The Weather Controlled by Prayer - Glenn Conjurske
The Weather Controlled by Prayer
compiled by the editor
I would not dare to suggest that the weather may be always controlled by prayer, for I believe no such thing. Yet I do believe that the weather is in the hands of God, and that he may control it at his pleasure, either miraculously, or providentially through natural causes. I believe further that he actually does so in answer to the prayers of his saints—-or if he please, in answer to the prayers of sinners—-when there is sufficient occasion for it. The following accounts, from among those gathered in my reading during many years, I offer as proof of this. But I advise my readers that though I include here some accounts of rain stopped by prayer, I purposely exclude any accounts of rain received in answer to prayer, for I have so many of them that they of themselves would make an article much larger than this one. Those I must reserve for another time.
George Müller. It was towards the end of November of 1857, when I was most unexpectedly informed that the boiler of our heating apparatus at No. 1, leaked very considerably, so that it was impossible to go through the winter with such a leak. …
The boiler is entirely surrounded by brickwork; its state, therefore, could not be known without taking down the brickwork; this, if needless, would be rather injurious to the boiler, than otherwise; and as for eight winters we had had no difficulty in this way, we had not anticipated it now. But suddenly, and most unexpectedly, at the commencement of the winter, this difficulty occurred. What then was to be done? For the children, especially the younger infants, I felt deeply concerned, that they might not suffer, through want of warmth. But how were we to obtain warmth? The introduction of a new boiler would, in all probability, take many weeks. The repairing of the boiler was a questionable matter, on account of the greatness of the leak; but, if not, nothing could be said of it, till the brick-chamber in which it is enclosed, was, at least in part, removed; but that would, at least, as far as we could judge, take days; and what was to be done in the meantime, to find warm rooms for 300 children? … At last I determined on falling entirely into the hands of God, who is very merciful and of tender compassion, and I decided on having the brick-chamber opened, to see the extent of the damage, and whether the boiler might be repaired, so as to carry us through the winter.
The day was fixed, when the workmen were to come, and all the necessary arrangements were made. The fire, of course, had to be let out while the repairs were going on. But now see. After the day was fixed for the repairs, a bleak North wind set in. It began to blow either on Thursday or Friday before the Wednesday afternoon, when the fire was to be let out. Now came the first really cold weather, which we had in the beginning of that winter, during the first days of December. What was to be done? The repairs could not be put off. I now asked the Lord for two things, viz., that He would be pleased to change the north wind into a south wind, and that He would give to the workmen “a mind to work”; for I remembered how much Nehemiah accomplished in 52 days, whilst building the walls of Jerusalem, because “the people had a mind to work.” Well, the memorable day came. The even before, the bleak north wind blew still; but, on the Wednesday, the south wind blew; exactly as I had prayed. The weather was so mild that no fire was needed. The brickwork is removed, the leak is found out very soon, the boiler makers begin to repair in good earnest. About half-past eight in the evening, when I was going home, I was informed at the lodge, that the acting principal of the firm, whence the boiler makers came, had arrived to see how the work was going on, and whether he could in any way speed the matter. I went immediately, therefore, into the cellar, to see him with the men, to seek to expedite the business. In speaking to the principal of this, he said in their hearing, “the men will work late this evening, and come very early again to-morrow.” “We would rather, Sir,” said the leader, “work all night.” Then remembered I the second part of my prayer, that God would give the men “a mind to work.” Thus it was: by the morning the repair was accomplished, the leak was stopped, though with great difficulty, and within about 30 hours the brickwork was up again and the fire in the boiler; and all the time the south wind blew so mildly, that there was not the least need of a fire.—-A Narrative of the Lord’s Dealings with George Müller, written by himself, (Vol. 3), Fifth Part. London: J. Nisbet & Co., Second Edition, 1895, pp. 110-112.
R. A. Torrey. In order to arouse the attention of the non-church going people, it was suggested that an open-air service should be held in the heart of the city. When the suggestion was made, the objection was brought forth that rain would make the service impossible. Dundee at that time of the year was very uncertain in its climate. It seemed to rain every day during the month’s campaign. Dr. Torrey decided to have the open-air meeting.
On the morning of the meeting day, the clouds were black and very soon the rain descended in torrents. From 9:00 A. M. to noon, it proved to be a deluge. Then the rain eased up a little. But at 1 P.M. it came down again as heavily as before. That morning special prayer had been made, asking God to clear the skies for the open-air meeting. There were many dubious people who nevertheless prayed, but there was one man whose faith towered above that of the others as he prayed in what seemed to be a matter-of-fact way in asking God for clear weather. At ten minutes of two o’clock the rain ceased. At two o’clock the sun was shining. A vast crowd gathered, and the meeting was held. It was a time of spiritual refreshing. At two forty-five o’clock the benediction was pronounced, and five minutes later the rain descended in torrents again.—-Reuben Archer Torrey, by Robert Harkness. Chicago: Bible Inst. Colportage Ass’n, 1929, pp. 21-22.
John Easter. Mr. Easter possesed an uncommon degree of faith. It was objected to him, that “instead of praying, he commanded God, as if the Lord was to obey man.” The following is a specimen of what I was an eye-witness. While preaching to a large concourse of people in the open air, at a time of considerable drought, it began to thunder, a cloud approached, and drops of rain fell. He stopped preaching, and besought the Lord to withhold the rain until evening—-to pour out his Spirit, convert the people, and then water the earth. He then resumed his subject. The appearance of rain increased—-the people began to get uneasy—-some moved to take off their saddles; when, in his peculiar manner, he told the Lord that there were “sinners there that must be converted or be damned,” and prayed that he would “stop the bottles of heaven until the evening.” He closed his prayer, and assured us, in the most confident manner, that we might keep our seats—-that it would not rain to wet us; that “souls are to be converted here to-day—-my God assures me of it, and you may believe it.” The congregation became composed, and we did not get wet; for the cloud parted, and although there was a fine rain on both sides of us, there was none where we were until night. The Lord’s Spirit was poured out in an uncommon degree, many were convicted, and a considerable number professed to be converted that day.—-Life and Times of William M’Kendree, by Robert Paine. Nashville: Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South, 1893, pp. 52-53.
Thomas Calhoun. The Rev. Thomas Calhoun was preaching the funeral sermon of the Rev. Robert Donnell. Vast crowds of people were present. A heavy rain was seen to be approaching. People began to be restless. Calhoun raised his hands to heaven and prayed God not to allow the rain to disturb the solemn worship. Then, turning to the congregation, he assured them that God would not allow the rain to come upon their saddles. The cloud parted, and it rained all around, hard and long, but none fell either on the camp-ground or on the multitude of horses which stood with saddles on them in the adjacent grove.—-History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, by B. W. McDonnold. Nashville: Board of Publication of Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1888, pg. 35.
Francis Asbury. Arrived at the ferry, it blew a hurricane. I lifted up my heart in prayer to God. There was, in a few minutes, a great calm, which all those with me witnessed, but I will not say it was in answer to prayer. [And why not? Asbury is too modest.—-editor.]—-The Journal of Francis Asbury. New-York: Published by N. Bangs and T. Mason, for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1821, Vol. III, pg. 325. (March 18, 1812).
John Wesley. I just write a line to let you know that we came to Holyhead on Saturday afternoon, and went on board about ten at night; but we had a dead calm till between ten and eleven in the morning, at which time I began the public service. After sermon I prayed that God would give us a moderate wind, with a safe, easy, and speedy passage. While I was speaking the wind sprung up, and carried us at an average of five miles an hour; so that we sailed from Holywell Bay to Dublin Bay in exactly twelve hours. The sea meantime was as smooth as a looking-glass; so that no creature in the ship was sick a moment.—-The Letters of John Wesley, edited by John Telford. London: The Epworth Press, 1931, Vol. VII, pg. 268.
Hudson Taylor. The voyage was a very tedious one. We lost a good deal of time on the equator from calms; and when we finally reached the Eastern Archipelago, were again detained from the same cause. Usually a breeze would spring up soon after sunset, and last until about dawn. The utmost use was made of it, but during the day we lay still with flapping sails, often drifting back and losing a good deal of the advantage we had gained during the night.
This happened notably on one occasion, when we were in dangerous proximity to the North of New Guinea. Saturday night had brought us to a point some thirty miles off the land; but during the Sunday morning service, which was held on deck, I could not fail to notice that the captain looked troubled, and frequently went over to the side of the ship. When the service was ended, I learnt from him the cause—-a four-knot current was carrying us rapidly towards some sunken reefs, and we were already so near that it seemed improbable that we should get through the afternoon in safety. After dinner the long-boat was put out, and all hands endeavoured, without success, to turn the ship’s head from the shore.
After standing together on the deck for some time in silence, the captain said to me, “Well, we have done everything that can be done; we can only await the result.” A thought occurred to me, and I replied, “No, there is one thing we have not done yet.” “What is it?” he queried. “Four of us on board are Christians,” I answered (the Swedish carpenter and our coloured steward, with the captain and myself); “let us each retire to his own cabin, and in agreed prayer ask the Lord to give us immediately a breeze. He can as easily send it now as at sunset.”
The captain complied with this proposal. I went and spoke to the other two men, and after prayer with the carpenter we all four retired to wait upon God. I had a good but very brief season in prayer, and then felt so satisfied that our request was granted that I could not continue asking, and very soon went up again on deck. The first officer, a godless man, was in charge. I went over and asked him to let down the clews or corners of the mainsail, which had been drawn up in order to lessen the useless flapping of the sail against the rigging. He answered, “What would be the good of that?” I told him we had been asking a wind from God, that it was coming immediately, and we were so near the reef by this time that there was not a minute to lose. With a look of incredulity and contempt, he said with an oath that he would rather see a wind than hear of it! But while he was speaking I watched his eye, and followed it up to the royal (the topmost sail), and there, sure enough, the corner of the sail was beginning to tremble in the coming breeze. “Don’t you see the wind is coming? Look at the royal!” I exclaimed. “No, it is only a cat’s-paw,” he rejoined (a mere puff of wind). “Cat’s-paw or not,” I cried, “pray let down the mainsail, and let us have the benefit!”
This he was not slow to do. In another minute the heavy tread of the men on the deck brought up the captain from his cabin to see what was the matter; and he saw that the breeze had indeed come. In a few minutes we were ploughing our way at six or seven knots an hour through the water. We were soon out of danger; and though the wind was sometimes unsteady, we did not altogether lose it until after passing the Pelew Islands.”—-A Retrospect, by J. Hudson Taylor. London: China Inland Mission, Seventeenth Edition, 1951, pp. 46-47.
Observe, I do not pretend to know that there was anything miraculous in the above accounts. Neither do I know certainly that there was not. What I do know is that they display the working of the hand of God, in answer to prayer.
Glenn Conjursk