RURAL LEADERSHIP 



over twenty colleges and theological seminaries of America, 

 asking the students to unite in prayer for the Doshisha. 

 Many Christian students heeded the request. On the night 

 of the Day of Prayer for Colleges, when the American stu- 

 dents united in prayer, the Doshisha students in different 

 rooms, without any direct human influence being brought to 

 bear upon them, were led to fall into conversation on the 

 subject of personal religion and gave themselves to prayer. 

 A revival began that very night and spread through the col- 

 lege. It resulted in the conversion of a large number of the 

 students." 1 



Somebody once asked Spurgeon the secret of his great 

 success, and he directed the inquirer to the basement of the 

 great London church, where during the services several of the 

 members of the congregation remained in constant prayer, 

 asking God that He might make the church a force for right- 

 eousness in the establishment of the Kingdom. And God 

 answered these prayers and the church of Spurgeon did a 

 wonderful work during his ministry. But one need not go 

 to Japan or England to learn that God answers prayers. God 

 answers the fervent prayers of all His people. Everyone who 

 knows how to pray has had blessed experiences that prove to 

 him that God is ever ready to answer prayer. All that is 

 necessary is that God's people come to fully understand that 

 perfect cooperation and united effort in prayer will revolu- 

 tionize conditions everywhere. The trouble is, the followers 

 of Jesus Christ are too individualistic in their prayers. A 

 few flying wedges in the prayer world will be much more 

 effective than individual supplications in battering down the 

 opposition and making goals. If every one of the eleven 

 men on a champion football team were to change his tactics 

 and play independently little could be accomplished against 

 a well-organized team even of pygmies. 



Many years ago one of the capable men of the Methodist 

 Church made himself a bishop through prayer. Before the 

 Conference there was little thought among the delegates of 



1 " The Challenge of Today," edited by Bishop W. F. Anderson, p. 80. 

 123 



