In the year 1854 a sailing vessel was becalmed in the vicinity of New Guinea. Seeing the distressed look on the captain's face
as he peered intently into the sea, a young Englishman inquired as to the
cause of his anxiety. This was the reply: "A four-knot current is
carrying us swiftly toward some sunken reefs over there. Our fate seems to be
sealed." On the shores of the island, cannibals were rushing about and
lighting fires in great glee. Presently the captain spoke again: "We
have done everything that can be done." "No," responded the
young man, "there is one thing we haven't done. Four of us on board are
Christians. Let each of us retire to his cabin and in agreed prayer ask the
Lord to give us a breeze immediately." This was agreed upon and done.
After a few minutes of earnest intercession, the young man came up on deck
confident that the petition had been granted. Finding the first officer, a
godless man, in charge, he requested him to let down the corners of the
mainsail. "What would be the good of that?" he asked. The young man
told him that he and three others had been asking God to send a wind, that it
was coming immediately and that there was not a minute to lose, since they
were so near the reefs. With a look of contempt, the officer replied with an
oath: "Nonsense! You can't pray up a wind." Noticing a few moments
later that the topmost sail was beginning to tremble, he said: "That is
only a cat's-paw -- a mere puff of wind." "Never mind what you
think," cried the young man. "Let down the mainsail quickly."
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This he was not slow to do. Hearing the heavy tread of the men on
deck, the captain came up from his cabin and saw that the breeze had indeed come.
In a few minutes they were sailing away from the dangerous reefs, much to the
disappointment of the native cannibals on the beach.
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Writing of this and similar experiences, the young man said:
"Thus God encouraged me, ere landing on China's shores, to bring every
variety of need to Him in prayer, and to expect that He would
honor the name of the Lord Jesus and give the help which each emergency
required."
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So we have been introduced to a remarkable man, J. Hudson Taylor, and
to the text, John 14:13, which was woven into the fabric of his life and into
the texture of his stupendous achievements: "And whatsoever ye shall
ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son."
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