How I Know God Answers Prayer: The Personal Testimony of One Life-TimeGoforth, Rosalind
Religion
How I Know God Answers Prayer: The Personal Testimony of One Life-Time
Goforth, Rosalind
Prayer
The years that followed led often through the furnace. The Lord knew
that nothing but fire could destroy the dross and subdue my stubborn
will. Those years may be summed up in one line: "Fighting (not finding),
following, keeping, _struggling_." Yes, and failing! Sometimes in the
depths of despair over these failures; then going on determined to do
_my_ best,--and what a poor best it was!
In the year 1905, and later, as I witnessed the wonderful way the Lord
was leading my husband, and saw the Holy Spirit's power in his life and
message, I came to seek very definitely for the fulness of the Holy
Spirit. It was a time of deep heart-searching. The heinousness of sin
was revealed as never before. Many, many things had to be set right
toward man and God. I learned then what "paying the price" meant. Those
were times of wonderful mountain-top experiences, and I came to honor
the Holy Spirit and seek his power for the overcoming of sin in a new
way. But Christ still remained, as before, distant, afar off, and I
longed increasingly to know--to _find_ him. Although I had much more
power over besetting sins, yet there were times of great darkness and
defeat.
It was during one of these latter times that we were forced to return to
Canada, in June of 1916. My husband's health prevented him from public
speaking, and it seemed that this duty for us both was to fall on me.
But I dreaded facing the Home Church without some spiritual uplift,--a
fresh vision for myself. The Lord saw this heart-hunger, and in his own
glorious way he fulfilled literally the promise, "He satisfieth the
longing soul, and _filleth_ the hungry soul with goodness" (Psa. 107:9,
A. V.).
A spiritual conference was to be held the latter part of June at
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and to this I was led. One day I went to
the meeting rather against my inclination, for it was so lovely under
the trees by the beautiful lake. The speaker was a stranger to me, but
from almost the first his message gripped me. Victory over Sin! Why,
this was what I had fought for, had hungered for, all my life! Was it
possible?
The speaker went on to describe very simply an ordinary Christian life
experience--sometimes on the mountain-top, with visions of God; then
again would come the sagging, and dimming of vision, coldness,
discouragement, and perhaps definite disobedience and a time of
down-grade experience. Then perhaps a sorrow, or even some special
mercy, would bring the wanderer back to his Lord.
The speaker asked for all those who felt this to be a picture of their
experience to raise the hand. I was sitting in the front seat, and shame
only kept me from raising my hand at once. But I did so want to get all
God had for me, and I determined to be true; and after a struggle I
raised my hand. Wondering if others were like myself, I ventured to
glance back and saw many hands were raised, though the audience was
composed almost entirely of Christian workers, ministers, and
missionaries.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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