Editors note: the guest article appearing here does not necessarily reflect the views of Bible Rebel editors or other guest authors and contributors. Bible Rebel seeks to present a wide range of ideas and viewpoints in order to fulfill our mission to provide resources for “Curious Fearless Faith”. This is Part 2 in a new series on prayer called ‘Cease Not To Pray’ by Steve Sann.
THE MOUNTAIN PASS
B.G. Leonard, one of the great 20th-century evangelists, once related the account of a woman who loyally prayed in the spirit, interceding for others. Seldom, when called upon by God to pray, would she comprehend what she was called to pray for; speaking in tongues, she was unable to understand her prayer.
One afternoon, however, while lifting in prayer an urgent burden God had placed on her heart, she asked: “Lord, I’ve often thought of this, and it’s in my heart now and I might just as well be honest and tell you, Lord… I often wonder, what am I praying about? I know our understanding is supposed to remain unfruitful, but just this once, I’d like to know. Because sometimes the thought comes to me that maybe I’m just kidding myself.”
On this occasion, a vision was immediately unfolded before her eyes—a scene illustrated with childlike stick-men. God began to reveal to her, in a cartoon-like depiction, a large stick man working on a funny-looking stick truck. Soon he was joined by three other stick-men donning triangle stick hats. One of them stood out, wearing a peculiar mark down his side at an angle.
As she watched and prayed, confronted by the three, the large stick man fixing the truck stopped, turned, and began handing over his personal goods. However, an argument soon erupted among the three. But placing his hand on the peculiar stick by his side, the other two backed away. The woman was continuing to pray in the spirit when suddenly the scene around the men was filled with stick angels! The three-stick men hastily took flight. The big stick man then fell to his knees, and the woman ascertained he was thanking God. The curious vision came to an end, and many weeks went by.
One day, the popular missionary A.B. Simpson, founder of Christian Missionary Alliance, was slated to return from his most recent work in China. The praying woman traveled to the San Francisco Bay, eagerly anticipating hearing him address the waiting crowd from aboard his ship. As A.B. Simpson recounted his exploits in China, he described a new missionary work he was opening in a village across a mountain range, which cut it off from the rest of the country. Sending his family safely ahead aboard a train routed around the mountain, he loaded up his old charcoal-burning truck with the supplies needed for the new missionary station, and headed up the most direct route—straight over the pass.
At his very last stop before entering the pass, an innkeeper sternly warned Simpson of armed bandits ahead. Simpson swept the warning aside, declaring proudly, “God looks after me”. Venturing undaunted into the mountain pass, he found himself in a dangerous place just as his old charcoal burner cut out and the truck stalled. Struggling to relight the engine, without warning he found himself face-to-face with three bandits, one wearing a sword at his side. He handed over his watch and his wallet, thinking he was getting off quite lightly.
That’s just about the time the armed bandit reached for his sword, prepared to kill him. But rebuffing him, the two others argued that, if he killed Simpson, who would drive the truck with the supplies? They squabbled back and forth until the armed bandit had heard enough. Brandishing his sword, he made his move to kill not only Simpson, but his companions in crime, as well. Just then A.B. Simpson looked up in astonishment—the entire mountain pass was teeming with angels! The robbers were dumbfounded at the sight of this supernatural spectacle, the men fled, scared stiff, “screaming their heads off!”
Then Simpson recalled, “And I got down on my knees and I prayed, and I asked God to forgive me for tempting Him. I understood at last what I had done wrong.” He rejoiced, “From then on I had no trouble “
Later, regarding that woman of prayer, B.G. Leonard observed: “She knew then what she had been praying for. And after, when she spoke in tongues, she was twice the prayer warrior she had been before. If she told somebody, ‘Look, I’ll be standing behind you in prayer,’ she didn’t just say the words. She meant it.”
Child of God, husband, father, grandfather, rabblerouser, songwriter, pot stirrer, waiting for the King.