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The Apostle of PrayerBy Bernard R. DeRemer
J. Wilbur Chapman and Charles M. Alexander, two of the most
widely used evanelists of their era, wereholdin a reat !ampain in
"nland durin #$##. Be!ause of spe!ial diffi!ulties, Chapman as%ed
John&yde to inter!ede for him. 'his is how Chapman re!alled the
in!ident(
)&e !ame to my room, turned the %ey in the door, dropped on
his %nees, waited five minutes without asinle syllable !omin from
his lips. * !ould hear my own heart thumpin and his beatin. * felt
the tearsrunnin down my fa!e. * %new * was with +od. 'hen, with
upturned fa!e, down whi!h the tears werestreamin, he said, -h, +od/
'hen for five minutes at least he was still aain, and then, when he
%newhe was tal%in with +od, his arm went around my shoulder, and
there !ame up from the depth of hisheart su!h petitions for men as
* had never heard before. )* rose from my %nees to %now what
realprayer was. We believe that prayer is mihty, and we believe it
as we never did before.)
John &yde )0rayin &yde) was born in Carrollton, *ll., in
#123. &is odly 0resbyterian pastor fatherfaithfully pro!laimed
the ospel and fervently inter!eded for wor%ers to be thrust forth
into the 4ord5sharvest field. 'hus, John rew up in a home
fre6uented by visitin le!turers, missionaries, and otherswho
!ombined to provide a liberal edu!ation in Christian matters.
After raduation from Carthae Collee with hih honors, he was
offered a fa!ulty position. &owever, hewas divinely !alled to
the reions beyond, so he enrolled at M!Cormi!% 7eminary in
Chi!ao.Completin his wor% there, he sailed for *ndia in #1$8. "n
route, he found ood opportunities for )wor% onshipboard.) But there
was mu!h more. A letter whi!h rea!hed him aboard ship !hallened him
to be filledwith the &oly 7pirit, as the reat 6ualifi!ation for
mission wor%. )John5s first rea!tion was aner andresentment hadn5t
he already experien!ed this9 But the rest of the voyae he ave
himself to mu!hprayer that he miht indeed be filled with the 7pirit
and %now experientially the promise of A!ts #(1. 'heanswer to these
prayers was the beinnin of an in!redibly powerful life of
inter!ession.
Arrivin in *ndia, &yde fa!ed the hue strule of new lanuae,
!limate, !ulture, and !ustoms. 'hrouhlon periods of intensive
study, he be!ame profi!ient in :rdu and 0un;abi in order to rea!h
the masses.&yde was asso!iated with the 0un;ab 0rayer :nion
from its beinnin, and it made a ma;or !ontributionto his life and
ministry. Members set themselves definitely and desperately to
obtain spiritual awa%enin
by prayer, and they persevered. -ne of their prin!iples was to
)set apart one half hour ea!h day ... topray for this awa%enin...)
and to !ontinue until it !ame.
'he 7ial%ot Convention and revival resulted from the heavy
burden of prayer on the heart of John &ydeand his !olleaues.
Beforehand, &yde and R. M!Cheyne 0aterson spent past nine and
bean to tal% to me about the value of publi! testimony. We had an
earnest dis!ussionuntil lon after midniht. We had as%ed him on the
next evenin to lead a meetin for men.... When thetime for the
meetin arrived ... Mr. &yde had not arrived. We bean to sin,
and san several numbers
before he did !ome in, 6uite late.
)&e sat down on the mat in front of us and sat silently for
a !onsiderable time. 'hen he arose and saidvery 6uietly, ?Brothers,
* did not sleep any last niht and * have not eaten anythin today. *
have beenhavin a reat !ontroversy with +od. * feel that &e has
wanted me to !ome here and testify to you!on!ernin some thins that
&e had done for me, and * have been aruin with &im.... -nly
a little whileao have * ot pea!e !on!ernin the matter and * have
areed to obey &im, and now * have !ome to tellyou ;ust some of
the thins that &e has done for me.5/
)After ma%in this brief statement he told us very 6uietly and
simply some of the desperate !onfli!ts that
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1.Continuance. Iiht and day, on o!!asion, he ave himself
unreservedly to inter!ession. Iationalsre!alled &yde as the
sahib who sleeps little and prays mu!h.2. Definiteness.*n everythin
he souht the will of +od, no matter too lare, none too small.
&e beanprayin for the salvation of one pre!ious soul every day,
and for years he led from four to ten peopleea!h day to the 4ord.
When he prayed in publi!, it seemed as thouh he saw +od riht in
front of him.
3. Perfect surrender to the will of God. 'he overflow to the
!hur!h of spiritual blessins and oftransformed lives is beyond
des!ription.
What is the lea!y of his life and testimony for the !hur!h
today9 &. J. Bro%%e, in the forward to 0rayin&yde, said(
)+od will not ive everyone the same ministry John &yde had.
ButE if the &oly 7pirit !ontrolsour lives &e will lead us
into an effe!tive life of prayer not a !opy of John &yde5s, but
a distin!tive prayerlife of our own. &e tea!hes us all to
pray.)8
#. rom +od 4istens, by 7amuel Chadwi!% !opyriht #$
