A little boy was afraid of the dark.
One night his mother told him to go out to the back porch and bring her the broom.

The little boy turned to his mother and said, “Mama, I don’t want to go out there. It’s dark.”

The mother smiled reassuringly at her son. “You don’t have to be afraid of the dark,”
she explained. “Jesus is out there. He’ll look after you and protect you.”

The little boy looked at his mother real hard and asked, “Are you sure he’s out there?”

“Yes, I’m sure. He is everywhere, and he is always ready to help you when you need him,” she said.

The little boy thought about that for a minute and then went to the back door and cracked it a little.
Peering out into the darkness, he called, “Jesus? If you’re out there, would you please hand me the broom?”

My parents raised me on stories about missionaries from the 1800s since I was a little boy. Even today, I get excited when I hear the accounts of these great, amazing, courageous, men and women of God. It reminds me that we’re all called to ‘go preach the Good News.’

One of my favorite missionary heroes is Hudson Taylor. This Englishman was the first missionary to the interior of China. He later founded the China Inland Mission where he saw hundreds of missionaries follow him, establishing Gospel stations all over China.

Taylor’s motto was to “move men through God, by prayer.” He was a man who did everything, so to speak, on his knees before God, and the Lord honored that. I believe that’s why he was so astonishingly successful in his mission endeavors.

Hudson Taylor died a little over a hundred years ago, but his tremendous legacy follow him in China. Even atheists - national Chinese leaders, who I have met, know about him!

Do you spend time on your knees before the Lord, asking Him to move in the hearts of people who don’t know Him? Matthew 21:22 encourages us, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

So, let’s you and I follow Hudson Taylor’s lead, and continue praying for the lost people in our world. God has chosen you to work in answer to prayer.