Introduction

A Fire That Must Not Die Prayer is the heartbeat of the Church. Wherever God has moved powerfully in history — wherever the Gospel has broken open hard ground, wherever revivals have swept nations, wherever the darkness has retreated before the light of Christ — there has always been a company of men and women who refused to stop praying. They prayed in the dawn hours before their families woke. They prayed through the night when armies threatened and nations hung in the balance. They prayed for the lost, for the sick, for the broken, for the church, and for the glory of God. And God answered.

This book is about fifteen such men. They span four centuries, five continents, and many different Christian traditions. Some were scholars; others had little formal education. Some pastored great congregations in famous cities; others ministered in obscurity to small flocks in remote places. Some are well known to the global church; others are known mainly by those who search deeply for great examples of prayer. But they all share one thing in common: they were men who prayed, and because they prayed, the world was changed.

Why This Book is for Ugandan Pastors Uganda is a nation with a remarkable Christian heritage. The Uganda Martyrs — those young men who died for Christ in 1886 rather than deny their Lord — sealed the Church of Uganda with the blood of the saints. The East African Revival of the 1930s and 1940s transformed thousands of lives across Uganda and neighbouring nations, and its fruit is still visible today.

Uganda has been described by many as one of the most prayerful nations on earth.

Yet every generation must discover prayer for itself. It is not enough to inherit the prayers of our fathers. Each pastor, each elder, each teacher, each church leader must come before God in their own name, with their own burdens, and learn to pray with their own voice. The fire on the altar must be kept burning. It must be fed with fresh wood every morning.

This book is written for Ugandan pastors and teachers because the responsibility of a pastor is unique. You carry the burden of your congregation on your shoulders. You preach on Sundays, counsel the grieving, visit the sick, train young believers, and lead your church in worship. You face opposition, discouragement, poverty, and sometimes betrayal. You need the power of prayer more than any other person in your community. If you do not pray, your words become hollow, your counsel becomes mere advice, and your ministry becomes mere activity. But if you pray — if you learn to meet God in the secret place every day — then everything you do will carry the weight of heaven.

About These Fifteen Men The fifteen men in this book were chosen because they represent the full breadth of what prayer looks like in a devoted life. They include: • Andrew Murray — the South African Dutch Reformed pastor who wrote more than 200 books on the deeper life and prayer • Charles Spurgeon — the Prince of Preachers, whose Metropolitan Tabernacle was built and sustained through prayer • Watchman Nee — the Chinese church planter who spent the last twenty years of his life in a Communist prison for his faith • D. L. Moody — the uneducated shoe salesman who became the greatest evangelist of the nineteenth century • A. R. Torrey — Moody's successor, whose book How to Pray remains one of the most practical guides to prayer ever written • E. M. Bounds — who prayed from four to seven in the morning every day, and whose eight books on prayer were all published after his death • Jonathan Edwards — the Puritan theologian whose preaching and prayers helped ignite the First Great Awakening in America • Charles Finney — the revivalist lawyer whose prayer-soaked ministry saw over half a million people come to Christ • Rees Howells — the Welsh intercessor whose prayer group is credited with turning the tide of World War II through intercession • Billy Graham — who preached the Gospel to more people face to face than anyone in history • Henry Blackaby — whose Experiencing God has taught millions to hear and obey the voice of God in prayer • Bill Bright — who founded Campus Crusade for Christ and whose Jesus film has been seen by over five billion people • Loren Cunningham — founder of Youth With A Mission, who received his entire vision for world evangelism through prayer • Derek Prince — the Cambridge scholar who was converted reading a Bible alone in a military barracks and spent sixty years teaching on prayer and spiritual warfare • Timothy Keller — the pastor who planted Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and helped the global church understand prayer as awe, intimacy, and encounter with the living God How This Book is Organised Each chapter covers one man. You will find: 1. A short biography — who he was, where he came from, and what he accomplished 2. A great answer to prayer from his life — a specific story showing that God truly hears and answers 3. Key scriptures — two or three Bible passages most connected to his life and teaching on prayer 4. His words on prayer — five powerful quotes showing how he understood and practised prayer 5. Prayer and the Word of God — how he connected prayer with Scripture 6. Prayer and the Holy Spirit — how he understood the Spirit's role in prayer A Word Before You Begin This book is designed to be used, not simply read. Each chapter can serve as the basis for a personal study day, a prayer meeting, a sermon, a pastors' retreat, or a discipleship conversation.

The quotes are suitable for preaching. The biographies and answered prayers are suitable for teaching. The scriptures anchor everything in the Word of God.

Do not rush through this book. Sit with each man for a while. Let his life challenge you. Let his words stir your hunger. Let his answered prayer build your faith. And then go and pray.

As Andrew Murray wrote: “The man who mobilises the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelisation in history.” Uganda needs men and women like that. Perhaps you are one of them.

Read. Be stirred. Pray. Change the world.