Unstoppable: The Grip of the Tenacious Praying Hyde: By 1908, John Hyde dared to pray what was to many at the convention an impossible request: that during the coming year in India one soul would be saved every day. Three hundred sixty five people converted, baptized, and publicly confessing Jesus as their Savior. Impossible -- yet it happened. Before the next convention John Hyde had prayed more than 400 people into God's kingdom, and when the prayer union gathered again, he doubled his goal to two souls a day. Eight hundred conversions were recorded that year, and still Hyde showed an unquenchable passion for lost souls. At the 1910 convention, those around Hyde marveled at his faith, as they witnessed his near violent supplications, "Give me souls, oh God, or I die!" Before the meeting ended, John Hyde revealed that he was again doubling his goal for the coming year. Four souls a day, and nothing less. During the next twelve months John Hyde's ministry took him throughout India. By now he was known as "Praying Hyde," and his intercession was sought at revivals in Calcutta, Bombay, and other large cities. If on any day four people were not converted, Hyde said: “In those days if on any day four souls were not brought into the fold, at night there would be such a weight on his heart that it was positively painful, and he could not eat nor sleep. Then in prayer he would ask his Lord to show him what was the obstacle in him to his blessing. He invariably found that it was the want of praise in his life… and as he praised God souls would come to him, and the numbers lacking would be made up. (McGaw 1970:53f) John knew the power of praise, thanksgiving and joy. He was often filled with holy laughter, and danced and shouted before His God. He truly knew the depths and heights of communion with God, paying the price for the salvation of many. In 1911 he had to leave India because his heart had become weak and had moved to the right side. Yet, even on this last journey, his prayers and intercession touched and changed many lives before he went on to be with Jesus at the early age of 47. It was in Calcutta that friends persuaded Hyde to see a doctor about his rapidly deteriorating health. The years of travail had obviously taken a toll. Yet no one expected the medical examiner's incredible diagnosis. John Hyde's heart had shifted out of its natural position on the left side of his chest to a place over on the right. It was unlike anything the doctor had seen before, and he warned Hyde that unless he got complete rest he would be dead in six months. John devoted much time to Bible study, and the lack of conversion drove him into prayer, both of which were not received very well by his co-workers. He was “thought to be fanatical and extreme, yet was willing to be called crazy and face this religious opposition.” (Clark 2000). He realized that the life of the church was far below Bible standards and long before it became popular, he was praying the prayer of Jabez. Richard Wurmbrand: I made a deal with the guards: I preach to you, you beat me, that way we’re all happy. They gave us instruments and with our chains we praised the Lord. "I have found truly jubilant Christians only in the Bible, in the underground church, and in prison." R.W. Brother Andrew: Carried suitcases of Bibles into communist countries… and when he couldn’t do that anymore because communism fell - he went and met with radical Islamic leaders Amy Charmichael: She saw in the community where she was that the church was very active but there were no changed lives. She detested the meetings with the other missionary ladies-drinking tea and gossiping, again showing very little concern for the eternal souls of those about them. She felt so alone. One day as she fell to her knees in dispair, a verse that she had learned long before floated into her memory: "He that trusteth in me shall never be desolate," and she found that to be true throughout her long life of ministry in India. The following lines are so appropriate concerning the missionary community in Bangalore: Onward Christian soldiers, Sitting on the mats; Nice and warm and cozy Like little pussycats. Onward Christian soldiers, Oh, how brave are we, Don't we do our fighting Very comfortably? Amy Carmichael Gladys Aylward: Aylward became a Chinese citizen in 1936 and was a revered figure among the people, taking in orphans and adopting several herself, intervening in a volatile prison riot and advocating prison reform, risking her life many times to help those in need.[2] In 1938, the region was invaded by Japanese forces, and Aylward led over 100 orphans to safety over the mountains, despite being wounded herself. WHAT? - The cross always comes before the resurrection SO WHAT? - The power of the resurrection will only be experienced by those who have experienced the cross first WHAT NOW? - Walk through the 5 landmarks of a resurrected life. Search. Repent and cleanse your heart before God. Let go of your reputation. Die so others might live. Rest in God’s work. 5 Landmarks of a Resurrected Life 1. The Search - seeking God with all your heart 1. Seek to lay on His breast like the disciples at the last supper 2. Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please Him for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. ἐκζητέω [ekzeteo /ek·zay·teh·o/] 1 to seek out, search for. 2 to seek out, i.e. investigate, scrutinise. 3 to seek out for one’s self, beg, crave. 4 to demand back, require. 3. The anatomy of a searcher: 1. Searchers will not let go: Gen 32:26 2. Searchers are importunate (persistent, esp. To the point of annoyance or intrusion): Luke 11:8 3. Searchers search with their whole heart: Psalms 119:10 4. Searchers believe that they will be rewarded: Heb 11:6 5. Searchers sacrifice time and comfort: Esther 4:16 4. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 5. Isaiah 55:6 - seek God while He may be found 6. Hosea 10:12 - break up your fallow ground 2. The Garden - Gethsemane, the valley of repentance and obedience 1. Jeremiah 4:3-4 - break up fallow ground 2. Isaiah 59:1-2 - sins separated you from God 3. The principle of the compost pile 1. We all have rotten fruit in our lives 2. We shrink from the stench of the compost pile - even so we shrink from exposing the stench of our sin 3. You must face it 4. Take time to search your heart before God 5. 1 Corinthians 4:11-12 - offscouring of the earth 6. Philippians 3 - power of the resurrection through suffering 7. Go and make things right - even if it’s shameful 3. The Via Dolorosa - the walk of shame 1. Philippians 2 - Jesus made himself of no reputation 2. Make yourself of no reputation 3. The life of the Given 1. Nothing hurts you worse than to see the cross despised or its meaning diminished. You cringe at how it has merely become a symbol among the common Christian and so very very few have ever experienced it themselves. You find no greater joy than in letting everything go, to trust His guiding hand. No greater peace is yours then in shaking your cup empty and allowing your Creator to fill it overflowing. You would shrink from living if you could not die – all of you, your every thought, word, and action, your likes and dislikes, your ideas, goals, dreams, plans and everything that gives you an identity, everything that shapes the very fabric of your being – and instead letting Him live, letting His Word fill the void left over. 4. The leper - coming to Jesus 1. The walk of shame is complete freedom from what others think of you in your overwhelming and consuming desire just to feel the touch of Almighty God in your life 4. The Cross - dying so others might live 1. Jesus died to give us life 2. If we go through that same death with Him - then we die to give others life as well 3. When we give up our own way we do so not thinking of the sacrifice that we are experiencing but of the passionate love that fills our hearts for those whom we are serving 4. Acts 26:18 - to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light 1. The power of the resurrected life always follows the cross 5. The Grave - resting in God’s work 1. Heb 4:10: For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His 2. Illustration of the lamp 1. We cannot make our dead bulb shine 2. Not the power of positive thinking - it is the indwelling of Jesus Christ Himself. 3. Rest in God - let Him work in and through you. Seek His indwelling power to overtake your body and shine through you. The Anatomy of the Resurrected Life: 11 Signs of a Life Transformed 1. They count it joy when they are faced with trials and tribulation. They leap for joy when men hate them and separate them from their company, reproach them and cast out their name as evil for Jesus sake - James 1:2; Luke 6:22-23 2. They are radically filled with the power of the Holy Spirit which quickens them and moves them with holy passion to live righteously and Godly in our present age - Romans 8:11 3. Sin does not have dominion over them. In fact, they are set free from its bondage and the power of it’s chains because the God that dwells in them has set them free through His own strength and is mighty, to the pulling down of even the greatest stronghold - Romans 6:12-14; John 8:31-36 4. They are unstoppable and unshakable because they are persuaded that nothing can separate them from the love of God - tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or sword, life, death, angels, principalities, powers, things present or things to come, height nor depth, or any creature - Romans 8:35-39 5. Through faith and the power of God Himself they subdue kingdoms, work righteousness, obtain promises, stop the mouths of lions, quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword, out of weakness they are made strong, they wax valiant in fight, they turn to flight the armies of aliens, they receive their dead raised to life again, are tortured not accepting deliverance so that they may obtain a better resurrection. They are taken before rulers and tried with cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover bonds and imprisonment. They are stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword, wandering about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, wandering in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And through all of this they find joy in suffering and lay claim to being counted as unworthy of this world - Heb 11:33-38 6. They are filled with a holy boldness that defies common sense or reason and leads people to marvel and take note that they have been with Jesus - Acts 4:13 7. They rejoice I the Lord always making their prayers and supplications to Him with thanksgiving - Philippians 4:4-6 8. The peace of God keeps their hearts and minds through Christ Jesus filling their minds with everything true, everything honest, just, pure, lovely, of a good report and worthy of virtue and praise - Philippians 4:7-8 9. They walk righteously and speak uprightly, despising the gain of oppression and shaking their hands from holding bribes. They stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from seeing evil - Isaiah 33:15 10. They are filled with a holy tenacity and boldness that will not let go of the promises of God no matter what the cost to themselves or their reputation - violently taking the kingdom of heaven by force - Matthew 11:12 11. They are raised to sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but the world to come - Ephesians 2:6; 1:21 12. This is just the tip of the iceberg… WHAT? - The cross always comes before the resurrection SO WHAT? - The power of the resurrection will only be experienced by those who have experienced the cross first WHAT NOW? - Walk through the 5 landmarks of a resurrected life. Search. Repent and cleanse your heart before God. Let go of your reputation. Die so others might live. Rest in God’s work.