Much prayer, much power

Peter Deyneka (1898-1987) was the founder of the Slavic Gospel Association. A great man of prayer, here we can read something of his experience.

As I look back upon my own Christian life, I am reminded of a few experiences out of the many hundreds of prayers that God has answered so definitely. Soon after I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour, after listening to the pastor challenge us to be soul winners, I began to specifically pray that God would lead me to some lost souls.

One summer soon after my conversion, I was working at Cedar Lake, Indiana, at the Moody Bible Conference. On a Sunday afternoon, as I was by the lake, I began talking to two young men. They were on their way to a dance club across the lake, but I told them that if they were seeking real joy they could find it in Christ. These two young fellows refused to go with me to the gospel service, but I promised them that I would pray for them while they went to the dance, that the Lord would speak to their hearts. I told them in parting that whenever they felt their need to be saved they should come to the camp and ask for Peter, the Russian, and I would be glad to see them and help them. So they went to the dance and I went to the Bible camp.

Agreeing together

I asked another man to join with me and agree together (as the Bible say, 'If two of you agree...') to pray for these two men who went to the dance club, that God would convict them of their sins and give them no rest until they found Christ as Saviour. We spent about an hour in prayer, believing God and trusting him to work in their hearts.

About two hours later, these two men left the dance club and came to the camp grounds looking for me. At first I did not recognise them and they said, 'We are the two fellows you spoke to a few hours ago at the lake and asked if we wanted to be saved. Will you please pray for us?' I gladly took them to the special prayer room and led them both to the Lord Jesus Christ. I asked them why they came so soon from the dance club. They said that when they got there they were so miserable, had misunderstandings with some of their friends, and got so disgusted that they quit the whole thing and came over. Thank God! They were marvellously saved. All three of us began thanking God that he heard our prayers. They went home rejoicing. I saw them from time to time during the summer months, praising the Lord.

Laughing Russian

There was a Russian young man in Chicago for whom I earnestly prayed. He was leaning toward atheism and laughed at me because I attended church. I told him that I would not stop praying for him until God saved his soul. This man told me that neither I nor God would ever do anything for him because he did not believe in God. But I told him that he would find out in eternity that there is a God - after it was too late - if he did not get right with him now.

After praying for this man for over a year, one day while I was working I was especially burdened to pray for him. I asked my boss if he would release me early from work because I was under such a terrific burden to pray for this man. He did, and I called on a friend of mine, who was a real prayer warrior, to pray with me. We spent about two hours in urgent, earnest prayer for the salvation of this young man. It is wonderful to know someone who really loves to pray. You do not have to know how to pray beautiful prayers, the Holy Spirit will pray through you if you will only take time to pray.

The next morning I went to the store where this young man was working. When he saw me coming, he was overjoyed. He said, 'Peter, I'm so glad you came to see me. Yesterday I had no rest and I thought I would die. I didn't know what to do with myself. I felt miserable.' I said to him, 'Praise the Lord. We were praying for you last night.' He asked me to please stop praying for him and he would do whatever I told him to do. So I told him that he must give his heart to the Lord and if he did not I would continue to pray for him. He said that he would and promised that the next day, which was Sunday, he would be at the young men's Bible class at Moody Church at 3.00 pm.

The next afternoon, he was there. When the Bible teacher gave the invitation for salvation, this young fellow walked forward, knelt at the altar and wept, giving his heart to the Lord. After that experience, he told me how he had spiritually suffered in his heart. Though he had previously told me he was happy and satisfied, he never really was. The Lord had heard my prayer. Now I could pray that God would help him to grow in grace. Today that young man is married, has a family, and is rejoicing in the Lord because we took time to pray for him. Keep on praying for your unsaved friends.

Visiting Soviet Russia

In 1937, I prayed with my wife and a few Christian friends about visiting the Soviet Union. Even though these were days of many hardships and persecutions for Christians in Russia, I wanted to observe the conditions and see what I could do to help. Most people I talked to about this matter advised me not to go, telling me that if I went I would never get out. Since everyone discouraged me, I decided not to talk to anyone else about it except the Lord. After praying for a few months, I felt confident that he wanted me to go and was further encouraged by the fact that the Lord supplied all the necessary means to make this trip. He also made it possible for me to get a visa for the Soviet Union and the Siberian region, which were very difficult to obtain at that time.

On my way to Russia, I stopped off at a gospel workers' conference in Warsaw, Poland. Here again, many of the workers advised me not to go and tried to discourage me as others had done in America. My answer in each instance was that God was able to protect me from all evil. One of the men felt extremely sorry for me and the family I had left in America, for he was certain I would never return to them again. I asked him if he would remember me in prayer and ask God to protect me. His answer was, 'Yes, but that will not help'.

From Warsaw, I took the train to Kiev, Ukraine. I prayed that God would help me find a Russian gospel-preaching church. I searched Sunday morning and did not find one, but I was told where the church was located. 'If you want to get a seat, you had better get there by 6.00 or 6.30 pm because the meeting begins at 7.00'. I thought if I arrived 15 minutes before the meeting was scheduled, I would have enough time to get a seat.

Arriving in good time, to my great surprise I found this large church was already overcrowded. Many people were standing inside the church and even outside. How my heart thrilled. I could only weep for joy to realise that these dear people were so hungry to hear the Word of God. The meeting opened at exactly 7.00 and several preachers took part in the service.

One of the preachers said, 'Dear brothers and sisters, let us thank God for this wonderful opportunity we have to get together once more to worship our Lord Jesus Christ. He is worthy of praise. Let us pray.' As soon as the preacher in this evangelical Baptist church announced prayer, people began to pray everywhere. After a long time of prayer, the meeting continued. God's presence was felt. How easily and diligently people pray when they have difficulties. What a challenge this should be to us to have this kind of prayer life no matter what our circumstances of life. God always works when we pray.

As I went on to visit Leningrad (St. Petersburg), I again noticed the great sincerity in the prayer life of Russian Christians. As I stepped inside their church, I found over 500 people kneeling in prayer, both young and old. How my heart was touched to see the children of God not ashamed nor afraid to kneel and pray. I could hardly believe I was in Russia. As I knelt in prayer with these dear Christians who endured many hardships for the gospel's sake, my heart melted. How I thank God for the privilege I had of fellowshipping with them and hearing their wonderful reports of how God was working there among them.

When leaving Russia on my way to Japan, I praised God for hearing my prayers while I was in Russia. God was with me. Going through customs, our baggage was examined. Everything was satisfactory. My passport was stamped, and I left. In one hour, the train passed from Russia into Manchuria. My heart was filled with joy and gratitude to God for his complete power and protection. What a joy it is to travel with the Lord.

He could not pray?

In my travels in missionary and evangelistic conferences throughout North America and other parts of the world, one young seminary student asked, 'Mr. Deyneka, what is wrong with my praying? Here I am, dedicated to the Lord, wanting to do God's will, but somehow I just cannot pray. When I go to pray, my mind gets so full of evil thoughts that I just cannot pray. I also have a hard time keeping awake when I pray and often fall asleep. My mind just fills up with everything except prayer.' I am sure that there are hundreds of others with similar problems.

I asked him, 'How do you pray and where do you pray?' 'Well', he said, 'I pray in my bedroom before I go to bed'. I asked him, 'Do you pray just in your mind or do you pray aloud?' He said, 'No, I never pray aloud; I just pray in my mind.' I told him that might be his trouble. If he cannot get victory praying silently, he should start praying aloud. Of course, God hears us when we pray silently. There is a time and a place for that kind of prayer. But if we are bothered by wandering thoughts and sleepiness when we pray, it helps to pray aloud.

So when you go to pray, pour out your heart before God, claim his promises, claim the victory, ask God to cleanse your heart, mind and even your thoughts. When David prayed he said, 'Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties' (Psalm 139.23). He not only asked God to search his heart, but also to search his thoughts. So I told this young man that he should search his heart and mind and pray aloud. If we meet God's conditions when we come to pray, he has promised to do his part. Our part is to come to him, to see him, to ask of him in faith and sincerity with a pure heart, to ask in his name and authority, and he will hear and answer our prayers.

Do you love the Lord? Then take time to talk to him. Our prayer of faith will accomplish great things.

This article is abridged from 'Much Prayer, Much Power', published by the Slavic Gospel Association.

Agreeing together

Laughing Russian

Visiting Soviet Russia

He could not pray?

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