Yesterday, I felt a little bit...
I've had some fluid this morning.
He sent a frog in my throat.
But I'm not afraid, because there are praying
people here, and Jesus is stronger than a
frog.
Yesterday, there was...
I asked that brother here, and I said
that it is for the first time that
I come here.
The people who come, what do they expect
that they come for?
And he said, no, many will come to
meet you.
And I said, then you must pray that
they may forget the channel, seeing only the
Lord.
And I'm going to ask you to pray
in the time that I speak, that even
when I tell of all my experiences, that
I, Corrie ten Boom, will be hidden behind
the cross, you will see Jesus.
And I know that when you pray, that
the devil has not much chance.
I'm so glad that I will speak here
seven times, and I will speak today only
about one thing, and that's about prayer.
And every time, I will show a little
bit different from the tremendous riches that we
have in Jesus Christ.
We have boundless resources, and we need the
Holy Spirit to understand how rich we are.
And if there are really people here who
like to go deeper, then try to come
more than once.
Perhaps if it is possible to all the
meetings, then I will share with you what
the Lord has taught me in a very
difficult class of life school, and also in
a very happy class of life school, a
class where I now am very happy.
I admire this morning sunshine and grapefruit around
me.
What a joy.
But that's not why I'm so happy here.
I am here in the midst of praying
people, and it is such a joy when
you are more or less standing on the
front line, when you know that there are
praying people.
This morning, Ellen prayed especially for the missionaries
who have not a group of people around
them who pray for them.
And there are people who have sent them
out and who pray for them the first
month, and then they forget the missionaries, and
they stand there alone.
And I hope that when I speak about
prayer that you will see that you must
be more faithful in your prayer for the
missionaries and for other people.
The weary ones had rest.
The sick had joy that day and wondered
how.
The plowman, singing at his field, had prayed,
God, help them now.
Alone in foreign fields, they wondered how their
feeble words had power.
At home, the Christians, two or three perhaps,
or more, had met to pray an hour.
So we are often wondering how, because we
do not see someone unknown perhaps and far
away on bended knee.
The Lord said in 2 Timothy 2.1,
I read it from the translation of Philipson,
First supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings should be
made on behalf of all men.
For kings and rulers in positions of responsibility,
so that our common life may be lived
in peace and quiet with a proper sense
of God and of our responsibility to Him
for what we do with our lives.
Do you pray faithfully for your president?
And you Dutch friends here, do you pray
faithfully for our queen?
Do we really stand praying behind all the
people who are now in the government and
have such a terrific responsibility?
For you Americans know that America has not
only the responsibility for this country, but really
for a big part of the world.
They need your prayers.
Do you pray for China?
Do you realize that perhaps 60 or 70
% of the body of Christ is suffering
terrific persecution?
Behind the iron and the bamboo curtain there
is a persecution worse than in the time
of Nero.
Don't you know it?
Do you not realize it?
Then try to find out.
Watchman Lee said, when my feet were whipped,
my hands suffered pain.
We are one body of Christ, these people
in China and in Russia.
So we may not be indifferent and just
say, oh, thank the Lord that I am
living in a free country.
Amen.
No.
You may thank Him for that and use
these opportunities, but don't say the amen already
after that one sentence.
But go on.
It is good that the Lord told us
when we pray not to look into our
faith.
Last night I had a talk with someone
and she said, oh, my faith is so
small and weak.
I said, that doesn't matter.
Don't look into your faith.
In Hebrew 12 it is written, let us
look unto Jesus, the altar and the finisher
of our faith.
I had a jewelry store before the war
and sometimes I had in my store new
watches that did not run exactly.
I never repaired them, but I sent them
back to the manufacturer and wrote him a
letter, these new watches do not run well.
After he had repaired them, they went absolutely
exact.
When my faith doesn't work, I don't try
to repair it, but I send it back
to the manufacturer, Jesus, the altar, the finisher,
the manufacturer of my faith.
And when Jesus repairs my faith, then it
works.
And even a hero of faith, Hudson Taylor,
has said, not a great faith we need,
but a faith in a great God.
And even Jesus said, if it is as
small as a mustard seed, it is sufficient
to remove mountains.
I am so glad that I have learned
praying already when I was a little child.
When I was five years old, I asked
the Lord Jesus to come into my heart
and He came.
And He never left me.
Mothers, did you bring your five-year-old
to the Lord?
Don't think they are too young.
Last week, I spoke, I said a saying
to a group of people, and I said,
to speak with you, the little ones, about
the joy of Jesus and He may come
into their hearts.
And the next evening, after the meeting, there
came two little ones, one, I believe, was
six, and one was eight.
And he said, yes, have you to ask
me something?
Yes.
We both like to ask Jesus to come
into our hearts.
And the little boy said, last night, Mother
has prayed with me and talked with me.
And it was very easy to bring these
people to the Lord.
Oh, what was the joy?
I know the angels rejoice.
The angels always rejoice when someone comes to
the Lord Jesus.
But I believe they rejoice more still when
these little ones come.
My mother told me that I had immediately
a burden for souls after Jesus had come
into my heart.
And she said, every prayer of yours ended
with these words, and, Lord Jesus, will you
save all the people in the Smedestraat.
The Smedestraat was a street behind our house
where were many liquor stores, and you saw
always drunken people there.
And now I thought, let's do something.
So I did something.
And I prayed.
And when I think of it, then I
smile.
Just a five-year-old who prays for
a whole street.
And I'll tell you something.
Last year, I came in Holland just a
week before Easter.
And there came a gentleman to me and
said, may I introduce you for the TV?
I said, all right.
I was very gracious.
You can come in.
I did not realize that God was going
to do a great miracle.
I came in a theater, and I have
never seen such a business.
And this was an interview from a man
who interviews all kinds of people.
This is not a Christian TV.
And then I had to listen and interview
with the oldest taxi driver in Holland.
And then I had to to admire the
biggest rabbit of Holland and the long ears
he had.
And then the smallest rabbit.
And that went on and on and on.
After two hours, at last, I could come.
And I was tired from all the sitting
in that in that terrible light.
We had beforehand had instruction.
There was a gentleman who said, now, when
I come so, you must applaud.
And you must applaud with your and very
loud.
And when I come so, you must laugh.
And you must laugh very loud.
So we knew what to do.
Now, this man asked me about my life.
Why I was traveling over the world.
Boy, that was a challenge.
And I had asked some of my friends
to pray.
And I knew that some friends were praying
the whole evening.
And the Lord gave me a strong message.
At once He said, I can't understand when
you tell that you have had difficulties and
problems and suffering and that you look so
happy.
I said, now, have I not a reason
to be happy?
I have a message for the whole world.
For God has so loved the whole world
that He has sent His only begotten Son
that whosoever believes in Him will not perish
but has everlasting life.
Isn't that something of great joy?
That I have a message for the whole
world and for whosoever?
Then He said, now it is Easter, so
I would like to hear what you think
about Easter.
Is that something to be happy about?
I said, sure.
Easter will say that Jesus not only died
at the cross for the sins of the
whole world, but that He lives, that He
rose again and that He is with us
always.
Easter is one of the most joyful feasts
that you can imagine.
When I came home after this, or it
was not really when I came home because
it was taken on videotape two days before,
so I had a joy to at home
to see the program.
It's always a thrill to see yourself on
the TV.
And I was happy to see that, to
hear that the Lord had really given a
strong message.
As a matter of fact, when I came
back from that interview, Ellen and I both,
we were disappointed.
We said, oh, I haven't said this.
I have not mentioned that.
And the enemy really was busy to discourage
us.
But when I listened and I heard what
the Lord had given me for a message,
I understood that the prayer was answered, that
my friends had prayed that evening.
They had prayed God make that Corrie only
says what is Your will and that she
does not say one word what is not
Your will.
And that's why that happened, a miracle.
That same evening I was after that called
over the telephone till midnight.
Say, I saw you on the TV.
Is that true?
That Jesus is a light?
That who comes to Him does not remain
in darkness?
I am in darkness.
Is that really right?
I said, yes, sir.
I have experienced it.
And what's your address?
And he gave me his address and the
next day I sent a friend of mine,
a brother, to go and visit him.
The next day I got piles of letters.
Weeks and weeks the telephone stood red hot,
can you say that?
But now what I'm going to tell you
is one letter from a lady who wrote
me My husband was so interested that you
told that you had lived in Haarlem.
He himself has lived 17 years in the
Smedestraat.
He knows a little bit about the Lord
Jesus and he thought it was very interesting
to hear of him.
I said, thank you, Lord, an answer on
a prayer of 75 years ago.
Oh, come along a kid of 5 years
who is praying for a whole street.
No.
The Lord listened.
He gave an answer, he worked, I don't
know, but he just showed to me one
of the people of the Smedestraat whom he
had touched.
I was always in Christian schools, but when
I was 15 I had to go to
a home economic school and that was not
a Christian school.
I told the girls who were sitting beside
me and the teachers that they needed Jesus.
They were not at all happy about my
sermons.
I came home and said Mom, these people
will not receive Jesus as their Savior.
And Mom said you must learn what is
life and life is not like a Christian
school, but go let us pray for them.
And then we really prayed very much for
my fellow students in that school and for
the teachers.
Now I got a letter.
Corrie, I saw you for the TV.
I was so interested.
You know 65 years ago we were together
in the home economic school and I was
so interested to hear and to see you
and what you told about Jesus was very
interesting, but I don't know much of him.
The next day I came to visit her
and I could explain her the whole way
of salvation.
An answer on a prayer of 65 years
ago.
It was a man with whom I have
talked and I have wrestled for his soul.
The last time that I saw him in
Canada I said no, I will not serve
God.
I will just go my own way.
Now he phoned me and he is now
in Holland.
He is a Dutchman and he phoned Tante,
that means auntie, Tante Corrie, I saw you
last night for the TV.
Do you realize that you said exactly the
same what you said to me 40 years
ago when we met in Canada?
And then I said no, but when I
heard you this time I believe that I
long to say yes.
What must I do?
He said come immediately.
He came.
And then wrote me 25 years ago, I
came in your house that you had opened
for ex-prisoners and I was happy there
but you told me to receive the Lord
Jesus as my savior but I was not
ready for that.
Now I saw you on the TV and
I thought you will be very interested and
happy that I can write you, I found
the Lord Jesus two weeks ago in a
meeting with a brother so and so.
Now you understand how we have prayed for
these people in that home for ex-prisoners
after the war.
The interesting thing was that suddenly all kinds
of churches were open for me after they
had seen that TV program.
So I spoke in Catholic churches, in all
kinds of churches where I never had been
before.
Once after a meeting there came an old
gentleman with long beard and he said you
know I was so interested to come to
you.
When I was six years old I was
in a school and my teacher was Mr.
Bohm, was that you?
I said no, that was my sister Nolly.
Do tell me, is she still alive?
I said no and I told about Nolly
and about her children and we were very
interested to hear about the teacher that he
had known so long ago.
But I said I am very happy to
tell you about her and about her family
but I am still more interested what do
you do with the message that you have
heard tonight?
He said what do you mean?
I said no I mean that I have
spoken about the necessity of the rebirth that
we have to be born again, that we
have to receive Jesus as our Savior as
a real decision.
Did you ever do that?
He said I am a very good Christian
I go every week to the church.
I said that's good but a mouse born
in a biscuit tin is therefore not yet
a biscuit.
To be in this building does not make
you a Christian.
I said but I am from a very
good family my father and mother were very
fine children of God.
I said but God has no grandchildren and
yet men accepted the Lord.
Now do you see the miracle?
More than 70 years ago Nolly every day
came from school and told what she had
experienced with the little ones in school and
then always her talk ended that we all
folded our hands and prayed for her pupils.
Did we do that in great faith?
No.
I don't remember my faith in that time
but what a joy to experience after 70
years an answer on these prayers.
Now why do I tell you this?
Because I will encourage you to go on
praying for that son, for that husband for
that wife of yours, for that mother of
yours for that neighbor I am sure that
almost everyone here will have people for whom
he and she is praying and you will
have experienced the same as I have experienced
that the devil sometimes says to you, now
stop it you have now done it so
long and now you experience the Lord is
not going to answer your prayers but he
is a liar God's news go slowly but
they go very secure and what I have
experienced of an answer after 75 years and
60 and 40 and 25 years that is
for me evidence that not one of our
prayers is lost and I even read in
the book of revelations that all the prayers
of the saints are kept and you when
you belong to Jesus you are a saint
we are what we are in Jesus Christ
one set apart for his service go on
with praying and I think that when we
come in heaven one of the joys will
be of what I have now experienced a
very little bit the answers for our prayers
of our whole life and then we will
be amazed that the Lord has done not
after our small faith but after his great
power and love go on with praying I
know that there will be here in this
building a great blessing this week why?
because I feel able?
No I have seldom felt myself so unable
but when our inability meets God's ability then
miracles happen and I know that there come
great blessings even this morning because your prayers
you have not been praying many of you
only today but also yesterday and weeks before
and Satan trembles when he sees the weakest
saint upon his knees the host of hell
how can that one rout who meets him
with a praiseful shout and that happens much
in this room here when I was in
a concentration camp I learned what it means
to pray I learned to cast my burden
on the Lord I will never forget that
once my my heart felt so terrible heavy
do you experience that sometimes?
that your heart is so heavy of all
the sorrows and the worries that you carry
that you can hardly breathe in the concentration
camp in Germany where I was together with
Betsy my sister because my family, my friends
and I had saved Jewish people and Gestapo
had brought us therefore into that camp my
heart was often very heavy not only for
our own suffering but what we saw around
us and one morning we saw a very
big group about seven, eight hundred newcomers what
a terrible suffering was awaiting these people my
heart felt so heavy I had a little
bible hidden under my dress and I opened
it and I read Ephesians no Philippians 4,
6 don't worry over anything whatever tell God
every detail of your needs in earnest and
thankful prayer and a peace of God which
transcends human understanding will keep constant guard over
your hearts and minds as they rest in
Jesus Christ you know my heart felt like
this handbag that was heavy and now I
started to obey and I did it I
started to tell God every detail of my
needs in earnest and thankful prayer and I
said Lord here I bring you these newcomers
oh Lord what a terrible suffering is awaiting
them Lord I cannot do anything for them
but you can come for them oh lay
your hand on their lives here they are
Lord and then I brought Betsy my sister
who was far too weak to be a
prisoner I said Lord let liberation come soon
Betsy is so weak and she is so
thin oh Lord keep Betsy very close to
your heart I thank you she has such
a peace but oh Lord liberate her soon
here is Betsy Lord and then I brought
my my friends in Holland and my queen
in England who had to suffer so much
through the oppression of the enemy I said
Lord I can only pray for them oh
Lord let soon the end come of this
terrible war and Lord I bring you all
these people in Holland and England and then
I brought my hatred that morning there had
come such a hatred in my heart because
of the cruelties I had experienced and I
said oh Lord forgive me my hatred forgive
me Father in Jesus name and I knew
that happens what always happens when you bring
a sin to God in Jesus name he
cleansed my heart and I am sure when
you are emptying your heavy heart from all
the burdens that it will be very often
that there is a sin that you bring
to the Lord but what a joy to
bring that sin to the Lord and leave
it with him and so I went on
and on I brought all the burdens of
my heart to the Lord and I went
so, so long going on with praying that
at last my heart was empty of worries
just as empty as this bag and then
I said Amen and that was good that
was praying that was casting all the burdens
of the Lord that was very good that
I did it but what I did after
that was not good I took
and brought back into my heart and I
can tell you my heart was heavier after
my prayer than before but that's not praying
praying means to bring all the burdens to
the Lord and leave it there and it
is the Holy Spirit who teaches us how
to pray and so to pray that we
can go through life with an empty heart,
empty of sorrows but full of the joy
of the Lord even in a very difficult
time and I saw it in Betsy one
day it was a day that was also
terrible there was no salt in the in
the terrible soup that they gave us, the
only meal oh you say that's so terrible,
yes when you are starving it is terrible
you need salt some of the people in
the barrack had been fighting they were all
propped together with 700 in a room that
was built for 200 and then when they
were fighting Betsy said let's pray and she
prayed and said oh Lord send away this
spirit of fighting these people are so so
irritated Lord they are so weak, they are
oh they suffer so much and she went
on praying and it was as if there
was a storm in the room that was
laid down it was absolutely quiet till at
last Betsy said thank you Lord and there
was peace that day one of the fellow
prisoners in that room was beaten till she
died it was a terrible day but Betsy
and I were sitting on that dirty cot
and Betsy was always talking about the Lord
and I talked with her and it was
as if the Lord had put a fence
around her not that she was back into
a self-centered being alone with the Lord
for always when she could give help she
did even if it was in the midst
of the night she could go to a
Polish woman that was crying and could not
sleep and that Polish woman she could not
reach with her language for she didn't understand
Dutch and Betsy didn't understand Polish but she
laid her hand on the head of that
woman and prayed and said oh Lord what
a joy that you understand me and she
prayed with that woman till that woman fell
asleep peaceful that evening Betsy said to me
hey Corrie haven't we had a very joyful
day and I looked at her a joyful
day in the midst of so much cruelty
but it was a joyful day when the
worst happens in the life of a child
of God the best remains and that is
what we must understand and so we can
be happy also in difficult times I have
found that there is nothing too small for
God's love and nothing too great for God's
power I once was in great danger I
stood on the in the custom office of
Moscow I had in my suitcase many many
Bibles, Russian Bibles and also other literature Christian
literature for the first time that I came
in Russia I saw how the custom officer
ransacked every suitcase and I got scared I
thought oh when he sees my Bibles and
my literature what will he do, send me
to prison send me back to Holland of
course he will take the Bibles now I
like to pray with an open Bible I
like to pray and say to the Lord
Father you have said it in your word,
now you must do it and God likes
it God likes it when we do that
for God has meant every promise of the
Bible he means business with his promises and
he likes it when you and I mean
business with his promises and when we expect
that he does what he promised I said
Lord you have said in Jeremiah 1 God
watches over his word to perform it Lord
these Bibles in my suitcase are your word
so with my hand on Jeremiah 1 I
pray Lord will you watch over your word
my Bibles in the suitcase to smuggle them
oh I know that was not what Jeremiah
said but when we pray with an open
Bible and tell God his promises God does
not first ask if we have a good
exegesis no and that moment I saw for
the first and only time of my life
angels they were standing around my suitcase like
beings now I have had a help of
angels so often but I have never seen
them don't ask me how they looked because
when I looked at them they disappeared they
did not disappear I know but I couldn't
see them any longer but also my fear
had disappeared and at last the custom officer
came to my suitcase is that your suitcase
yes sir oh wait lady I am through
with my work I will bring it to
your car and he brought it to the
car of the in tourist who was waiting
and I had almost shouted hallelujah but I
didn't do that oh my friends I will
speak more this week about the tremendous power
that is with us you and I are
standing on the front line of the of
the terrible battle that is now in this
world I believe that the Lord is training
us for the great end battle where you
and I will stand still more in the
front line and I know that we are
called to be prayer warriors there is much
written in the bible how we must pray
one of the things is that we may
pray in the name of Jesus so often
people forget that and it is so important
William Maganda once told me that he was
came back from a long trip his little
boy Timothy three years old was at the
station he said daddy I will carry your
suitcase he was only three years old and
the suitcase was very happy and he said
all right boy I will you may help
me but lay your hand on my hand
and the little boy laid his little big
hand on the strong hand of William and
so they came home when they came home
the little boy said mom I have carried
daddy's suitcase William asked his wife how has
he behaved in the time did you get
his letter yes he said and then she
told how it had happened she had written
was writing a letter to William and little
Timothy she said mom what are you doing
she said I am writing daddy a letter
I will also write daddy a letter oh
she said that's good and she gave him
a paper and a pen and he started
to write a letter to his daddy when
he had finished it he gave it to
his mom and the mother wrote this is
Christopher's letter to his daddy when William got
that letter he thought oh there is a
mistake that came in the letter of my
wife and he would throw it in to
the waste basket but suddenly he read what
was there was written this is Christopher's letter
to his daddy and suddenly he became very
happy his son had written him a letter
he said to his friend have you a
boy of three years old yes he said
I too did he ever write you a
letter no of course not my son has
written me a letter my how proud how
happy he was say when you pray it
may be beautiful in the beautiful language of
the book of common prayer it may be
a cry a sigh it may be a
just telling all your worries it can be
in whatever language it will be said it
can be a beautiful prayer but it is
never good and beautiful enough for a holy
God but when you say in Jesus name
then suddenly God is happy with your prayer
for Jesus says father this is a prayer
a letter from John from Mary from Isabel
and suddenly God is so happy with that
prayer only through the name of Jesus so
don't forget don't say Lord now I finish
this prayer in your name no say the
name of Jesus there is power in the
name of Jesus Jesus heard when you prayed
last night he talked with God about you
Jesus was there when you fought your fight
he is gone to bring you through Jesus
knew when you shed those tears he saw
you did not weep alone for the burden
you thought too heavy to bear he made
his very own Jesus himself was touched by
that trial which you could not understand Jesus
stood by as you almost fell and lovingly
grasped your hand Jesus cared when you bore
that pain indeed he bore it too he
felt each pain each ache in your heart
because of his love for you Jesus was
grieved when you doubted his love but he
gave you grace to go on Jesus rejoiced
as you trusted him the only trustworthy one
his presence shall ever be with you no
need to be anxious wonderful Lord he was
there all the time he has never forsaken
you yet thank you Lord that is more
true than we can realize forgive us our
doubts teach us to pray Holy Spirit thank
you that your commandments are so seriously meant
even the commandment don't worry about anything thing
whatever Hallelujah!
Amen