Conclusion: The Invitation Still Stands

You have walked through ten lives. Ten men who, in their varied ways, discovered the same irreplaceable secret: that the God of the universe is not a deity who tolerates the interruptions of human petition with polite indifference, but a Father who leans forward from His throne when His children pray, who moves heaven and earth to answer faith-filled intercession, and who delights to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

These men were not superhuman. E. M. Bounds was a Methodist minister in rural Georgia.

George Müller was a young Prussian who had wasted his early years in dishonesty and drink.

David Brainerd was a sick young man who died before he turned thirty. Rees Howells was a Welsh coal miner’s son. Hudson Taylor was an ordinary Yorkshire boy with a map of China on his father’s wall. What made them extraordinary was not the raw material of their characters but the God to whom they gave access through sustained, earnest, faith-filled prayer.

The invitation that drew them is still open to you. The throne of grace described in the letter to the Hebrews has not been moved. The same Spirit who intercedes through us with groanings too deep for words still lives in every believer. The same promises that Müller printed and prayed, that Taylor trusted and acted upon, that Luther thundered from the pulpit — they still stand in your Bible today. The question is not whether God is willing to answer prayer. The question is whether you will pray.

Here is what the prayer warriors of history would say to you: Begin. Begin today, begin imperfectly, begin in weakness and confusion and with a wandering mind if necessary — but begin. Set an alarm earlier than feels comfortable. Find a place where you can be alone and unhurried. Open your Bible and let its promises become the fuel of your intercession. Bring your burdens to God without apology and without the performance of false composure. Bring the names of people you love and people you struggle to love. Bring the needs of your city, your nation, and the unreached peoples of the world who have never once heard the name of Jesus.

And when the answers do not come immediately — as they often will not — remember Brainerd in the New Jersey wilderness, remember Müller before the empty cupboard at five in the morning, remember Hyde on his face through another Punjab night.

Remember that the God who delays is not the God who denies. He is working in the hiddenness of time what will one day be revealed in the fullness of eternity. Your prayers are not lost. Not one of them. They are gathered before the throne, and at the right moment, they will be answered in ways that exceed everything you dared to ask.

Be a prayer warrior. The world needs you on your knees more urgently than it needs you on your feet. Heaven is waiting. The throne is open. The Father is listening.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

— James 5:16 (NIV)