Articles, Questions, & Answers

By Alice Smith

I was in my early twenties when Eddie and I went to a denominational convention in Dallas, Texas, and had the opportunity to meet two giants in the faith. They were both keynote speakers: Dr. Leonard Ravenhill, the revivalist who wrote Why Revival Tarries, and Miss Bertha Smith, a straight-shooting Southern Baptist missionary who served alongside Rev. Hudson Taylor during China’s Shantung Revival. Miss Bertha retired in 1958 and died at the age of 100.

One of the nights of the conference, the late Rev. Manley Beasley, our spiritual father, invited us to a prayer meeting held in a hotel room near the convention center. Eddie and I were pleased to accept his invitation. I thought to myself, This will be fun, since I knew some things about prayer and felt qualified to be a part of the group. However, my zeal for God outweighed my knowledge of His ways. Unfortunately, I was about to see the real truth about my prayer life.

The experience is almost as real to me today as it was that warm night in 1973. As Manley, Eddie and I approached the hotel room, I felt what I can only describe as waves of God’s anointing in the hallway. From the room we could hear moans and groans and loud crying from those already gathered in the hotel room. Their wailing was so intense that you would have thought someone was torturing them. My earlier confidence started to change into uneasiness. I was young in the things of God, even though I was hungry for more of Him.

When we opened the door, words cannot fully describe what I saw. The room was stiflingly hot. In the soft glow of two or three table lamps, I saw men and women laid out on the floor, sprawled across the bed, leaning up against the windows and walls, all in agony of soul. Dr. Ravenhill passionately prayed for each of us to surrender our lives to God. He fervently prayed for the Lord to rend the heavens and bring a great awakening to America. His voice thundered with power and conviction. I dropped quickly to my knees, for I didn’t have enough strength to walk any further into the room. The anointing of God was so powerful that my heart raced inside my chest and I found it hard to breathe.

Every prayer of Leonard Ravenhill and Miss Bertha cut like a knife into our hearts. I remember that as one pastor began to pray the words, “Lord, if I have sinned, would you–”. Miss Bertha abruptly interrupted him mid-sentence and said, “Son, what do you mean, ‘if I have sinned?’ You know you’re a sinner–now you get honest with God!” The poor pastor broke into tears, repenting of all kinds of things that I don’t remember now. I was stunned by the fear of God in that room. The power in that prayer meeting was unlike anything I had ever experienced! Revival broke out in the room that night. I too began to weep over my sin. Heaven was touching Earth!

What does my recollection of an awesome prayer time over 30 years ago mean for you? Simply this: Our God is a tri-generational God–the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Your anointing will be equal to or even greater than the anointing of those who have gone before you. In fact, you should experience a greater anointing since you are able to stand on the spiritual foundation those who have gone before you have laid. I am a better Christian because of the experiences I learned from my spiritual elders.

Each succeeding generation should stand on the spiritual strengths of the one that preceded them. Resist the urge to compare yourself with others, just as Paul warned: “For we do not dare to rank or compare ourselves with some of the ones commending themselves. But they, measuring themselves among themselves, and comparing themselves to themselves, are not perceptive” (2 Cor. 10:12).

Someone once asked Hudson Taylor, “Why do you suppose God chose you to help lead the Shantung revival?” Rev. Taylor thought for a moment, then answered wisely, “I suppose He just looked around until he found someone weak enough.”

You are here for one purpose only–to glorify God. Christ in you is your only hope of glory (see Col. 1:27). Keep reading, because the Word delivers great news: You are complete in Christ (see Col. 2:10) and He has given you everything you need for godly living (see 2 Pet. 1:3). God never calls the equipped; He always equips the called. And now it is our turn to touch the younger generation with our passion and our prayers. Will you?