Another Pearl
Another Pearl
"She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day."
Luke 2:37
Pearl Lotte Goode, the legendary personal intercessor of Billy Graham, was a personal friend of prayer-revivalist Armin Gesswein. When she first attended the Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles in 1949, she not only listened to Billy Graham preach, she went to the tent across the street to pray. Armin Gesswein was leading that prayer meeting. Armin was impressed by her conviction, her burden, and her spiritual muscle.
He often wrote of his friendship with Pearl. “The praying of Pearl Goode, a widow from Pasadena, California, is most telling. She was one of the few great intercessors I have known. Her life radiated Christ, and her heart pulsed with the spirit of prayer and praise. Hidden away in her apartment close to Fuller Seminary, she prayed to her Father in secret, and He rewarded her openly (see Matthew 6:6). When Pearl Goode prayed in our meetings, we at once felt the divine lift. Heaven and earth got together in a hurry. Driving her to one of our revival conferences was a rare privilege. In the car, she told me how the Holy Spirit laid two major burdens heavily on her heart for intercession. One for Billy Graham and his Crusades, and the other for our conference and for revival and for the preachers. When in her eighties, she would tell of the powerful preachers…I was deeply moved as she told how God gave her a special call to intercede for Billy Graham and that she would spend whole nights in prayer just for him and his new ministry. The Holy Spirit constrained her. She just had to do it.
Pearl lived to be ninety. She always made me think of Anna in Jerusalem, ‘a widow of about four score and four years, she did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day’ (Luke 2:37). The time came when the Lord called Pearl home. My wife and I attended her funeral in Pasadena. I did not see any news reporters there, but the presence of the Lord was profound.”
Is God calling you to the ministry of intercession? Like Anna of old, or Pearl Goode more recently, step into your calling. The kingdom needs you.
Father God, today I receive Your call and anointing to the particular ministry of intercession you have for me. Even as Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, lives to intercede, I, too, want to live to pray.
YEAR ON FIRE
© Fred A. Hartley, III
All rights reserved
Unless otherwise indicated, the English Standard Bible (ESV) is used.
This daily Christ-encountering, fire-starter is not intended to replace your daily Bible reading and prayer time, but rather to motivate you to spend extended time in His presence.
"She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day."
Luke 2:37
Pearl Lotte Goode, the legendary personal intercessor of Billy Graham, was a personal friend of prayer-revivalist Armin Gesswein. When she first attended the Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles in 1949, she not only listened to Billy Graham preach, she went to the tent across the street to pray. Armin Gesswein was leading that prayer meeting. Armin was impressed by her conviction, her burden, and her spiritual muscle.
He often wrote of his friendship with Pearl. “The praying of Pearl Goode, a widow from Pasadena, California, is most telling. She was one of the few great intercessors I have known. Her life radiated Christ, and her heart pulsed with the spirit of prayer and praise. Hidden away in her apartment close to Fuller Seminary, she prayed to her Father in secret, and He rewarded her openly (see Matthew 6:6). When Pearl Goode prayed in our meetings, we at once felt the divine lift. Heaven and earth got together in a hurry. Driving her to one of our revival conferences was a rare privilege. In the car, she told me how the Holy Spirit laid two major burdens heavily on her heart for intercession. One for Billy Graham and his Crusades, and the other for our conference and for revival and for the preachers. When in her eighties, she would tell of the powerful preachers…I was deeply moved as she told how God gave her a special call to intercede for Billy Graham and that she would spend whole nights in prayer just for him and his new ministry. The Holy Spirit constrained her. She just had to do it.
Pearl lived to be ninety. She always made me think of Anna in Jerusalem, ‘a widow of about four score and four years, she did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day’ (Luke 2:37). The time came when the Lord called Pearl home. My wife and I attended her funeral in Pasadena. I did not see any news reporters there, but the presence of the Lord was profound.”
Is God calling you to the ministry of intercession? Like Anna of old, or Pearl Goode more recently, step into your calling. The kingdom needs you.
Father God, today I receive Your call and anointing to the particular ministry of intercession you have for me. Even as Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, lives to intercede, I, too, want to live to pray.
YEAR ON FIRE
© Fred A. Hartley, III
All rights reserved
Unless otherwise indicated, the English Standard Bible (ESV) is used.
This daily Christ-encountering, fire-starter is not intended to replace your daily Bible reading and prayer time, but rather to motivate you to spend extended time in His presence.
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