Among the mighty men of faith and prayer, whose names will stand forth until this world’s history is completed, is that of John Knox. The days of turbulence developed their holy zeal and courage. Summoned before the highest of earth’s great ones, true everywhere to God, and a man mighty in prayer, Queen Mary of Scotland once said of Knox that she feared his prayers more than an army of ten thousand men. On England’s throne sat Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII, who had been brought up by her mother, Catharine of Aragon, in the dark faith of Rome, a complete tool in the hands of the priests, whose one design was to destroy the Protestants.
Soon the jails were filled, the fires kindled in Smithfield, and the whole land was one scene of desolation, and the Protestants were hunted as partridges on the mountains. The great heart of John Knox was stirred. On his knees and on his face for hours together before God, he pleaded for Scotland. “All Scotland for Christ!” was his ceaseless cry.
In one of these seasons of mighty taking hold of God, he sprang to his feet with the cry, “Deliverance has come! Deliverance has come!” As soon as the courier could speed his way from London to the city where John Knox lived, he made the proclamation, “Mary, Queen of England, is dead!” (Adapted from, “Touching Incidents and Remarkable Answers to Prayer”)
Today, our faith is as likely under attack by Humanism as state religion. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:38). As we face the “perilous times” of the “last days”, we cannot help but feel the hot breath of the Tempter on our neck. Global, not local, issues are the headlines with the world looking for a global solution. Religious exemptions to mandates easily become a religious database for future reference. Passport requirements to enter businesses and buy groceries are an acceptable policy.
The circumstances of the “last days” no longer seem like a drastic unthinkable transition because we are living in the “test phase” for all of these things. God give us men of prayer who will cry, “All America for Christ”. (By Pastor Wagenschutz)
