The Power Of Praying Parents

The Power Of Praying Parents Both the story of Hudson Taylor’s conversion and his call to the mission field are examples of the truth of this verse in the prayer lives of his parents: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Mt. 21:22 niv). It was Hudson’s mother who prayed specifically and without ceasing for Hudson’s salvation. As the story goes, she was over eighty miles away from home, with much time to herself when the Spirit moved her to enter into fervent prayer for her son’s conversion. At the very moment she was pleading with the Lord, back home, Hudson, then fifteen, came upon the tract entitled “The Finished Work of Christ.” While he read it only to pass the time, the Holy Spirit opened his heart to every word he read. At the same time that his mother praised God for an answer to her prayer, Hudson was on his knees accepting Jesus as his Savior. When they met weeks later and exchanged stories, each enjoyed the miracle of answered prayer. A few years later, Hudson was moved to become a missionary and take the Good News to inland China where souls had never heard of the One who “is able to save completely those who come to God through Him” (Heb. 7:25). After Hudson had established the China Inland Mission his father revealed to him that his call to China was an answer to prayer. Before Hudson’s birth, in about 1830, his father became intensely interested in the spiritual condition of China. At that time, he began praying to God to give him a son who might go to China as a missionary. And He did! Hudson Taylor’s life has inspired many to become missionaries. Shouldn’t the prayer lives of his parents also encourage us to serve the Lord by praying fervently for the salvation of souls – both in our own family and in lands far away? By Larry Ondrejack