True Tale

A good morning, feel good story for anyone worn out by the ugly stories. Get your mug of coffee and enjoy a true tale. Charles FINNEY met Daniel Nash when he was examined to be licensed. Upon his 2nd meeting “Father Nash,” was in somewhat of a sorry state. Charles learned that Nash had been infected with an eye disease that had left him lying in a dark room, unable to read or write.

Because of his ailments, Nash had given himself almost entirely to prayer; eventually, he had emerged from the sickness physically healed and spiritually transformed into a man of intercessory prayer. Nash arrived with “a praying list,” as he called it, with the names of people for whom he felt called to pray every day, often several times a day. As Charles and Nash began to pray together in meetings, Charles was deeply moved by the power of Nash’s prayers and the magnitude of his faith.

A Bar Becomes a Prayer Chapel. When Nash learned of a bar owner who was causing a good deal of trouble, Nash wrote the man’s name down on his list as a “hard case.” The bar owner was known to accost those he knew to be Christians with the most abusive and foul language. His bar had a reputation for entertaining people who engaged in drunkenness and profanity. A few days later, this “hard case” showed up at one of Finney’s meetings. His appearance caused considerable commotion, but he caused no trouble. As the meeting progressed, Charles sensed that the man was uneasy; he fidgeted constantly in his seat.

Finally, he arose and asked if he could speak. When Charles gave him permission to do so, he poured himself out in brokenhearted repentance before those who had gathered. It was incredibly moving for everyone there, and many whose hearts had been hardened against what Charles had been preaching found themselves broken before God as well. Within a short time, the man made his peace with God and closed his bar for drink. For the remainder of the time that Finney spent in this town, a prayer meeting took place virtually every night in this bar transformed into a cottage to drink in truth.