2. Prayer Finds a Way Out in Hours of Crisis.
The history of the way in which victory has been achieved in the great spiritual crises of the world is a record of answered prayer. There is no more impressive picture in the Old Testament than that of Moses, the great leader of Israel, in the midst of a desperate battle with his hands lifted in intercession. When he wearied and his hands were withdrawn, Israel was defeated, but so long as his hands were upheld and there was an unceasing stream of intercession, Israel prevailed. Crowded into that one incident is one of the greatest single spiritual lessons which God would teach mankind. There is no other way than this to meet the spiritual crises of the world victoriously. The great battle of Jesus was not won at Calvary but in the garden in prayer. The crowded record of achievement in all the home and foreign mission fields of the Church is full of incidents of the truth of the principle just stated. Since it is the judgment of the missionary leaders of to-day that there never has been such an hour of crisis and opportunity in the world, then there never was a time when there was such need that men should covenant with God to wield the force of intercession. The victory which is achieved at the front of the battle will be commensurate with the volume of intercession in Christian lands.
3. Prayer is the Only Power that can Fill the Gaps in the Thin Line of Battle.
The second study in this little book reveals the tremendous unmet need of the world. The line is very thin in many parts of the field, in many sections of the world it can be said to be nothing more than a picket-line. If qualified leaders are to be thrust out into these fields, if the Church is to recover the lost frontiers in the great cities and country districts of the home land and in the Mohammedan and pagan world abroad, if every man in the world is to be given an adequate opportunity in his lifetime to know our Christ, then the great crucial problem is how to multiply the number of those who will enlist as intercessors and then devote themselves to the enlistment of others until the whole Church is committed to this task.
Is it too much to expect that every man in his place should have the spirit exhibited by Alexander Duff when he said: "Having set my hand to the plough my resolution was, the Lord helping me, never to look back any more and never to make a half-hearted work of it. Having chosen missionary labor in India, I gave myself up wholly to it in the destination of my own mind. I united or wedded myself to it in a covenant the bands of which shall be severed only by death."
May our Living Leader give to his men the spirit expressed by Edmund Burke when he said: "The nerve that never relaxes, the eye that never blenches, the thought that never wanders: these are the masters of destiny."
In Ladd's Rare Days in Japan, reference is made to a telegram received by Mr. Matsukata, the President of the shipbuilding company at Kawasaki, from Admiral Togo just two days before the battle of the Sea of Japan. Admiral Togo had received the following order from the Emperor: "Find and destroy the Russian fleet." Because of the weight of his responsibility it is said that Togo ate or slept but little for several days after receiving the Emperor's order. His mind must have been filled with thoughts such as these: "Where was the Russian fleet? Where could he find it? And if he did find it, how could he destroy it?" In those hours of anxiety he formed one plan and abandoned it, thought out another scheme and gave it up. Finally he determined upon his course of action and wired Mr. Matsukata, "After a thousand different thoughts now one fixed purpose."
There are a thousand demands upon the time and strength of the modern man. They are bewildering and often conflicting. The Christian man is not less busy than the man of the world, and insistent calls are ringing in his ears every hour. The Church is increasingly needing his strength and leadership. The state calls, the city makes large drafts on his strength. What shall he do? What causes are most worth while? How shall he spend his energy and his money? What is the most alluring task? Let him choose the highest and the greatest way to spend his life. If the missionary principle is not unalterably entrenched in the citadel of your life will you not resolve before you put this book down that henceforth all life shall be built around the one purpose which is most worth while;—to let life run out to the end rich and deep and full in the plans of God for the world?
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire,
Speak through earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm.
In simple trust like those who heard
Beside the Syrian Sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.