World Renewal International

Dad’s Prayer Life
Now for those of you who do not know what I am talking about when I say dad “shouted” while he was praying let me explain. My father usually prayed out loud. Often, this was at a louder volume than normal speaking. Dad seemed to have a goal in praying, and that was to “pray through” to “touch heaven.” That meant he would pray until he received some kind of witness of the Spirit in his heart that indicated victory. Often when that victory came it was like a spiritual shot of adrenalin hit his soul and he would let out a shout of joy. He often would shout several times in a row and that spiritual victory seemed to splash around onto the people in the room. I never knew my dad not to exhibit this behavior. He acted this way all my life. I am a little hesitant to share these things, as I do not want to have readers take dad’s prayer habits as cavalier. Dad’s prayer life was such a positive blessing to most folks who knew him or really loved the Lord. However, to those who did not desire the new birth or were not concerned with the Lordship of Christ, dad’s behavior could be a problem. [Dad and twin sister Jeanie- also a pastor]
If he did not get that spiritual victory during prayer he would pray to discern what he felt in his heart, who, what was God talking to him about? He would pray until he got some spiritual direction or focus in his heart about the object of prayer.
If you went to him and asked him to pray for you, he took you serious. “Now Lord,” I can hear him begin to pray. Most of us felt like dad had a spiritual “hot line” to the Lord. I will never forget when my older two children were talking to Carol and me about a crisis in our family and asked, “Does Papaw know about this?” It was both a question and statement. The statement was we want Papaw praying for us and if he is then we are in a better situation. That never offended me because in tough times I was wondering, “Does Papaw know about this?”
A truly defining moment for me was August 22, 1994, when dad passed away in Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Indiana. He had suffered a brainstem stroke during a heart bypass and had been in a coma for several days. My brother Mark and I were with him. All the monitors stopped recording life. I said to Mark, “He has stopped breathing.” Mark leaned forward and kissed dad on the forehead. As we turned to tell the rest of the family that Papaw just “slipped” into heaven as he would say, I reached for the curtain to exit the area of his bed. I thought, “Oh, Oh, my kids just have their mom and me to pray them through now.” It was and still is an overwhelming thought; I have tried to embrace it.
People who knew dad often say to me, “I sure liked to hear your dad pray.” I always give this truthful response, “Me too.”
The last years of my dad’s life were interesting in many ways. Without mom he seemed to lose all inhibitions in prayer for some reason. It was probably just the hours of solitude and grieving. He prayed so much out loud, when you rode with him in the car it was confusing. Was he talking to the Lord or to you? Often, I could not tell. While unsettling, at least to me, it was also wonderful. Jesus Christ was so real to him. If you knew him, this was all genuine and totally his relationship to Christ. There was nothing more real to him in his life than his relationship to Jesus. It was the very essence of who my dad was. I felt the presence of Jesus with him throughout my life. It was real. It is to be desired. When I read the stories of great men of God in the Bible as a boy, I never thought they had anything on my dad. Some things never change. I just wanted you to know, I hope I captured him in these words.