good endings

One day when DL Moody was preaching in a church in England, he felt an iciness in the congregation he could not melt. He left the pulpit feeling leaden and stolid. The Spirit had not moved. All afternoon, Moody dreaded returning to preach at the evening service. However, something dramatic happened in the evening service. It began with a look of warmth on a single face, then it spread. Moody felt, and saw it surging like a tide on the faces of the people before him. There was a great outpouring of the Spirit and crowds of people streamed into the aisles to accept Christ.

The people begged Moody to stay on. He promised to return to them after an engagement in Scotland. Upon his return, he heard what had happened. Moody called upon a church member who was an invalid and discovered that she had read of his work and had been praying for months that God would send him to stir the smouldering coals of faith in her church. Her sister had returned home from church after Moody first preached and had told her about the service. She was astonished that he had come. All afternoon and evening she fasted and prayed for revival. Moody was convinced that she had single handedly been responsible for the dramatic change between the morning and evening services.

God can use the faithful prayers of one person to release the warmth of His presence into many cold hearts, melting away their resistance and stirring the smouldering coals in their hearts.

Good endings come from prayerful beginnings.