Derek Prince - What Praying Earnestly For Something Can Work Out
This is an excerpt from: Do You Realize How Valuable You Are?
When I was a very new Christian, about two years old in the Lord. The British army I was in the medical corps posted me to the Sudan. The Sudan, believe me, is a tough country. As a matter of fact, it’s even tougher now. It’s the most persecuting of all countries of Christians at this time. But I originally went to Khartoum which is the capital. Then the army posted me to a little sort of railway station town, called Atbarah. When I got to Atbarah, I was put in charge of what’s called in the medical language of the army, a reception station. And it was like having a palace. I had two rooms, two beds, nobody in them. I had a nightdress for the first time. For two or three years I’d slept in my underwear, but now I could have a nightdress. I had no patients in the reception station, so I put on one of the nightdresses and slept in one of the beds.
And then somewhere in the middle of the night I got this tremendous supernatural burden of prayer for the people of the Sudan. And I tell you they’re not easy to love. They’re pretty fierce and they’re not gracious or easy to get a connection with. But I got up. I was so burdened with prayer that I was pacing two and fro in that little room in my white flannel nightdress.
As I was praying, I was praying for the souls of the people of the Sudan. And I looked down at my nightdress and I have to tell you, it was it was luminous. There was such a sense of the glory of God that my nightdress was actually shining. And God gave me a little glimpse of how He values intercession. And then I was moved to another station on the Red Sea called Jabati. There I was put in charge. I was only a corporal. I couldn’t be anything more because I’d been a conscientious objector. And I was put in charge of the native labor, the Sudani labor in a hospital. And, I had to deal with the Rieas, the head man of the labor whose name was Ali.
So we had to meet every morning in my office and plan the activities for the day. And I couldn’t see any way to relate to Ali. He was distant from me and I was distant to him. Then one day I discovered that he believed in Satan. So I said I believe in Satan too. And strange as it may seem that was the first connection between us. We both believed in Satan. Well one day he was late in reporting to my office and he came in limping and he said, I’ve been to the reception station because I have something on my foot which is hurting me.
Now I had read in the Bible... I don’t think I’d ever seen anybody lay hands on people and pray for them. If I had I didn’t remember it. But I knew it was in the Bible so I said, would you like me to pray for you? He said, yes. Well, I treated him like a bomb that was about to explode. I stood at a careful distance, put my hands on him and prayed a very simple prayer. That was all I could do. About a week later he came in and showed me his foot. It was completely healed.
So after that we had a connection. We became friends. Then he wanted to teach me how to ride a camel. And so I learned to ride a camel and believe me riding a camel is no joke. I don’t know what it is about a camel, but when one part is going up another is going down. You never have a stable ride. I’m not talking about the camels that they turn loose at the pyramids in Egypt. They’re not Sudani camels. Then I said, Would you like me to read to you from the Bible? He said, Yes, he was getting very interested. So I thought we’ll start at John’s gospel. I read from the King James Version which is the only version that most people used in those days. But all his English he had learned from soldiers. He had a very quick memory. He couldn’t read or write, but he had a very accurate memory.
So I read the King James Version translating it into soldier’s English all the way. Which was quite a challenge. And then he said, Why don’t we take a ride out on our camels and go out somewhere? So I said, fine. I was in charge of the rations so we armed ourselves with things we needed to eat and we rode out on our two camels and sat down at the bottom of a hill and there was a little stream of brackish water running down the hill. Now I’m not sure that I would do today what I did then. And I’m not necessarily recommending it. But he said, Now we, Sudanis, we drink this water. But you white people you don’t drink this water. Well, I said, since there’s nothing else to drink, I’ll drink it. He said, Why would you do that? Well if Jesus said if you drink any deadly thing it will not hurt you. So I drank the water and he drank the water and we both did well. So then I got to John chapter three, in my simple Bible reading, about being born again. And that phrase lodged in his mind, born again, born again.
So when we were on the camels on the way back he said, born again. What’s that? Well, I said God will give you new heart. Well he just laughed because in those days heart transplants didn’t exist and he couldn’t understand anything but a heart transplant. Well, I said, it means you get the life of God. So I said to him, would you like to be born again? And he said, yes. Well, I said, listen. This evening when the sun sets you go to your hut, I’ll go to my billet and you pray to be born again and I’ll pray for you.
So he said, all right. Next morning we met. I looked at him. I said, did you pray? He said, yes. I said, did you get anything? He said, no. So I was disappointed, but the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear, remember he’s a Muslim. So I said, did you pray in the name of Jesus? He said, no. I said, You have to pray in the name of Jesus if you want to be born again. Are you willing to do that? He said, yes. Well, I said, this evening you go to your hut, I’ll go to my billet, we’ll pray.
When I met him next morning I looked at him and I said, you’ve got it. He said, yes I did. And everybody in the hospital heard about that. They came to me and said, what happened to your friend Ali? I said, he got born again. They said, what’s that? I said, let me tell you. The commanding officer of the hospital sent for me and said, what happened to your friend Ali? I said, he got born again. He was a Presbyterian. A good religious man but he didn’t know anything about the new birth.
So, as a result of that two of my fellow-soldiers came to the Lord. Well, I want to say that all came out of that night of intense intercession for the people of the Sudan. And without travail, there will be no birth. Unless we travail in prayer we won’t see any birth. It says, As soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children. As soon as the Church travails she’ll begin to bring forth children. Anyhow, that was my example.