Just A Thought

 In his biography entitled Rees Howells Intercessor, Norman Grubb describes a prayer campaign that impacted the world. Mr. Howells was a Welch minister who founded a Bible school where the students lived by faith and focused on intercessory prayer (prayer on behalf of others). They went to bat for their nation and the world. Several years before the outbreak of World War II Howells said, “The world became our parish and we were led to be responsible to intercede for countries and nations.”

In March of 1936, Howells began to express his view that Hitler must be stopped if the church were to get the gospel to every creature. He wrote: “If all the righteous in the country will send up effectual prayer, we feel sure that we shall prevail and open Penllergaer on Whit-Monday without war or blackout… what a relief to millions of people if God will intervene and bring the war to an end by Whitsuntide.” 

On May 10^th  Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. So, Howells and his intercessors prayed on God’s behalf throughout the entire wartime period every night from 7pm to midnight, with a short dinner break. They also had prayer meetings at morning and noon. Below are a few journal entries that provide a sense of what they were up against:

·       May 21, 9 a.m. Fear of Invasion: Yesterday was the darkest day in the history of this country, especially after the Prime Minister’s speech. Everyone in town is expecting the enemy to invade this country. We have told the Lord, “Our lives for victory.” We ought to pray now for the Lord to stop them coming over to this country. 

·       3.30 p.m.: We must pray for the Lord to keep the enemy in check. He is like a roaring lion. 

·       7 p.m.: The French Premier says tonight, “It is only a miracle that will save us.” The test is, whether the Bible is true. I am willing to risk my life to prove it, and I want to tell you tonight that it is quite true.

·       May 22, 9 a.m.: The world is in a panic today, and certainly we would be too, unless we were quite sure the Lord had spoken to us. The destiny of England will be at stake today and tomorrow. 

·       3.30 p.m.: In a battle such as we are in today, you cannot trust in a meeting or in feelings. We must go back to what God has told us. There is an enemy that we must keep in check, until God does the big thing.

·       May 28: While in prayer, someone expressed “I feel sure something has happened.” The next day “The Miracle of Dunkirk” took place. Allied troops had been pinned down and German panzer groups had crossed the canal defense line close to Dunkirk on the 24th, but, due to several concerns Hitler ordered them to pull back to the canal line. The delay allowed the British Navy to evacuate Dunkirk by sea. Dunkirk became a rallying cry for the rest of the war. 

·       May 30: From a worldly standpoint there is no hope of victory; but God has said it... Instead of bad news about our soldiers, if He is on the field of battle, He can change that and make it very good news. Oh, for God to lift us up tonight! We are not to run into any panic thinking the Nazis are going to win: Germany must be delivered as well as England and France. We may have to go through far greater sufferings yet, but I am not going to doubt the final issue. We state in plainest terms: The enemy will not invade Christian England.

Prayer, on God’s behalf, to stop Hitler so that the world could be evangelized, changed human history and stopped a monster from dominating the world. If someone reading this article is concerned about their country or freedom in the world, the most important thing they can do is to pray. Intercessors are wanted.

# posted by John W. Hanson @ Tuesday, October 27, 2020