Close by saying the memory verse together as a thank-you to God.