Numerous are the studies on prayer that have stood out over the decades, and been heralded as classics on the theme – timeless volumes that have inspired countless believers across the nations. Among their number are E. M. Bounds, ‘On Prayer’, Andrew Murray, ‘With Christ in the School of Prayer’, D. M. Mcintyre’s little beauty ‘Hidden Life of Prayer’, and Dick Eastman, ‘The Hour that Changes the World’. More recently, Tim Keller’s comprehensive, ‘Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God’ (2016) has been described as perhaps the best study on prayer in the current generation, and is destined to become another true classic.

Complementary prayer ministries

But how many this side of the Atlantic are familiar with two little-known books on prayer that, in certain circles in the United States, are already deemed classics? The works I refer to are C. G. Bevington’s, ‘Remarkable Incidents and Modern Miracles Through Prayer and Faith’, and Will J. Harney’s, ‘Praying Clear Through’.

Although there’s no evidence the two authors ever met, their ministries have striking similarities. Little is known about either author, neither of whom engaged in self-promotion (in Bevington’s case we’re not even told his first name!); each wrote just one book; both were published around a century ago; both works have recently been reprinted; and both men were regional evangelists within the Wesleyan Holiness tradition.

Bite-size nuggets

The comparisons extend even further. For not only do both books centre on the all-important topic of prayer, at the heart of each study is the necessity of waiting on God in earnest, prevailing intercession. ‘Praying Clear Through’ is essentially a teaching book, comprising bite-size nuggets of impactful spiritual truths, interspersed with faith-building testimonies from personal experience. The chapter titles alone give a good indication of the depth of contents: ‘Waiting upon the Lord’, ‘Silent times for Prayer’, ‘Be ye Clean’, ‘Placing our Face between our Knees’, ‘He that Believeth’.

The essence of Harney’s self-taught revelations is that for prayer to be effective, we have to first know that we are praying in accordance with the will of God, and then persist in interceding for whatever God has put on our hearts, until sweet assurance comes that heaven has heard and the answer is on its way. That answer may not come quickly, nor without much agonising – but to those who are steadfast and faithful, Harney insists, it will come.

The answer may not come quickly, nor without much agonising – but to those who are steadfast and faithful it will come.

Cultivating a spirit of prayer

Harney says of the deep prayer life, ‘Waiting upon God in secret prayer … prepares for you to sing with spirit and to pray in the Spirit, and prepares you to teach under the inspiration of the Spirit. It makes chores light. It makes work for God a delight, and it oils up the machinery of ministry. There is no burden, no worry. There is rest, sweet abiding rest. Oh, why not wait upon God!’ (pp. 24-5)

We need to cultivate a spirit of prayer, the author concludes, and ever ensure that we ‘pray clear through’. Repeatedly, the author backs up his punchy teaching with deeply convincing personal testimonies of abiding prayer in operation.

Simple man of striking faith

Talking of prevailing prayer at work, C. G. Bevington’s book is packed to the brim of such accounts. Rather than directly a teaching book, ‘Remarkable Incidents and Modern Miracles’ is autobiographical. Yet in no way is it his full life story – the evangelist being way too modest to seek glory for himself. Rather, this book records the faithfulness of God in answer to the intercessory cries of his servants.

Bevington was an itinerant evangelist whose unwavering life-calling was to share abroad the liberating gospel of his Lord and Saviour. He lived from hand-to-mouth, with no regular income, yet never took an offering for himself, nor made his wants known to anyone but his loving Father.

Absolute abandon

And it’s precisely such absolute abandon to his Father’s care, his utter confidence that the Lord will provide for his every need and respond to his every prayer that makes this volume so compelling from start to finish. The beauty of the first-hand stories he shares is that, remarkable as they are, they are related in a matter-of-fact way, devoid of sensationalism.

One story relates to the evangelist being invited to hold meetings in a notoriously ‘dark’ community in the back of beyond. Seeking God on the matter, Bevington felt led to accept the invitation, and was even shown in his mind’s eye the exact location – with schoolhouse, grove of trees, large barn and windmill – to which he was to journey, though he had never been there before. He walked the 22 miles to the location and found everything as he had envisioned. But Bevington was flatly denied permission to hold meetings in the schoolroom. Characteristically, he spent the next nine days and nights sheltering under a remote oak tree, without a bite to eat, praying for access to the building. To cut a long, but astonishing, story short, assurance was gained, and its fulfilment enacted. Meetings were begun, a potent revival broke out, and in nine weeks of intense nightly meetings, hundreds were saved or ‘sanctified’ (the Wesleyan term given to a post-conversion infilling of the Holy Spirit).

Revival broke out, and in nine weeks of intense nightly meetings, hundreds were saved or ‘sanctified’.

Teaching and testimony

There are many more testimonies of faith and deliverance, including one of the most dramatic, yet convincing, accounts of physical healing I have heard. In every instance, the victory came after hours, days or occasionally weeks of persistent, focused, believing soul travail.

These two volumes complement each other beautifully, bringing powerful teaching and stirring testimony together. Both are easy to read, and equally unputdownable. Both are profoundly challenging as to our own faith in God; yet both too are deeply faith-building and encouraging. I’ve thoroughly profited from reading them, and find myself returning to them repeatedly. Read thoughtfully and watch your prayer life soar…

Published by Kingsley Press and Whitaker House respectively, C. G. Bevington, ‘Remarkable Incidents and Modern Miracles’, and Will J. Harney, ‘Praying Through Clear’, are available from books2anywhere