Intercessory prayer is the Christian's most effective weapon. Nothing can withstand it's power. It will do things when all else has failed. And the marvel is that we turn to other agencies in order to accomplish what only prayer can bring to pass. God has placed this mighty weapon in our hands, and He expects us to use it. How disappointed He must be when we lay it a side and substitute natural means for supernatural work.
In this twentieth century we are, more and more, turning from the God-appointed means of intercessory prayer and adopting, instead, merely natural agencies for the carrying on of His work. Everywhere we look it is the same, both in evangelism and ordinary church work. Intercessory prayer has been shelved. For some reason it is out of date. Our methods, we say, are better, our plans more successful, and so we adopt natural means to bring to pass the supernatural.
My brethren, it can never be done, We may appear to be successful; the crowds may come; the altar may be full night after night. Reported results may be broadcasted everywhere. Whole cities may be stirred and mightily moved! And yet when it is all over and two or three years have passed, how little will be found to be genuine! And why? Simply because we have been satisfied with a superficial, spectacular work, brought to pass by natural means. Consequently the truly supernatural has been largely lacking. Oh let us get back to intercessory prayer, the highest form of Christians service, and give God no rest until we have a spiritual outcome.
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Oswald J. Smith (1889 - 1986)
Was a Canadian pastor, author, and missions advocate. He founded The People's Church in Toronto in 1928. Over the course of eighty years he preached more than 12,000 sermons in 80 countries, wrote thirty-five books (with translations into 128 languages), as well as 1,200 poems, of which 100 have been set to music, including "Deeper and Deeper" (first line "Into the heart of Jesus").The great burden of Oswald J. Smith's Christian life was to see the lost come to the Lord. He was well known for the motto: "We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first." and "No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once."
Although he was the long-time pastor of the large and influential Peoples Church in Toronto, Ontario, the name of Oswald J. Smith is most often associated with missions. Born in 1889 in Ontario, at the age of sixteen he attended an evangelistic crusade held by R. A. Torrey and Charles Alexander, where he was saved. Two years later he began Bible College, eventually graduating from both college and seminary. His burden for missions showed up early in life. He applied with a foreign missions board, but they turned him down because of concerns about poor health he had suffered throughout his childhood (a problem which he apparently overcame, since he later worked both in the backwoods of Canada and the mountains of Kentucky, then lived into his late nineties).
If he couldn't go as a missionary, he determined to start a church that would send out missionaries. In 1928 Smith started the Peoples Church, originally called the Cosmopolitan Tabernacle. As a young man he had asked God to enable him to give more than he would ordinarily be able to give, and the blessings he experienced helped him institute faith promise missions giving. With this plan, churches have given multiplied millions to send the Gospel throughout the world. He also established mission works to reach the northern parts of Canada, to reach Jews and to distribute tracts. In addition to his pastoral and missions works, he wrote 1200 poems and hymn lyrics, over 200 of which were set to music. His earthly work ended at his homegoing in 1986.