PRAYING HYDE

PRAYING HYDE
A CHALLENGE TO PRAYER
GLIMPSES OF THE AMAZING PRAYER-LIFE OF JOHN
HYDE. A MISSIONARY IN INDIA WHOSE
INTERCESSION "CHANGED THINGS"

EDITED BY

Captain E. G. CARRE
On the Merchant Service Officers' Christian Association

BRIDGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Publishers of:

LOGOS ● HAVEN ● OPEN SCROLL

PRAYING HYDE
library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 82-74972
International Standard Book Number. 0-88270-541-5
Printed in the United Stares of America
Published by Bridge Publishing, Inc.,
South Plainfield, New Jersey 07080
 FOREWORD

T HE place where John Hyde met God was holy

ground. The scenes of his life are too sacred for
common eyes. I shrink from placing them before the
public.... So we take our stand near the prayer closet of
John Hyde, and are permitted to hear the sighing and
the groaning, and to see the tears coursing down his
face, to see his frame weakened by foodless days and
sleepless nights, shaken with sobs as he pleads, 'O God,
give me souls or I die!'" In this way, one of the authors
of Praying Hyde, Francis A McGaw, introduces us to a
mighty prayer warrior and missionary to India, John
Hyde.
This little book is a challenge to believers
everywhere—a call to intercessory prayer. John Hyde
entered a spiritual realm where few men have been, that
"place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God." Hyde's
story is an invitation into his prayer closet. As you read,
you will learn how to be "shut in with God, in the secret
place"—and you will desire a deeper life of prayer for
yourself.
Few, it would seem, seek to become ministers of
intercession. God knows who they are. Through
Christian literature we are able to recognize the prayer
6 PRAYING HYDE

ministries of men like Andrew Murray, Regis Howells,

George Mueller, Evan Roberts and others. In Praying
Hyde we learn about another man who became a true
intercessor and, more importantly, we see the wonderful
results of his life of prayer and the principles his life
reveals.
As the publishers of this edition, we realize the great
need for an awakening of prayer in God's people. Every
great revival in history has been preceded by weeks,
months—even years—of earnest prayer. It was true of
the Great Awakening in America. It was true of the
Welsh revival. More recently, it was true of the revivals
in Indonesia and Korea. As we go to press with this
edition of Praying Hyde, our prayer is that it will find
its way into the hands of people who will dedicate
themselves to intercede for our nation—and our world
—so that a heaven-born revival will once again shake
the earth.
You are about to meet a man who took his Christian
commitment seriously. He was raised in an atmosphere
of prayer that became his "native air." As people came
in contact with John Hyde—and the presence of God
that surrounded him and flowed from him—their lives
were changed. As you read, take in that fresh, life-
giving breath of God that He gives freely to all who will
to be His vessel.
Long ago, God spoke through his prophet, "And I
sought for a man among them, that should make up the
hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that
I should not destroy it: but I found none" (Ezek. 22:30).
 FOREWORD 7

And one has to wonder where such a man will be found

today—an intercessor like John Hyde who will give his
life to call our nation back to God. May the Lord use
this book to find people who will truly "make up the
hedge, and stand in the gap."
—LLOYD B. HILDEBRAND,
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
BRIDGE PUBLISHING, INC.
 Foreword to Third Edition

T HE two Indian editions of this remarkable

prayer-life having long since been exhausted, it
was felt that in order to meet the demand that still
continues, the time was ripe for a third issue.
The question then arose as to whether it would be
possible to continue the Indian and American
publications in one volume, and thus make a standard
life of John Hyde, containing full details of his family
history, his college days, and his labours on the mission
field.
With M'Cheyne Paterson's hearty cooperation, and
the gracious consent of the author of the American
edition, F. A. M'Gaw, together with the generous
permission of the Bible Institute Colportage
Association of Chicago, the holders of the American
copyright, whose courtesy we gratefully acknowledge,
the way has been completely cleared for the present
volume to embody the two previous publications in one.
With the exception of the necessary omission of
certain matter in order to avoid repetition. and the
inclusion of some additional details which have
come to hand since the previous edition, Hyde's life
 FOREWORD 9

story goes forth in practically the same form in

which it was originally issued in the land of his
birth, and in that of his labours, and in which it has
been so signally blessed to the Church at large. With
the prayer that the challenge of such an amazing life
of intercession, resulting in such an intimate walk
with God, may be mightily used of Him who
challenges us to test Him in His promises to the
uttermost, we gladly and expectantly commit this
unique record to His fatherly care. We have
regretfully to mention the death of our friend, J.
Pengwern Jones, joint author of the Indian "Life,"
who passed to his rest some months ago.
E. G. C.
 Contents
Foreword......................................................................................................5
Introduction................................................................................................12

PART I
Praying Hyde............................................................................................... 2
Christ in the Home................................................................................2
Holy Ground......................................................................................... 4
Hyde's College Days.............................................................................5
First Years in India............................................................................... 8
The Punjab Prayer Union..................................................................... 8
Three Men.......................................................................................... 10
1904—The First Sialkot Convention................................................. 12
1905 Convention—"Brokenheartedness for Sin"...............................14
1906—The Lamb on His Throne....................................................... 19
1907—Holy Laughter.........................................................................21
1908—Summer...................................................................................23
1908—Convention—One Soul a Day................................................27
1909 Convention—Two Souls a Day.................................................29
1910 Convention—Four Souls a Day................................................ 31
Calcutta and the Doctor......................................................................35
Transformed Lives..............................................................................41
An American Girl's Struggle and Surrender.......................................44
Home at last........................................................................................ 48
Holiness unto the Lord....................................................................... 49
Victory................................................................................................52

PART II
A Vessel unto Honour............................................................................... 56
In the Very Presence of God.............................................................. 56
How the Innermost Secret of the Prayer-life was Revealed............... 61
In the School of Prayer—Another Lesson Learnt and Mastered....... 65
A New Vision of the Master...............................................................68
The Burden of Prayer and Its Sure Result..........................................71
Intercession—A Continuous Ministry................................................75
Within the Veil................................................................................... 78
A Living Message from the Empowered Messenger..........................81
How the Spirit of Dissension was Quenched at Sialkot.....................84
A Resting-Time in Wales................................................................... 87
Victory Over the Powers of Darkness................................................ 91
Triumphing under Testings................................................................ 96
His Three Outstanding Characteristics.............................................101
 Praying—Preaching—Persuading....................................................104

PART III
A Master Fisher for Souls........................................................................109
Pleading with Tears.......................................................................... 109
The Secret of Hyde's Power with God and with Men—"Giving
Thanks in Everything!".....................................................................115
One Cause of His Success................................................................ 121
A Second Cause of his Success........................................................ 124
His Child-like Obedience................................................................. 129
Honouring the Holy Spirit................................................................131
Memories of the First Annual Meeting of the Punjab Prayer Union.
.......................................................................................................... 135
Empty Vessels not a Few................................................................. 137
Hyde as an Intercessor......................................................................142

PART IV
Letters of John Hyde................................................................................145
Letters to His College Magazine...................................................... 145
Letter to Seminary Magazine........................................................... 146
Sickness and Convalescence............................................................ 150
At the Close of the Year................................................................... 151
A Challenge to Service.....................................................................152
The 'Punjab Head'.............................................................................153
His First Furlough............................................................................ 155
The Spiritual Life at Home...............................................................156
The Revival in the Punjab................................................................ 156

CONCLUSION
A Challenge to Prayer..............................................................................159
Letters About the Challenge.............................................................159
 INTRODUCTION

I have been asked by the Editor to write a few lines of

introduction to this little book, and I gladly comply
with his request, for, as I have said in the
Reminiscences, dear Hyde was made a blessing to me. I
had read that precious book by Andrew Murray: "With
Christ in the School of Prayer," and in Mr. Hyde I saw a
living example of one who actually lived with Christ in
the School of Prayer, and his example gave me a deep
longing and even an inspiration to be a pupil in this
school also.
I was asked by many to write a few Reminiscences
of Hyde, and over and over again I purposed doing it,
but I believe the time had not come, the Church was not
ready for. such a record, and probably the Spirit of God
saw that I was not ready to write sympathetically such
incidents that I wanted to write; but when the Lord
began to pour His Spirit upon the Eastern Coast of
England and the North of Scotland, and the people of
God began to pray more earnestly for a general Revival
all over the world, I found no difficulty in writing about
dear Hyde's prayer-life, and the account written by his
beloved friend, R. M`Cheyne Paterson, was kindly
placed at my disposal at that time, and became a further
 INTRODUCTION 13

inspiration to me.
The last month or so I have heard that others have
valuable information about Hyde during his college
days, probably these incidents in his life will be
published as a supplement.
I hope that this book will lead many to become
"companions" of our Great High Priest. He wants
"companions," "fellows," "partakers," to enter with Him
into the sanctuary as intercessors. The High Priest of
old had to enter into the Holy of Holies alone, but our
High Priest begs for partners to be with Him. This is
what Hyde really was, and it is strange that we should
be so reluctant to take up this great privilege of being
fellow-intercessors with Him.
I trust that one of the results of reading this book will
be the enlistment of many and better intercessors.
I feel grateful to the Editor for undertaking this work,
and for the sympathetic and efficient way in which he
has carried it through.
May all the glory be unto Him.
J. PENGWERN JONES.
Praying Hyde
PART I

By Francis A. McGaw
 PRAYING HYDE
PART I

Christ in the Home

J OHN HYDE, "The Apostle of Prayer," as he was

often called, was reared in a home where Jesus was
an abiding guest, and where the dwellers in that home
breathed an atmosphere of prayer. I was well
acquainted with John's father, Smith Harris Hyde, D.D.,
during the seventeen years he was pastor of the
Presbyterian Church at Carthage, Illinois. Dr. Herrick
Johnson, of Chicago, shortly before he died, wrote these
words: "Hyde's father was of rare proportion and
balance, a healthful soul, genial and virile, firm of
conviction, of good scholarly attainment, of abundant
cheer, and bent on doing for God to the best of his
ability."
Personally I knew him in his home to be a courteous,
loving husband. I knew him to be a firm, yet
sympathetic father, commanding his household after
him. I knew the sweet-spirited, gentle, music-loving,
Christ-like Mrs. Hyde. I knew each one of the three
boys and three girls who grew up in that home. Often I
 PRAYING HYDE 3

have eaten at their table. Twice I have been with the

family when the crepe was on the door; once when Mrs.
Hyde was taken away, and again when dear John's body
was brought home and lovingly laid to rest in Moss
Ridge Cemetery. Often I have kneeled with them, and
have, as a young minister, been strangely moved when
dear Dr. Hyde poured out his heart to God as he prayed
at the family altar. I knew him in his church and in the
Presbyterial meetings. He was a noble man of God.
Under God, his congregation was built up, and he was a
leader among his ministerial brethren. I have frequently
heard Dr. Hyde pray the Lord of the harvest to thrust
out labourers into His harvest. He would pray this
prayer both at the family altar and from his pulpit. It is
therefore no strange thing that God called two of his
sons into the Gospel ministry, and one of his daughters
for a time into active Christian work. Dr. Hyde
magnified his office, and rejoiced to give his sons up to
a life of hardship and trial.
I read in "Far North in India" the statement by a
former missionary in India, Dr. W. B. Anderson, that a
hundred million people in India today have not heard of
Jesus Christ, and as things are now have not the
remotest chance to hear about Him. There are other
millions in Africa and other countries in the same
Christless ignorance. Why is it so?
Because prayer closets are deserted, family altars are
broken down, and pulpit prayers are formal and dead!
Bible schools and seminaries can never supply the
workers needed. My own sainted mother prayed as a
4 PRAYING HYDE

young girl that the doors of the heathen countries might

be opened. Afterwards as the mother of ten children
(eight of whom grew to manhood and womanhood), she
prayed for labourers to enter these open doors, and God
sent one of her sons to India and two of her daughters to
China.
Grandmother Lois and mother Eunice prayed, and
when the Great Apostle to the Gentiles was about to
take his departure he could lay his hands on son
Timothy and commission him to "Preach the Word!"
John Hyde was an answer to prayer, and when in
other years he prayed in India, God raised up scores of
native workers in answer to his prayers. The Great Head
of the Church has provided one method for securing
labourers He said:
"Look on the fields ... they are white ... the labourers
are few ... PRAY!'
Holy Ground
In the Tabernacle of Moses there was one room so
sacred that only one man of all the thousands of Israel
was ever permitted to enter it; and he on one day only
of all the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year.
That room was the Holy of Holies. The place where
John Hyde met God was holy ground. The scenes of his
life are too sacred for common eyes. I shrink from
placing them before the public.
But when I remember Jacob at the brook, Elijah on
Carmel, Paul in his agony for Israel, and especially the
Man in the Garden, then I am impressed by the Spirit of
 PRAYING HYDE 5

God that the experiences of this "Man of God" should

be published for the learning and admonition of
thousands. So we take our stand near the prayer closet
of John Hyde, and are permitted to hear the sighing and
the groaning, and to see the tears coursing down his
face, to see his frame weakened by foodless days and
sleepless nights, shaken with sobs as he pleads, "O God,
give me souls or I die!”
Hyde's College Days
Some of his classmates in the M'Cormick Seminary
have kindly lifted up the curtain and allowed us to see
something of the spirit which possessed the students of
that Seminary during the year 1892, when John Hyde
was one of the students. Dr. Herrick Johnson called that
class "The Missionary Class of M'Cormick Seminary."
Hyde's beloved friend and fellow student—Burton A.
Konkle—says: "Out of forty-six students in that class
twenty-six decided for the foreign field. Hyde of India
was our 'man of prayer.' Lee of Korea has been called
'The Apostle of Korea.' Foster our 'man of suffering,'
whose beautiful life influenced us all. They were more
to me than my own brother, and I never think of them
but with a glow of thankfulness!"
J. F. Young, once Pastor at Hyde's home, said: "I
think Konkle is right when he says that Hyde made little
impression on any of us (his fellow students), the first
year in the seminary, and I rather doubt whether he did
the second—he was just one of us, and we did not think
much about him. It was during the senior year after the
6 PRAYING HYDE

death of his brother Edmund—his eldest brother who

was in the Seminary and was a student volunteer for the
foreign field—that his fellow-students realised that he
was not an ordinary young man. Hyde was greatly
impressed by his brother's death, and a great struggle
took place as to where his life should be lived At last he
surrendered, and in substance said: "I'll go where you
want me to go, dear Lord." The result was a change in
his own life, and we began to count it a pleasure to go
for a walk with him.
His friend, Mr. Konkle, describes him thus: "During
the senior year, when there was a growing interest in
foreign missions in our class, Hyde came to my room
about eleven o'clock one night and said he wanted all
the 'arguments' I had for the foreign field. We sat then
for some moments in silence, and then I told him that
he knew as much about the foreign field as I did; that I
didn't believe it was 'argument' that he needed, and that
I thought the way for him to settle it was to lay it before
our Father and stay until He decided for him: We sat in
silence a while longer, and, saying he believed I was
right, he rose and bade me good night. The next
morning as I was going up the chapel steps, I felt a hand
on my arm, and looking back I saw John's face radiant
with a new vision. 'It's settled, Konkle,' said he, and I
didn't need to be told how. From that day he grew in
power rapidly until, I think we would all agree, he was
easily the most powerful single instrument for the
foreign field in the Seminary. He prayed for men
individually, and them sought them out, and his soul
 PRAYING HYDE 7

seemed aflame. Prayer was his pathway to greater

things, and it became the characteristic of his whole life
and work, because it was his peculiar power. He was a
torch of prayer, that carried light and warmth. We are
only beginning to appreciate the beauty and glory of his
life.
"One can see, therefore, how the choice of a field
would be to him a mere incident compared to steps in
progress, in insight into the Truth, and consequent
increased consecration. During that senior year, as
organiser of missions, I had appointed him Librarian of
the Home Mission Committee, to which field he had,
up to that time, seemed most inclined. After he had
decided for foreign work. he became restive at giving
his time to the home field so much, and came to me
asking if I didn't think he should be relieved from it. He
knew I was pledged to the foreign field, and yet was
organiser of our whole city mission work. So I looked
at him with a twinkle in my eye, and asked him if he
thought I should be relieved of my work for city
missions. He coloured a little, smiled with
acquiescence, and said, 'I knew you would say that.' He
saw that our principle, The field is the world, was one
which we could not weaken in our Seminary outlook at
least.
"One of our classmates has spent over thirty years in
Korea, and built up sixty-seven churches, and his
decision to go abroad was due to Hyde's influence as an
instrument."
8 PRAYING HYDE

First Years in India

At the first John Hyde was not a remarkable
missionary. He was slow of speech. When a question or
a remark was directed to him he seemed not to hear, or
if he heard he seemed a long time in framing a reply.
His hearing was slightly defective, and this it was
feared would hinder him in acquiring the language. His
disposition was gentle and quiet; he seemed to be
lacking in the enthusiasm and zeal which a young
missionary should have. He had a wonderful pair of
blue eyes. They seemed to search into the very depth of
your inmost being, and they seemed almost to shine out
of the soul of a prophet.
On arriving in India, he was assigned the usual
language study. At first he went to work on this, but
later neglected it for Bible study. He was reprimanded
by the committee, but he replied: “First things first.” He
argued that he had come to India to teach the Bible, and
he needed to know it before he could teach it. And God
by His Spirit wonderfully opened up the Scriptures to
him. Nor did he neglect language study." He became a
correct and easy speaker in Urdu, Punjabi, and English;
but away and above that, he learned the language of
Heaven, and he so learned to speak that he held
audiences of hundreds of Indians spellbound while he
opened to them the truths of God's Word."
The Punjab Prayer Union
In every revival there is a Divine side and a human
 PRAYING HYDE 9

side. In the Welsh revival the Divine element comes out

prominently. Evan Roberts, the leader, under God,
seems in a sense to have been a passive agent, mightily
moved upon in the night seasons by the Holy Spirit.
There was no organisation and very little preaching—
comparatively little of the human element. The Sialkot
revival, while just as certainly sent down from Heaven,
seems not so spontaneous. There was, under God,
organisation; there was a certain amount of definite
planning, and there were seasons of long continued
prayer.
Just here, as showing where the human agency avails
I wish to mention the Punjab Prayer Union. This was
started about the time (1904) of the first Sialkot
Convention. The principles of this Union are stated in
the form of questions which were signed by those
becoming members.
1. "Are you praying for quickening in your own life,
in the life of your fellow-workers, and in the Church?"
2. "Are you longing for greater power of the Holy
Spirit in your own life and work, and are you convinced
that you cannot go on without this power?"
3. "Will you pray that you may not be ashamed of
Jesus?"
4. "Do you believe that prayer is the great means for
securing this spiritual awakening?"
5. "Will you set apart one half-hour each day as soon
after noon as possible to pray for this awakening, and
are you willing to pray till the awakening comes?"
John Hyde was associated with this Prayer Union
10 PRAYING HYDE

from its beginning, and also had a definite part in the

Sialkot Convention. The members of the Prayer Union
lifted up their eyes according to Christ's command and
saw the fields—white to the harvest. In the Book they
read the immutable promises of God.
They saw one method of obtaining this spiritual
awakening, even by prayer. They set themselves
deliberately, definitely, and desperately to use the
means till they secured the result The Sialkot revival
was not an accident nor an unsought breeze from
Heaven. Charles G. Finney says: "A revival is no more
a miracle than a crop of wheat." In any community
revival can be secured from Heaven when heroic souls
enter the conflict determined to win or die—or if need
be to win and die—"The kingdom of Heaven suffereth
violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matt. 11.12).
Three Men
David's mighty men are catalogued in the Scriptures;
there were the first three, then the second three, and
afterwards the thirty; Jesus had many unnamed
disciples. He had the Twelve, but in the inner circle
nearest to himself were the special three: Peter, James,
and John. Hundreds came to Sialkot and helped
mightily by prayer and praise. But God honoured a few
men as leaders. This sketch is not given to flattery or
fulsome praise, but God's Word says: "Honour to whom
honour is due." God laid a great burden of prayer upon
the hearts of John N. Hyde, R. M'Cheyne Paterson, and
George Turner for this wonderful convention. There
 PRAYING HYDE 11

was need for a yearly meeting for Bible Study and

prayer, where the spiritual life of the workers—pastors,
teachers, and evangelists, both foreign and native—
could be deepened. The church life in the Punjab (as
indeed in all India), was far below the Bible standard;
the Holy Spirit was so little honoured in these
ministries that few were being saved from among the
Christless millions. Sialkot was the place selected for
this meeting, and 1904 became memorable as the date
of the First Sialkot Convention.
Before one of the first conventions, Hyde and
Paterson waited and tarried one whole month before the
opening date. For thirty days and thirty nights these
godly men waited before God in prayer. Do we
wonder that there was power in the convention? Turner
joined them after nine days, so that for twenty-one days
and twenty-one nights these three men prayed and
praised God for a mighty outpouring of His power.
Three human hearts that beat as one and that one the
heart of Christ, yearning, pleading, crying, and
agonising over the Church of India and the myriads of
lost souls. Three renewed human wills that by faith
linked themselves as with hooks of steel to the
omnipotent will of God. Three pairs of fire-touched lips
that out of believing hearts shouted, "It shall be done!"
Do you who read these words look at those long-
continued vigils, those days of fasting and prayer, those
nights of wakeful watching and intercessions, and do
you say, "What a price to pay!" Then I point you to
scores and hundreds of workers quickened and fitted for
12 PRAYING HYDE

the service of Christ; I point you to literally thousands

prayed into the kingdom and I say unto you, "Behold,
the purchase of such a price!"
Surely Calvary represents a fearful price. But your
soul and mine, and the millions thus far redeemed and
other millions which may yet be redeemed, a wrecked
earth restored back to Eden perfection, the kingdoms of
this world wrested from the grasp of the usurper and
delivered over to the reign of their rightful King!—
when we shall see all this shall we not gladly say,
"Behold the purchase"?
1904—The First Sialkot Convention
One of his dearest friends in India writes about the
great change that came to John Hyde's spiritual life at
this convention in 1904. He writes that though John was
a missionary and a child of God, for he had been born
of God, he was yet a babe in Christ. He had never been
compelled to tarry at his Jerusalem till he was endued
with power from on high. But God in his love spoke to
him and showed him his great need. At this convention,
while he was speaking to his brother missionaries on
the work of the Holy Spirit, God spoke to his own soul
and opened up to him the Divine plan of sanctification
by faith. Such a touch of God, such a light from
Heaven, came to him, that he said at the close of the
convention: "I must not lose this vision." And he never
did lose it, but rather obtained grace for grace, and the
vision brightened as he went obediently forward.
Another missionary tells how John came to this
 PRAYING HYDE 13

convention to lead the Bible studies. During those days

he spoke of the length and breadth and height and depth
of the love of God. That mighty love seemed to reach
out through him and grip the hearts of men and women
and draw them closer to God. This brother writes:
"One night he came into my study about half-past
nine, and began to talk to me about the value of public
testimony. We had an earnest discussion until long after
midnight, and I think until after one o'clock, and as I
remember it, quite an interesting argument.
"We had asked him on the next evening to lead a
meeting for men which was being held in the tabernacle
out on the compound, while the women of the
convention were holding a meeting of their own in the
missionary bungalow.
"When the time for the meeting arrived the men of
us were seated there on the mats in the tent, but Mr.
Hyde the leader had not arrived. We began to sing, and
sang several hymns before he did come in, quite late.
"I remember how he sat down on the mat in front of
us, and silent for a considerable time after the singing
stopped. Then he arose, and said to us very quietly,
'Brothers, I did not sleep any last night, and I have not
eaten anything today. I have been having a great
controversy with God. I feel that He has wanted me to
come here and testify to you concerning some things
that He has done for me, and I have been arguing with
him that I should not do this. Only this evening a little
while ago have I got peace concerning the matter and
have I agreed to obey Him, and now I have come to tell
14 PRAYING HYDE

you just some things that He has done for me.

"After making this brief statement, he told us very
quietly and simply some of the desperate conflicts that
he had had with sin, and how God had given him
victory. I think he did not talk more than fifteen or
twenty minutes, and then sat down and bowed his head
for a few minutes, and then said, 'Let us have a season
of prayer.' I remember how the little company
prostrated themselves upon the mats on their faces in
the Oriental manner, and then how for a long time, how
long I do not know, man after man rose to his feet to
pray, how there was such confession of sin as most of
us had never heard before, and such crying out to God
for mercy and help.
"It was very late that night when the little gathering
broke up, and some of us know definitely of several
lives that were wholly transformed through the
influence of that meeting.
Evidently that one message opened the doors of
men's hearts for the incoming of the great revival in the
Indian Church.
1905 Convention—"Brokenheartedness for
Sin"
In the spring of each year the punjab Prayer Union
holds its annual meeting. But as preparation for this
meeting the leaders spend much time in prayers and
fastings and all-night watching. Then when the Union
comes together we look to God for guidance during the
coming year. "Early in 1905, at that annual meeting,
 PRAYING HYDE 15

God laid on our hearts," writes a brother, "the burden of

a world plunged in sin, We were permitted to share to
some extent in the sufferings of Christ. It was a glorious
preparation for the Convention in the fall of 1905."
At this convention John Hyde was constantly in the
prayer room day and night; he lived there as on the
Mount of Transfiguration. The words were burned into
his brain as a command from God: "I have set
watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall
never hold their peace day or night: ye that are the
Lord's remembrancers, take ye no rest and give Him no
rest till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a
praise in the earth" (Isa- 62. 6, 7).
There can be no doubt that he was sustained by
Divine strength, for are we not told to "endure hardness
according to the power of God"—not in our own
weakness, but in His strength? It was not the quantity
but the quality of sweet childlike sleep that our Father
gave His servant which enabled him to continue so long
watching unto prayer. One could see from his face that
it was the presence of Christ Himself that strengthened
his weak body. John Hyde was the principal speaker,
but it was from communion with God that he derived
his power.
His prayer life was one of absolute obedience to
God. I remember once the lunch bell sounded when we
were in the prayer room. I heard him whisper: "Father,
is it Thy will that I go?" There was a pause, the answer
came, he said: "Thank you, Father," and rose with a
smile and went to lunch. Needless to say, he recognised
16 PRAYING HYDE

his Lord as seated at the table with them, and oh! how
many hungry souls were refreshed by his talks.
He was leader of the morning Bible readings, his
subject being John 15. 26, 27: "He shall bear witness of
Me, and ye also shall bear witness of Me." "Is the Holy
Spirit first in your pulpits, pastors?" Do you consciously
put Him in front and keep yourselves behind Him when
preaching? Teachers, when you are asked hard
questions, do you ask His aid as a witness of all Christ's
life? He alone was a witness of the incarnation, the
miracles, the death, and the resurrection of Christ. So
He is the only witness!" It was a heart-searching
message, and many were bowed down under the
convicting power. The next morning Mr. Hyde was not
allowed to give any further teaching. The chairman
came down from his seat and declared the meeting to be
in the hands of God's Spirit. How wonderfully He
witnessed of Christ and His power to cleanse all who
repent. The next morning once again His servant said
that he had no fresh message from God. It was pointed
out that God would not be mocked—till we had all
learned this lesson as to putting the Holy Spirit first at
all times God would not give any fresh message. Who
can forget that day? How wonderfully those prayers
were answered! The watchmen that night in the prayer
room were filled with joy unspeakable, and they
ushered in the dawn with shouts of triumph. And why
not, for we are "more than conquerors through Him
who loves us."
At one time John Hyde was told to do something and
 PRAYING HYDE 17

he went and obeyed, but returned to the prayer room

weeping, confessing that he had obeyed God
unwillingly. "Pray for me, brethren, that I may do this
joyfully." We soon learned after he went out that he had
been led to obey triumphantly. Then he received the
promise that be would be the (spiritual) father of many
children—an Abraham indeed. He entered the hall with
great joy, and as he came before the people, after having
obeyed God, he spoke three words in Urdu and three in
English, repeating them three times: "Ai Asmani Bak,"
"O Heavenly Father." What followed who can describe?
It was as if a great ocean came sweeping into that
assembly, and "suddenly there came a sound from
Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting." Hearts were bowed
before that Divine presence as the trees of the wood
before a mighty tempest. It was the ocean of God's love
being outpoured through one mans obedience. Hearts
were broken before it. There were confessions of sins
with tears that were soon changed to joy and then to
shouts of rejoicing. Truly, we were filled with new wine
—the new wine of Heaven!
Here is the experience of one missionary: "Hours
alone with God, with no one to see or hear but God
were customary; but the fellowship of others in prayer
or praise, for hours, could it be downright real? On
entering the room the problem was solved. At once you
knew you were in the holy presence of God, where
there could be only awful reality. Others in the room
were forgotten except when the combined prayers and
18 PRAYING HYDE

praises made you realise the strength and power and

sympathy of such fellowship. The hours of waiting on
God in communion with others were precious times,
when together we waited on God to search us and to
speak to us, together interceded for others, together
praised Him for Himself and for His wonder-working
power. There was a breadth and freedom during those
ten days that I never imagined existed on earth. Surely it
was for freedom such as this that Christ has set us free.
Each one did exactly as he or she felt led to do. Some
went to bed early, some prayed for hours, some prayed
all night long, some went to the meetings and some to
the prayer room, and some to their own rooms, some
prayed, some praised, some sat to pray, some kneeled,
some lay prostrate on their faces before God, just as the
Spirit of God bade them. There was no criticism, no
judging of what was being done or said: Each one
realised that all superficialities were put away, and that
each one was in the awful presence of the Holy God."
The same missionary referred to John Hyde when
she wrote: "There were some who knew that God had
chosen and ordained them to be 'watchmen.' These were
some who had lived for long so near Jehovah that they
heard His voice and received orders direct from Him
about everything, even as to when they were to watch
and pray, and when they were to sleep. Some watched
all night long for nights, because God told them to do
so, and He kept sleep from them that they might have
the privilege and honour of watching with Him over the
affairs of His kingdom."
 PRAYING HYDE 19

1906—The Lamb on His Throne.

Again at this Convention in answer to prayer God
poured out on us by His Spirit a burden for lost souls.
We saw the same broken-heartedness for the sins of
others. None felt this more than John Hyde. God was
deepening his prayer-life. He was permitted of God to
have the privilege of drinking of the Master's cup, and
of being baptised with His baptism—the second
baptism of fire, suffering with Him that we may reign
with Him here and now, the life of true kings for the
sake of others.
About this time John Hyde began to have visions of
the glorified Christ as a Lamb on His Throne—
suffering such infinite pain for and with His suffering
body on earth, as is so often revealed in God's Word. As
the Divine Head, He is the nerve-centre of all the body.
He is indeed living today a life of intercession for us.
Prayer for others is as it were the very breath of our
Lord's life in Heaven. "He ever liveth to make
intercession for us." It was becoming increasingly true
of John Hyde. How often in the prayer room he would
break out into tears over the sins of the world, and
especially of God's children. Even then his tears would
be changed into shouts of praise according to the Divine
promise repeated by our Lord on that last night when
He talked with His own. "Ye shall be sorrowful, but
your sorrow shall be turned into joy" (John 16. 20-22).
A brother writes about the Convention of 1906:
"Thank God, He has heard our prayers and poured out
20 PRAYING HYDE

the Spirit of grace and intercession upon so many of His

children. For example, I saw a Punjabi brother
convulsed and sobbing as if his heart would break. I
went up to him and put my arms about him, and said,
'The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.' A
smile lit up his face. 'Thank God, Sahib,' he cried; 'but,
oh! what an awful vision I have had! Thousands of
souls in this land of India being carried away by the
dark river of sin! They are in Hell now! Oh, to snatch
them from the fire before it is too late!"
See another example of how this agony of soul in
John Hyde was reflected in one who was a daughter in
Christ to him. An Indian Christian girl was at this
Convention. Her father had compelled her to neglect
Christ's claims upon her. In the prayer room she was
convicted of her sin, and told how her heart was being
torn away from her father to Christ. One could almost
see the springing tendrils of her heart as the power of
the love of Christ came upon her. It was a terrible time.
Then she asked us to pray for her father. We began to
pray, and suddenly the great burden of that soul was
cast upon us, and the room was filled with sobs and
cries for one whom most of us had never seen or heard
of before. Strong men lay on the ground groaning in
agony for that soul. There was not a dry eye in that
place until at last God gave us the assurance that prayer
had been heard and out of Gethsemane we came into
the Pentecostal joy of being able to praise Him that He
heard our cry.
"That meeting was one," writes this brother, "that
 PRAYING HYDE 21

will never leave my memory. It went on all night. It was

a time when God's power was felt as I never had felt it
before."
This brother continues: "God wants those who are
willing to bear the burden of the souls of these millions
without God, to go with Jesus into Gethsemane. He
wants us to do this. It is a blessed experience to feel that
in some measure we can enter into the fellowship of
Christ's sufferings. It brings us into a precious nearness
to the Son of God. And not only this, but it is God's
appointed way of bringing the lost sheep back to the
fold. He is saying, `Who will go for us, and whom shall
I send?' Are you who read these words willing to be
intercessors? If we are willing to put ourselves into
God's hands, then God is willing to use us. But there are
two conditions: obedience and purity. Obedience in
everything, even in the least, surrendering up our wills
and taking the will of God. And the next step is purity.
God wants pure vessels for his service, clean channels
through which to pour forth His grace. He wants purity
in the very centre of the soul, and unless God can have
a pure vessel, purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit, He
cannot use that vessel. He is asking you now if you will
let Him cleanse away part of your very life. God must
have a vessel He can use.
1907—Holy Laughter
In the summer of 1907 John went to a friend's house
for a holiday. It was in the M—— Hills. The friend
writes about it thus: "The crowning act of God's love to
22 PRAYING HYDE

us personally was the wonderful way in which He

brought Mr. Hyde up to stay with us. I also had to come
up to do duty among some English troops here. So
Hyde and I have been having glorious times together.
There were seasons of great conflict, and at times I
thought Hyde would break down completely. But after
all-nights of prayer and praise he would appear fresh
and smiling in the morning. God has been teaching us
wonderful lessons when He calls us to seasons of such
wrestling. It is that command in 2 Timothy 1. 8. 'Suffer
hardship with the Gospel according to the power of
God.' So that we have the power of God to draw upon
for all our need. Ever since Mr. Hyde realised this he
says he has scarcely ever felt tired, though he has had at
times little sleep for weeks. No man need ever break
down through overstrain in this ministry of intercession.
"Another element of power: 'The joy of the Lord is
your strength.' Ah G——, a poor Punjabi brother of low
caste origin, has been used of God to teach us all how to
make such times of prayer a very Heaven upon earth,
how to prevent the pleasure of praying, and even of
wrestling, ever descending into a toil. How often has G
——, after most awful crying seemed to break through
the hosts of evil and soar up into the presence of the
Father! You could see the smile of God reflected in his
face. Then he would laugh aloud in the midst of his
prayer. It was the joy of a son reveling in the delight of
his father's smile. God has been teaching John and me
that his name is the God of Isaac—laughter. Have you
observed that picture of Heaven in Proverbs 8. 30? 'I
 PRAYING HYDE 23

was daily His delight.' This is the Father's love being

showered upon His own Son. No wonder that in such a
home the Son should say that He was 'always rejoicing
before Him.' Rejoicing, laughing, the same word as
Isaac. This holy laughter seemed to relieve the tension
and give Heaven's own refreshment to wrestling spirits.
"I must tell you of dear Hyde's last message before
he returned to Ludhiana. It was a special revelation to
Paul, and one which the Spirit forced him to give out to
the Romans, that he had unceasing pain, for he could
wish that he himself were anathema from Christ for his
kinsmen according to the flesh (Rom. 9. 1-3). Surely
this was more than Paul's love for Christ. When he
could wish that he should be what Christ had become
for us—a curse! Fancy having to give up all hope in
Christ! Fancy going back to the old sins and their
domination over us! The thought is unbearable! Yet
such was the Divine pity in Paul's heart that he was
willing to be anathema from Christ, if it were possible
in this way to save his kinsmen the Jews. Such in a few
words was God's message by His messenger, John
Hyde. How we all broke down! Ah, God's love was
indeed shed abroad in the hearts of those present. All
this was leading to the great crisis in John Hyde's
prayer-life, which I had the privilege of seeing. "
1908—Summer
"This summer we persuaded him to come up to the
hills with us. His room was a separate one upon the hill
and to one side of our house. Here he came, but came
24 PRAYING HYDE

for a very real intercession with his Master. This

intercession was fraught with mighty issues for the
kingdom of God amongst us. It was evident to all that
he was bowed down with sore travail of soul. He
missed many meals, and when I went to his room I
would find him lying as in great agony, or walking up
and down as if an inward fire were burning in his
bones. And so there was that fire of which our Lord
spoke when He said: 'I came to cast fire upon the earth,
and how would I that it were already kindled! But I
have a baptism to be baptised with, and how I am
straitened till it be accomplished.' John did not fast in
the ordinary sense of the word, yet often at that time
when I begged him to come for a meal he would look at
me and smile, and say, 'I am not hungry.' No, there was
a far greater hunger eating up his very soul, and prayer
alone could satisfy that. Before the spiritual hunger the
physical disappeared. He had heard our Lord's voice
saying to him, 'Abide ye here and watch with Me.' So he
abode there with his Lord, who gave him the privilege
of entering Gethsemane with Himself."
One thought was constantly uppermost in his mind,
that our Lord still agonises for souls. Many times he
used to quote from the Old and New Testaments,
especially as to the privilege of "filling up that which
was lacking of the afflictions of Christ." He would
speak of the vow made by our Lord devoting a long
drawn out travail of soul till all His own were safely
folded. "For I say unto you that I shall not drink
henceforth of the fruit of the vine till that day, when I
 PRAYING HYDE 25

drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." "Saul,

Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" These were some of
the verses used of God to open his eyes to the
fellowship of Christ's sufferings. These were days when
the clouds were often pierced and the glorified life that
our Lord now leads shone through, revealing many
mysteries of travail and pain. It was truly a following of
Him who is the Lamb, suffering still with us as He once
did for us on earth, though now Himself on the throne.
John Hyde found that He still carries our crosses—the
heavy end of our crosses, "for He ever liveth to make
intercession for us."
It was into the life of prayer and watching and
agonising for others that he was being led step by step.
All this time, though he ate little and slept less, he was
bright and cheerful. Our children had ever been a great
joy to him. Uncle John, who had so often played with
them, was always welcomed with smiles of love. Yet
now, even the little ones appeared to realise that this
was no time for play! They were wonderfully subdued
and quiet in his presence in those days, for there was a
light on his face that told of communion with another
world. Yet there was nothing of the hermit about him—
in fact, people were more than ever attracted to him,
and freely asked for his prayers. He always had leisure
to speak to them of spiritual things, and entered even
more patiently than ever into their trials and
disappointments. We will not speak in detail of those
days of watching and praying and fasting, when he
appeared to enter into our Lord's great yearning for His
26 PRAYING HYDE

sheep. We feared his poor weak body would sink under

the strain; but how marvelously he was sustained all the
time! At times that agony was dumb, at times it was a
crying out for the millions perishing before our eyes;
yet it was always lit up with hope. Hope in the love of
God—Hope in the God of love.
With all that depth of love which he seemed to be
sounding with his Lord, there were glimpses of its
heights—moments of Heaven upon earth, when his soul
was flooded with songs of praise, and he would enter
into the joy of his Lord. Then he would break into song,
but they were always "songs in the night." In those days
he never seemed to lose sight of those thousands in his
own district without God and without hope in the
world. How he pleaded for them with sobs—dry
choking sobs, that showed how the depths of his soul
were being stirred. "Father, give me these souls, or I
die!" was the burden of his prayers. His own prayer that
he might rather burn out than rust out was already being
answered.
Let me, introduce here a gem from the pen of
Paterson: "What was the secret of that prayer-life of
John Hyde's?" he asks. "This, that it was a life of
prayer. 'Who is the source of all life? The glorified
Jesus. How do I get this life from Him? Just as I receive
His righteousness to begin with. I own that I have no
righteousness of my own—only filthy rags, and I in
faith claim His righteousness. Now, a twofold result
follows: As to our Father in Heaven, He sees Christ's
righteousness—not my unrighteousness. A second
 PRAYING HYDE 27

result as to ourselves: Christ's righteousness not merely

clothes us outwardly, but enters into our very being, by
His Spirit, received in faith as with the disciples (see
John 20. 22), and works out sanctification in us."
Why not the same with our prayer life? Let us
remember the word "for." "Christ died for us," and "He
ever liveth to make intercession 'for' us," that is, in our
room and stead. So I confess my ever-failing prayers (it
dare not be called a life), and plead His never failing
intercession. Then it affects our Father, for He looks
upon Christ's prayer-life in us, and answers accordingly.
So that the answer is far "above all we can ask or
think." Another great result follows: it affects us.
Christ's prayer life enters into us, and He prays in us.
This is prayer in the Holy Spirit. Only thus can we pray
without ceasing. This is the life more abundant which
our Lord gives. Oh, what peace, what comfort! No more
working up a life of prayer and failing constantly. Jesus
enters the boat, and the toiling ceases, and we are at the
land whither we would be. Now, we need to be still
before Him, so as to hear His voice and allow Him to
pray in us—nay, allow Him to pour into our souls His
overflowing life of intercession, which means literally:
FACE TO FACE meeting with God—real UNION and
COMMUNION.
1908—Convention—One Soul a Day
It was about this time that John Hyde laid hold of
God in a very definite covenant. This was for one soul a
day—not less, not inquirers simply, but a soul saved—
28 PRAYING HYDE

ready to confess Christ in public and be baptised in His

Name. Then the stress and strain was relieved. His heart
was filled with the peace of full assurance. All who
spoke to him perceived a new life and a new life-work
which this life can never end.
He returned to his district with this confidence; nor
was he disappointed. It meant long journeys, nights of
watching unto prayer, and fasting, pain, and conflict, yet
victory always crowning this. What though the dews
chilled him by night and the drought exhausted him by
day? His sheep were being gathered into the fold, and
the Good Shepherd was seeing of the travail of his soul
and being satisfied. By the end of that year more than
four hundred were gathered in.
Was he satisfied? Far from it. How could he possibly
be so long as his Lord was not? How could our Lord be
satisfied, so long as one single sheep was yet outside
His fold? But John Hyde was learning the secret of
Divine strength: "The joy of the Lord.” For, after all, the
greater our capacity for joy, the greater our capacity also
for sorrow. Thus it was with the Man of Sorrows, He
who could say: "These words have I spoken unto you,
that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be
full."
John Hyde seemed always to be hearing the Good
Shepherd's voice saying, "Other sheep I have—other
sheep I have." No matter if He won the one a day or two
a day or four a day, He had an unsatisfied longing, an
undying passion for lost souls. Here is a picture given
by one of his friends in India: "As a personal worker he
 PRAYING HYDE 29

would engage a man in a talk about his salvation. By

and by he would have his hands on the man's shoulders,
looking him very earnestly in the eye. Soon he would
get the man on his knees confessing his sins and
seeking salvation. Such a one he would baptise in the
village, by the roadside, or anywhere.
"I once attended one of his conventions for
Christians. He would meet his converts as they came in,
and embrace them in Oriental style, laying his hand first
on one shoulder and then on the other. Indeed, his
embraces were so loving that he got nearly all to give
like embraces to Christians, and those, too, of the
lowest caste."
This was his strong point. Love won him victories.
1909 Convention—Two Souls a Day
Again John Hyde laid hold of God with a definite
and importunate request. This time it was for two souls
a day. At this Convention God used him even more
mightily than ever before. God spoke through His
servant John Hyde.
We speak with bated breath of the most sacred
lesson of all—glimpses that He gave us into the Divine
heart of Christ broken for our sins. He did not
overwhelm us with this sight all at once. He revealed
these glimpses gently and lovingly according to our
ability to endure it. Ah, who can forget how He showed
us His great heart of love pierced by that awful sorrow
at the wickedness of the whole world, "which grieved
Him at His heart!"
30 PRAYING HYDE

Deeper and deeper we were allowed to enter into the

agony of God's soul, till like the prophet of sorrow,
Jeremiah, we heard His anguish, desiring that his eyes
might become a fountain of tears, that he might weep
day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people.
There the Divine longing was realised in Gethsemane
and Calvary! We were led to see the awful suffering of
the Son of God, and the still more awful suffering of the
Father and of the Eternal Spirit, through whom He
offered up Himself without spot unto God.
How can we enter into the fellowship of such
sufferings? "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
Observe the progress in intensified desire—great,
greater, greatest, and the corresponding reward till, to
crown it all, the Father's heart is thrown open to us.
Yes, to all and sundry we tell our joys; it is the
privileged few very near our hearts to whom we tell our
sorrows. So it is with the love of God. It was to John
the Beloved as he lay close to the heart of the Master,
and then drew closer still, that Jesus revealed the awful
anguish that was breaking His heart, that one of them
should betray Him. The closer we draw to His heart, the
more we shall share His sorrows. All this we obtain
only by faith. It is not our broken heart, it is God's we
need. It is not our sufferings, it is Christ's we are
partakers of. It is not our tears with which we should
admonish night and day, it is all Christ's. The
fellowship of His sufferings is His free gift—free for
the taking in simple faith, never minding our feelings.
 PRAYING HYDE 31

"Lord, give me Thy heart of love for sinners, Thy

broken heart for their sins, Thy tears with which to
admonish night and day," cried a dear child of God at
the end of this Convention. Then he went on
"But, O Lord, I feel so cold. My heart is so hard and
dead. I am so lukewarm!" A friend had to interrupt him.
"Why are you looking down at your poor self, brother?
Of course your heart is cold and dead. But you have
asked for the broken heart of Jesus, His love, His
burden for sin, His tears. Is He a liar? Has He not given
what you asked for? Then why look away from His
heart to your own?"
John used to say, "When we keep near to Jesus it is
He who draws souls to Himself through us, but He must
be lifted up in our lives; that is, we must be crucified
with Him. It is 'self' in some shape that comes between
us and Him, so self must be dealt with as He was dealt
with. Self must be crucified, dead and buried with
Christ. If not 'buried,' the stench of the old man will
frighten souls away. If these three steps downwards are
taken as to the old man, then the new man will be
revived, raised, and seated—the corresponding steps
upward which God permits us to take. Then indeed
Christ is lifted up in our lives, and He cannot fail to
attract souls to Himself. All this is the result of a close
union and communion that is 'fellowship' with Him in
His sufferings!"
1910 Convention—Four Souls a Day
The eight hundred souls gathered in since last years
32 PRAYING HYDE

Convention did not satisfy John Hyde. God was

enlarging his heart with His love. Once again he laid
hold on God with holy desperation. How many weeks it
was I do not remember, but he went deeper still with
Christ into the shadows of the Garden! Praying took the
form now of confessing the sins of others and taking the
place of those sinners, as so many of the prophets did in
old time. He was bearing the sins of others alone with
his Lord and Master. "Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ." According to that law
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. This
John Hyde was doing. He was "dying daily."
What was that burden referred to in Galatians 6. 2?
The previous verse reveals it. It was bearing the sins of
others. He at length got the assurance of four souls a
day!
Yet this was the year that God used him all over
India. He was called to help in revivals and conferences
in Calcutta, Bombay, and many of the larger cities.
Surely he was being prepared for an eternity-wide
mission. Yet he was never more misjudged and
misunderstood. But that, too, was part of the fellowship
of Christ's pain. "He came unto His own, and His own
received Him not."
We who were so privileged saw in John Hyde's life
the deepening horror of sin during that year of 1910,
though it was all but a pale reflection of the awful
anguish over sin that at length broke our Saviour's
heart. Before this years Convention he spent long nights
in prayer to God. This burden had lain now for five
 PRAYING HYDE 33

years on his heart—each year pressing heavier and

heavier. How it had eaten into his very soul! One saw
the long sleepless nights and weary days of watching
with prayer written on every feature of his face. Yet his
figure was almost transformed as he gave forth God's
own words to His people with such fire and such force
that many hardly recognised the changed man with the
glory of God lighting up every feature. It was Jehovah's
messenger speaking Jehovah's message, and we who
had shared some of its burden in prayer knew that it
was God's own burden spoken to His Church in India—
yes, to His Church throughout the whole world.
We were transported to Mount Sinai and to the sin of
Israel in worshiping the golden calf. Up till that time
Moses had not interceded for God's people. Why?
Because he had not yet entered into the sufferings of
God's heart over sin. So he is sent down among the
sinners. Sin cost him the presence of God. Was he not
being made a partaker of the sufferings of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world? Then he fasts a
second forty days and forty nights (Dent. 9. 19). "For I
was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith
Jehovah was wroth against you to destroy you. But
Jehovah hearkened unto me that time also." Moses
reports this in 9. 25, doubly emphasized by the Holy
Spirit. Surely the Great White Throne in its awful purity
shone among us from that time right on through the
Convention—no wonder we were filled with shame and
confusion of face as were so many of God's intercessors
of old—Moses, Job, Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
34 PRAYING HYDE

Ezekiel, and Daniel. When God said to Moses, "Let Me

alone," He revealed the power of intercession. No!
Moses "stood in the breach," and the wrath of God was
stayed. He gave up the honour and glory of his own
name and family for the sake of God's people. "The
Church in the wilderness" was saved by one who
shadowed forth our Great Divine Intercessor and
partook of His Spirit.
I remember John telling me that in those days if on
any day four souls were not brought into the fold, at
night there would be such a weight on his heart that it
was positively painful, and he could not eat nor sleep.
Then in prayer he would ask his Lord to show him what
was the obstacle in him to this blessing. He invariably
found that it was the want of praise in his life. This
command, which has been repeated in God's Word
hundreds of times—surely it is all important! He would
then confess his sin, and accept the forgiveness by the
Blood. Then he would ask for the spirit of praise as for
any other gift of God. So he would exchange his ashes
for Christ's garland, his mourning for Christ's oil of joy,
his spirit of heaviness for Christ's garment of praise (the
Song of the Lamb—praising God beforehand for what
He was going to do), and as he praised God souls would
come to him, and the numbers lacking would be made
up.
And now, farewell to Sialkot! As far as this sketch is
concerned, we are leaving those hallowed scenes.
Others there are who will assemble on those holy
grounds; others care for the great company that annually
 PRAYING HYDE 35

assembles in those audiences; others will keep watch in

the prayer room; but as for our dear brother Hyde, 1910
was his last year at Sialkot. We may wonder why it
should be so. Only forty-seven, surely his taking away
seemed untimely. But God in Heaven knows how
wonderfully rounded out were the years of dear John
Hyde. Seven Sialkot Conventions, and seven wonderful
years of prayer. Surely God saw in John Hyde a well
rounded out experience and character. Surely God and
the recording angel know that the fruitage will be
bountiful at the ingathering at the great harvest home.
"He that soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully."
But before we leave Sialkot I am led to record my
appreciation of our brother, M'Cheyne Paterson.
"Paterson, I have fallen in love with you in the Lord.
Because you loved Hyde, I love you. Often, dear
brother, I have prayed for you, and shall yet pray." And
will not all who read this sketch join me in praying for
the Convention at Sialkot, and for this precious man of
God, still praying and preaching and praising there?
Calcutta and the Doctor
John Hyde was only one of many men who have
hazarded life for God's service. Nehemiah was warned
of the plotting of Sanballat and Tobiah. He was advised
to go into the house of God and shut the doors. He
answered, "Should such a man as I flee? And who is
there that, being such as I, would go into the temple to
save his life? I will not go in."
Of Jesus it is written, "And it came to pass, when the
36 PRAYING HYDE

days were well-nigh come that He should be received

up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem"
(Luke 9. 51).
When Mr. Moody was in England the last time, he
was having trouble with his heart. He was examined by
an eminent physician, who told him that his excessive
labours were costing him his life. He was killing
himself. He promised that he would not work so hard.
On the voyage back to America, an awful storm
struck his ship, the Spree. She was partly submerged,
and in great distress the people appealed to Mr. Moody.
He exhorted and prayed. He told the Lord at that time
that if He would get them out of this trouble he would
never let up in his labours for lost souls
That summer was the time of the World's Fair in
Chicago. Mr. Moody gathered such a band of preachers,
evangelists, workers, and singers as probably never was
assembled for such work before or since. Hall,
storerooms, theatres, churches, and even circus tents
were utilised for Gospel meetings, Mr. Moody worked
with all his old-time vigour. They "put over" a
magnificent campaign. A few months later, at Kansas
City, while on the platform preaching with all his
tremendous energy, the great evangelist's heart gave
way, his voice ceased, and his labours on earth were
over. A few days later, among his friends at Northfield,
he passed over to join that heroic band who counted not
their lives dear unto themselves, that they might win
precious souls to Jesus.
A friend of John Hyde's, living in Calcutta, who now
 PRAYING HYDE 37

knows what it means to be despised and rejected of

men, gives the following testimony as to John's prayer
life. "I remember W.T. speaking of dear Hyde's having
spent thirty days and nights in prayer for the great
Sialkot Convention (that was in 1906), when the
Convention was opened for the first time to all
Christians.
"This news made a deep impression on me, as it
stood out in such contrast to my own prayerless life at
that time. When he and I were alone, I pressed Turner
for more details, particulars of which he was very
reluctant to give (as he himself had stayed twenty-one
days with the little prayer band). I cannot go into
details,' he said, 'but it was a time in the Mount with
God.'"
Soon after the 1910 Sialkot Convention, John Hyde
held a meeting in Calcutta. His friend in that city writes
about him: "He stayed with us nearly a fortnight, and
during the whole time he had fever. Yet he took the
meetings regularly, and how God spoke to us, though
he was bodily unfit to do any work! At that time I was
unwell for several days. The pain in my chest kept me
awake for several nights. It was then that I noticed what
Mr. Hyde was doing in his room opposite. The room
where I was being in darkness, I could see the flash of
the electric light when he got out of bed and turned it
on. I watched him do it at twelve, and at two, and at
four, and then at five. From that time the light stayed on
till sunrise. By this I know that in spite of his night
watches and illness, he began his day at five.
38 PRAYING HYDE

"I shall never forget the lessons I learned at that time.

I had always claimed exemption from night watches, as
I felt too tired at bed-time. Had I ever prayed for the
privilege of waiting upon God in the horns of night?
No! This led me to claim that privilege then and there.
The pain which had kept me awake night after night
was turned into joy and praise because of this new
ministry which I had suddenly discovered, of keeping
watch in the night with the Lord's "Remembrancers." At
length the pain quite left my chest, sleep returned, but
with it the fear came upon me lest I should miss my
hours of communion with God. I prayed, `Lord, wake
me when the hour comes' (see Isa. 50. 4). At first it was
at two A.M., and afterwards at four with striking
regularity. At five every morning I heard a
Mohammedan priest at the Mosque near by call out for
prayers in a ringing, melodious voice. The thought that I
had been up an hour before him filled me with joy.
"But Mr. Hyde grew worse, and the annual meeting
of his Mission was calling him. Being anxious, I
induced him to come with me to a doctor. The next
morning the doctor said: 'The heart is in an awful
condition. I have never come across such a bad case as
this. It has been shifted out of its natural position on the
left side to a place over on the right side. Through stress
and strain it is in such a bad condition that it will
require months and months of strictly quiet life to bring
it back again to anything like its normal state. What
have you been doing with yourself? Unless you change
your whole life and give up the strain, you will have to
 PRAYING HYDE 39

pay the supreme penalty within six months."

This was the doctor's stem warning. Hyde was to
give up his life of strain as an intercessor in the
Sanctuary, or pay the penalty with his life. What was to
be done? He chose the latter without a moment's
hesitation.
"Evermore bearing about in my body
The imminence of such a death as Jesus died."
(2 Cor. 4. 10).
If this was Paul's Hymn of Triumph it was dear
Hyde's, too. Can I ever forget his radiant face after the
doctor had told him the worst?
"They loved not their lives unto the death"
(Rev. 12. 11).
After the doctor's examination, we returned home,
and I had taken the precaution of asking for a
certificate, which I used in defence and explanation of
Hyde's absence from the Annual Conference.
Would he write a letter to meet possible
misunderstandings? He lifted the blotter on his table
and showed me a letter of six pages written to the
Missionary Conference containing his annual report.
"Let us post it immediately," I urged. "It is not
finished," he quietly said. The letter and report was
never posted, because it remained unfinished, as the
severe pain in his head (due to his weak condition after
his nightly fever), prevented him from finishing it.
"It is my cross, shall I not bear it?" he asked me.
There is but one answer to such a question. Misjudged
by his brethren, misunderstood by the world,
40 PRAYING HYDE

superseded in office, but waxing strong in spirit all the

while, for whatever is born of God overcometh the
world; "and this is the victory that overcometh the
world (and every circumstance) even our faith" (1 John
5. 4).
Then the friend writes how God taught him to live a
life of prayer through Mr. Hyde's example, and how
afterwards he, too, like John Hyde, was led into the
fellowship of Christ's sufferings, down, down, down,
farther and farther into the very recesses of
Gethsemane, till he, too, seemed to tread the wine-press
of the wrath of God against sin all alone.
"The spirit jealousy desires us for His own" (James
4. 5, Alford). It is His highest desire that there be in us a
life of fellowship with Himself. For this supreme wish
of His heart He rises early, seeking, knocking, unasked,
uninvited (Isa. 50. 4). How much more if asked and
invited! Does not this fact make the morning watch
unspeakably precious and glorious?
He seeks communion with us because it is His right
and our benefit. He seeks this communion at the
beginning of the day. He would claim the best, the very
best hours of the day. With so great a privilege pressed
upon us, does it not mean a solemn obligation on our
part to cultivate this life of fellowship?
If we are willing, He will quicken and empower.
Remember Gethsemane! Our Lord's appeal to His
disciples in His hour of supreme crisis was: "Could ye
not watch with Me one hour?" The appeal, though
thrice repeated, fell upon deaf ears, because the enemy's
 PRAYING HYDE 41

power had overmastered the disciples through sleep. Do

we not hear the Lamb upon His throne, standing as
though He had been slain, make the same appeal again
at this hour of world-crisis, at this hour of Church-
crisis, "Could ye not watch with Me one hour?" The
renewal of the Church will depend on the renewal of
our prayer life. The powers of the world to come are at
our disposal if we will make time for quiet hours for
fellowship and communion, which is our Lord's
supreme yearning desire.
The Calcutta friend concludes: "We have heard of
martyrs who were kept in prison, and in the end were
put to death. But have we ever heard of one who was so
given up to the ministry of prayer that the strain of a
daily burden brought him to a premature grave?" "No,
friend," answers another brother in India, "not a
premature grave; it was the grave of Jesus Christ. John
Hyde laid down his life calmly and deliberately for the
Church of God in India.
"Who follows in his train?"
Transformed Lives
Behold how much was wrought in the life and work
of one lady missionary. She had worked hard for many
years in her district, and none of the work there was
bearing real fruit. She read the account of Mr. Hyde's
prayer-life, and resolved to devote the best hours of her
time to prayer and waiting on God in the study of His
Word and will. She would make prayer primary, and
not secondary as she had been doing. She would begin
42 PRAYING HYDE

to live a prayer-life in God's strength. God had said to

her: "Call upon Me, and I will show thee great and
mighty things. You have not called upon Me, and
therefore you do not see these things in your work." She
writes: "I felt that at any cost I must know Him and this
prayer-life, and so at last the battle of my heart was
ended and I had the victory." One thing she prayed for
was that God would keep her hidden. She had to face
being misunderstood and being dumb and not opening
her mouth in self-defense if she was to be a follower of
the Lamb.
In less than a year she wrote a letter, and oh, what a
change! New life everywhere—the wilderness being
transformed into a garden. Fifteen were baptized at first,
and one hundred and twenty-five adults during the first
half of the following year!
"The most of the year has been a battle to keep to my
resolution. I have always lived so active a life,
accustomed to steady work all day long, and my new
life called for much of the best part of the day to be
spent in prayer and Bible study. Can you not imagine
what it was and what it is sometimes now? To hear
others going around hard at work while I stayed quietly
in my room, as it were inactive. Many a time I have
longed to be out again in active work among the people
in the rush of life, but God would not let me go. His
hand held me with as real a grip as any human hand,
and I knew that I could not go. Only the other day I felt
this again and God seemed to say to me, 'What fruit had
ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?' Yes, I
 PRAYING HYDE 43

knew I was ashamed of the years of almost prayerless

missionary life.
"Every department of the work now is in a more
prosperous condition than I have ever known it to be.
The stress and strain have gone out of my life. The joy
of feeling that my life is evenly balanced, the life of
communion on the one hand and the life of work on the
other, brings constant rest and peace. I could not go
back to the old life, and God grant that it may always be
impossible."
Another year passed, and she wrote again: "The spirit
of earnest inquiry is increasing in the villages and there
is every promise of a greater movement in the future
than we have ever yet had. Our Christians now number
six hundred in contrast with one sixth of that number
two years ago (before she began the prayer-life and
gave herself to it). I believe we may expect soon to see
great things in India. Praise for His hourly presence and
fellowship!"
The pastor of a congregation in Illinois writes: "We
have lost a strong and noble brother, who has not only
done the Lord's work in the far-off land, but has been an
inspiration to us as well, and the means of awakening at
least one from this congregation to such an interest in
the foreign work that today she is in China." Who can
measure John Hyde's influence and power in India, in
England, and in America?
"J. N. Hyde was like his father. When duty called,
the call was imperative. He answered it not with sky-
rocket exploitation and great ado, but with
44 PRAYING HYDE

unalterableness of purpose that meant this or death! It

seems God meant this and death. In the last class letter
he wrote to his seminary classmates, he says: 'For three
full years now God has given us decisions and baptisms
every day when we have been out in our district—over
a thousand the past two years ... never a day, if we were
right with God, without souls.' 'They that turn many to
righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.'
Is there anything in this old world worth while except
seeking and saving that which was lost?" (Herrick
Johnson).
Read of these experiences, as recorded by a
missionary in India, who wrote:
An American Girl's Struggle and Surrender
"On the wall in my room in India hung a motto card.
It is the picture of a stony hill with a little green grass
here and there. On the top of the hill is a tree; most of
the branches on one side have been entirely swept away
by the wind, and only a few scraggly limbs remain on
the other side. On this card is printed, 'Endure when
there is every external reason not to endure.' And this
verse, 'He endured ... seeing Him who is invisible.'
"A dear young friend seeing this card said to me,
'Memsahib, that motto card is to me your photograph.
God has been cutting from your life one branch after
another, and again and again has removed earthly
supports.'”
She and her husband were very happy in their going
out to India and during the first year. But there were
 PRAYING HYDE 45

shadows over the pathway. The next year God gave and
soon took to Himself a dear little life. From the first her
husband would ask God to fill him with the Spirit at
any cost to himself. At first she could not pray this
prayer. After the babe was taken she would join her
husband in this prayer, and as they would rise from their
knees she would say, "But, oh, I am afraid of the cost. "
Then next her husband was taken with fever. How she
pleaded and prayed and even commanded God. But he
passed away. For months she was dazed and seemed
oblivious to everything but her unutterable loss. It was a
year of great darkness.
But in the spring God sent a messenger (Mr.
Reginald Studd, a man from whom John Hyde learned
much), through whom God revealed what He desired to
be to each of His children, their all in all, the chiefest
among ten thousand, their heart-friend.
Christ possessed this man's life. Christ was to him all
that the dearest earthly friend could be, and infinitely
more. Not only was his life centered in Christ—Christ
was his very life. He communed with Him as with a
friend, spending hours with Him, his inmost being was
made radiant with Christ's abiding presence, and
wherever he went "Christ was revealed." Soon after
meeting this messenger of Christ she relates further: "In
a written consecration I gave myself, my child (born
shortly after her husband's death), all I had and all I ever
would have, to the Lord, to be His for ever. It was an
unconditional surrender, and the Holy Spirit entered in
His fullness and began to lead me into the love and joy
46 PRAYING HYDE

and peace—a knowledge surpassing the love and joy

and peace for which I had long been yearning. There
came to my heart a deep quietness. The Word of God
opened up to me in marvelous richness, becoming food
for the soul.
"In the years that have followed I have again and
again been brought to places where two ways opened;
one the way of the ordinary Christian life, the other the
way on which one seemed to see the blood-stained
marks of the Saviour's footsteps; and he called me to
follow Him the slain Lamb. It has meant the way of the
Cross; but it has also meant fellowship with Christ."
She writes further about the "Messenger" whom God
had sent to the Punjab, who showed such a Christ-
possessed life. She writes: "I do not remember that he
ever talked about prayer; he prayed. Speaking
sometimes four and five times a day, he would then
spend half the night in prayer, sometimes alone,
sometimes with others. He prayed."
She gives us modestly some glimpses of how
wonderfully God worked through her. Sometimes it was
among the Mohammedans, sometimes among the native
Hindus, and sometimes among the foreign missionaries.
She was associated with the Punjab Prayer Union and
the Sialkot Convention.
She says: "There have been many failures, times
when the self-life hindered God. I am more and more
amazed that God has been able, notwithstanding my
failures, to work in such wondrous ways, and has given
me the joy of seeing Him work.
 PRAYING HYDE 47

"God offers, " she continues, "to bring all who are
willing into the secret place, within the veil, the place of
sweetest refuge, where 'all is peace and quiet stillness.'"
When I was a boy there was a pond near my father's
house. I would stand on the shore of that pond and
throw a stone out into the water and then watch the
waves in ever widening circles move out from that
centre, till every part of the surface of the pond would
be in motion. The waves would come to the shore at my
very feet, and every little channel and inlet would be
moved by the ripples.
Sialkot started circles and waves of blessing that are
even now beating in the secret recesses and inlets of
many human hearts. And I am led to believe that every
atom and molecule of water in that pond felt the impact
of that stone. Only God and the recording angel can
determine how much the whole body of Christ has been
moved upon and benefited by the tremendous prayer
force generated by the Holy Spirit in that prayer room at
Sialkot.
Native pastors, teachers, and evangelists have gone
home from these conventions with new zeal for Jesus
Christ, and have influenced thousands of lives in their
many fields of labour.
Foreign missionaries have had their lives deepened
by visions of God. Letters and printed pages, like the
aprons and handkerchiefs from Paul's body, have been
sent probably to every country on earth to bring healing
to the faint-hearted, and direction and encouragement to
those desiring to enter the prayer life. I am assured that
48 PRAYING HYDE

tens of thousands have been born into the kingdom

because of the soul travail at Sialkot. Myriads will one
day rise up to thank God that two or three men in North
India in the name of Jehovah said, "Let us have a
convention at Sialkot!"
Home at last
The meeting and visit in Calcutta occurred in the fall
or winter following the 1910 Sialkot Convention.
The next spring, March, 1911, John Hyde started
home as the physicians would say a "dying man." He
had arrived in India in the autumn of 1892, less than
twenty years before. But surely they were nineteen
beautiful years.
After a stay in England, John Hyde arrived in New
York, August 8, 1911. He went at once to Clifton
Springs, N.Y. His purpose was to obtain relief from a
severe headache, from which he had suffered much
before leaving India. A tumour soon developed which
when operated on became malignant and was
pronounced by the physician to be sarcoma, for which
as yet medical science has found no remedy. He rallied
from this operation, and on December 19, went to his
sister, the wife of Prof. E. H. Mensel, at Northampton,
Mass.
But soon after New Year's Day he began to have
pains in his back and side. He thought it was
rheumatism, but the physician knew it was the dreaded
sarcoma again.
He passed away February 17, 1912 His body was
 PRAYING HYDE 49

taken by his brother Will Hyde, and his sister Mary

back to the old home at Carthage, Illinois, and the
funeral was held in the church where his father was for
seventeen years the pastor. At the time of John's funeral
J. F. Young, his classmate was pastor of the home
church, and preached at the funeral. It was my privilege
to assist in the service and to stand on the platform and
look down into the casket at that dear, dear face. He
was greatly emaciated, but it was the same sweet,
peaceful, gentle yet strong, resolute face that I had
known in 1901—the last time I saw him alive.
That February the 20th was cloudy and chill and
gloomy as out in beautiful Moss Ridge we tenderly laid
him beside his father and his mother and his brother
Edmund. But I know that by and by the clouds and the
shadows will flee away, the chill and gloom of the
grave be dispelled, and that man of prayer and praise
come forth in the likeness of the risen Son of God!
Holiness unto the Lord
As I have carefully and prayerfully gone over the
facts and incidents and experiences in the life of my
dear friend, I am impressed that the one great
characteristic of John Hyde was holiness. I do not
mention prayerfulness now, for prayer was his life
work. I do not especially call attention to soul-winning,
for his power as a soul-winner was due to his
Christlikeness. God says, "Without holiness no man
shall see the Lord, " and we may Scripturally say
without holiness no man shall be a great soul-winner.
50 PRAYING HYDE

Mr. Hyde himself said in substance, "Self must not only

be dead, but buried out of sight, for the stench of the
unburied self-life will frighten souls away from Jesus.”
It does not seem that John Hyde preached much
about his own personal experience of sanctification, but
he lived the sanctified life. His life preached. Just as he
did not say very much about prayer. He prayed. His life
was a witness to the power of Jesus' Blood to cleanse
from all sin.
Read these testimonies that have come to me from a
number of sources Further search would no doubt
reveal scores of other witnesses to the saintliness of this
beloved servant of Jesus Christ and man of prayer.
From a publication in this country: "The Bishop of
Oxford says of personal holiness, 'There is no power on
the world so irrepressible as the power of personal
holiness.' A man's gifts may lack opportunity, his efforts
be misunderstood and resisted, but the spiritual power
of a consecrated will needs no opportunity, and can
enter where doors are shut. In this strange and tangled
business of human life there is no energy that so
steadily does its work as the mysterious, unconscious,
silent, unobtrusive, impenetrable influence which
comes from a man who has done with all self-seeking.
And herein lay John Hyde's mystical power and great
influence. Multitudes have been brought to their knees
by prayer he uttered when filled with the Spirit."
This from a letter written to Mr. Hyde's sister: "If
ever there was a godly man, forgetful of himself and
devoted to the Master's service, your brother was that
 PRAYING HYDE 51

one. "
A native of India: "The marvelous spirituality of Mr.
Hyde had for some time been so great that all who saw
it were filled with wonder." These words are by a
missionary in India: "His loss will be sadly felt in this
country, especially by the Indian Christians. He was one
of the holiest men I have ever known, and his life
exerted a great influence."
One of his classmates writes: "No saint of the
Church was ever beyond him in holiness. He verily
gave his life for Christ and India."
Another missionary in India wrote: "He revealed a
Christ-possessed prayer-life. He talked with Christ as
with a friend, spending hours with Him. His inmost
being was made radiant by Christ's abiding presence,
and wherever he went Christ was revealed."
The Indian Witness says this: "He has had a very
remarkable influence in the Indian Church. A year ago
last autumn his addresses at the Sialkot Convention
produced a profound impression. He was an acceptable
speaker in Urdu, Punjabi, and in English, and it was
always the man of holiness and power back of an
address which made it indeed a message."
Another Indian missionary writes: "He had become a
real prophet of God. He was truly one who spoke for
God. Thoughtful men would sit for hours during a day
listening to his wonderful exposition of truth, as he
slowly, quietly, and clearly set forth what the Spirit of
God had taught him from His Word."
Not only was his the word of a prophet, but his life
52 PRAYING HYDE

had been sanctified by the truth. One day a missionary

was talking to a young Hindu who had become
acquainted with Mr. Hyde, when the Hindu said, "Do
you know, sir, that Mr. Hyde seems to me like God."
He was not far from the truth, for in a sense unknown to
his Hindu understanding this man had become an
Incarnation. I quote from a postal card written by John
to his sister while he was at Clifton Springs, N.Y., dated
October 27th, 1911, "Am still in bed or wheel-chair,
getting a fine rest and doing a lot of the ministry of
intercession, and having not a few opportunities of
personal work. How the radiance of Holiness shone out
in Jesus' every word and deed!" Yes, dear heart, and we
can truthfully and reverently say, "How the radiance of
holiness shone out in John Hyde's every word and
deed."
Victory
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death" (1
Cor. 15. 26). John Hyde had faced the enemy too many
times in going over into "No Man's Land" to rescue the
dying, to be frightened when the last awful encounter
took place that February day in 1912. When John Hyde
was in England, Mr. Charles M. Alexander took him to
his own doctor, and then a consultation with two other
physicians was held. The doctor then endeavored to
impress Mr. Hyde with the seriousness of his condition.
Mr. Alexander listened to the conversation. Surely Mr.
Hyde understood that really he was then in a dying
condition. Both Mr. Alexander and the doctor were
 PRAYING HYDE 53

amazed at Mr. Hyde's perfect composure. He had long

ago ceased to fear death, and for him to depart and be
with Christ was far better.
I am persuaded that no words of mine could fittingly
bring this sketch to a close. But the description I am
using is from the pen of Dr. W. B. Anderson in "The
Men's Record and Missionary Review" (United
Presbyterian). Dr. Anderson was for some years himself
a missionary in India, and was chairman of the
committee that established the Sialkot Convention. He
was well acquainted with dear John Hyde. He writes:
"He went a long way into the suffering of India, and he
had desperate encounters with her foes for her
deliverance. To him who dares much in this warfare
God seems to give a wonderful vision of victory.
"One day about 4 years ago he was talking of an
experience he had on a day of prayer that was being
observed for India. He was speaking intimately to
intimate friends. He said: 'On the day of prayer God
gave me a new experience. I seemed to be away above
our conflict here in the Punjab and I saw God's great
battle in all India, and then away out beyond in China,
Japan, and Africa. I saw how we had been thinking in
narrow circles of our own countries and in our own
denominations, and how God was now rapidly joining
force to force and line to line, and all was beginning to
be one great struggle. That, to me means the great
triumph of Christ. We do not dare any longer to fight
without the consciousness of this great world battle in
which we are engaged.
54 PRAYING HYDE

"'We must exercise the greatest care to be utterly

obedient to Him who sees all the battlefield all the time.
It is only He who can put each man in the place where
his life can count for the most.' Above all the strife of
battle he could see the great Commander whom he was
following so implicitly.
"When the word came to us in India that after severe
suffering in America, he had been called Home, it
seemed to me that I could hear something of an echo of
the shout of victory as he entered into the King's
presence. Then the next word that came was that he had
died with the words upon his lips: 'Bol, Yisu' Masih, Ki
Jai!' ('Shout, the victory of Jesus Christ!')
"When I heard that I thought of that awful time in the
life of our Lord when His foes were closing in about
Him. He knew that the time of His sacrifice was near.
Just before Him lay the desertion of His disciples, and
Gethsemane, and Calvary. Yet in that hour He said, 'Be
of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' Then I
remembered the days and nights when Mr. Hyde had
struggled in India for those bound by sin, and that after
hours of agony he had often risen with those about him
to shout: 'Bol, Yisu' Masih, Ki jai,' until this has become
the great war cry of the Punjab Church. As he sent that
shout back to us from the presence of the great Victor,
let us see to it that it rings throughout the whole world:
'Shout, the victory of Jesus Christ!'"
In Jehovah's Name, Amen!
Praying Hyde

PART II

A Vessel unto Honour

B Y J. P ENGWERN J ONES
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR
PART II

In the Very Presence of God

B y one of the last mails we had a letter from a dear

sister who was a missionary in India for years, and
who still longs to be back if only the state of her health
and home ties would allow her to come.
She says also that she is deeply touched by the
account of Mr. Hyde's wonderful prayer-life, and then
she gives a few words of her own reminiscences of him.
"I remember," she said, "during one of the Jubblepore
Conventions, at the noon-tide prayer meeting, I was
kneeling near to him, and can never forget how I was
thrilled with a feeling I cannot describe as he pleaded in
prayer, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!" It seemed as if a baptism
of love and power came over me, and my soul was
humbled in the dust before the Lord. I had the privilege
of meeting Mr. Hyde again in England when on his way
home to America. How his influence still lives!"
Mr. M'Cheyne Paterson describes Mr. Hyde as "a
great fisher for souls," and that is very true, for he not
only prayed for men, but was a real angler. He would be
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 57

just for a minute in a room with perhaps a perfect

stranger, but it would be quite a sufficient time to open
the Bible and show some wonderful passage from the
Word, and quietly he would lead the person to the
Saviour. We heard of a worldly lady once who thought
she would have a little fun at Mr. Hyde's expense, so
she asked, "Don't you think, Mr. Hyde, that a lady who
dances can go to Heaven?" He looked at her with a
smile, and quietly said, "I do not see how a lady can go
to Heaven unless she dances," and then he dwelt on the
joy of sin forgiven—the overwhelming joy, especially
far one who had been living for the world and for self,
and he gently appealed to her, as to whether she had
experienced this joy, and went quoting the Word of
God and begging of her not to be satisfied until this
wonderful experience would compel her to "dance for
joy." We feel sure that she never tried to get any more
fun at his expense. Truly Hyde was a fisher for souls.
Dr. Chapman, the great evangelist, said after being
round the world on an evangelistic tour, that it was
during a season of prayer with Mr. Hyde that he realised
what real prayer was. I believe that hundreds in India
can say the same. I owe to him more than I owe to any
man, for showing me what a prayer-life is, and what a
real consecrated life is. I shall ever praise God for
bringing me into contact with him; even now I have not
been able to take in all that was lived before me by him.
Jesus Christ became a new ideal to me, and I had a
glimpse of His prayer-life, and I had a longing, which
has remained to this day, to be a real praying man.
58 PRAYING HYDE

But let me give a few reminiscences which have

been indelibly impressed on my mind. The first time I
met him was at Ludhiana in the Punjab, where he lived
at the time. I had been invited to speak a few words on
the Revival in the Khassia Hills to the Conference of
the United States Presbyterian Mission, who had their
annual session at the time there. I had traveled by night
from Allahabad to Ludhiana, and reached there early in
the morning. I was taken to have a cup of tea with the
delegates and others, and I was introduced across the
table to Mr. Hyde, all that he said to me was, "I want to
see you; I shall wait for you at the door." There he was
waiting, and his first word was, "Come with me to the
prayer room, we want you there." I do not know
whether it was a command or a request. I felt I had to
go. I told him that I had traveled all night, and that I was
tired, and had to speak at four o'clock, but I went with
him. We found half-a-dozen persons there, and Hyde
went down on his face before the Lord. I knelt down,
and a strange feeling crept over me. Several prayed, and
then Hyde began, and I remember very little more. I
knew that I was in the presence of God Himself, and
had no desire to leave the place; in fact, I do not think
that I thought of myself or of my surroundings, for I had
entered a new world, and I wanted to remain there.
We had entered the room about eight o'clock in the
morning; several had gone out, others had come in, but
Hyde was on his face on the floor, and had led us in
prayer several times. Meals had been forgotten, and my
tired feeling had gone, and the Revival account and
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 59

message that I was to deliver, and concerning which I

had been very anxious, had gone out of my mind, until
about three-thirty, when Hyde got up, and be said to me,
“You are to speak at four o'clock; I shall take you to
have a cup of tea.” I replied that he must need a little
refreshment, too, but he said, "No, I do not want any,
but you must have some." We called in at my room and
washed hurriedly, and then we both had a cup of tea,
and it was full time for the service. He took me right to
the door, then took my hand, and said, "Go in and
speak, that is your work. I shall go back to the prayer
room to pray for you, that is my work. When the service
is over, come into the prayer room again, and we shall
praise God together." What a thrill, like an electric
shock, passed through me as we parted. It was easy to
speak, though I was speaking through an interpreter.
What I said, I do not know. Before the meeting was
over, the Indian translator, overcome by his feelings and
overpowered by the Spirit of God, failed to go on, and
another had to take his place. I know the Lord spoke
that night. He spoke to me, and spoke to many. I
realised then the power of prayer; how often I had read
of blessing in answer to prayer, but it was brought home
to me that evening with such force that ever since I try
to enlist prayer warriors to pray for me whenever I stand
up to deliver His messages. It was one of the most
wonderful services I ever attended, and I know that it
was the praying saint behind the scenes that brought the
blessing down on me.
I went back after the service to him, to praise the
60 PRAYING HYDE

Lord. There was no question asked by him, whether it

was a good service or not, whether men had received a
blessing or not; nor did I think of telling him what
blessing I had personally received and how his prayers
had been answered. He seemed to know it all, and how
he praised the Lord, and how easy it was for me to
praise the Lord and speak to Him of the blessing He had
given. I had very little talk with him at that Conference.
I knew very little about him, and somehow I had no
desire to ask him any questions; but a new power had
come into my life which humbled me, and gave me a
new idea altogether of a missionary's life, and even a
Christian life, and the ideal revealed to me then has
never been lost, but, with the years as they pass, there is
a deeper longing to live up to the ideal.
I had a talk with several of the missionaries about
him, and I found that he had been misunderstood by
them, but their eyes were being opened to the fact that
he was not an ordinary worker, but specially endowed
with the spirit of prayer and given to India to teach men
how to pray. Years afterwards I asked him whether he
had realised in his early years that the missionaries were
not in favour of the way he spent so much of his time in
prayer, and he smiled that sweet smile which one can
never forget, and said, "Oh, yes, I knew it, but they did
not understand me, that was all; they never intended to
be unkind." There was not one atom of bitterness as far
as I could see. At the time that I came into contact with
him, they spoke approvingly of his long vigils. The
probability is that he was not in bed one night during
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 61

that Conference, and the Lord honoured him. He was

out of sight, but, in answer to his prayers, many were
blessed, and I believe a new era in the history of the
mission and in the history of the Punjab was
commenced at that time.
How the Innermost Secret of the Prayer-life
was Revealed
I said in the last memoir that my contact with Mr.
Hyde was one of the greatest blessings of my life;
perhaps I should put it in the present tense, and say that
it is the greatest blessing, for I feel that the blessing
lasts, which shows that it was the Holy Spirit that used
His beloved servant and made him a blessing not only
to me, but to hundreds of others, men and women,
Indians, Europeans, Americans, Christians, and non-
Christians. The Spirit made him an object-lesson to us,
that we might have a better idea of what was Christ's
prayer-life. I hope and pray that these few imperfect
reminiscences may be used of the Holy Spirit to reveal
to others what is the "life of prayer," that we are called
upon to enter into in these days.
Naturally, I was interested and desired to know how
brother Hyde had entered into this life, what had led
him to consecrate his life so absolutely to the Lord, and
how he had been taught the secret of this prayer-life. It
was very difficult to get him to speak about himself, but
I think he understood that it was not mere curiosity that
prompted the inquiry. How I wish I could describe this
event as he related it. Can I give it in his own words? It
62 PRAYING HYDE

was something like this:

"My father was a minister—a Presbyterian minister
—and my mother a very devoted Christian with a
beautiful voice which had been consecrated to the Lord.
I determined when I was a youth to be a missionary, and
a 'good missionary.' I wanted to shine as a great
missionary. I passed through college and did very well.
I graduated, and was a little proud of the 'B.A.' after my
name. I was determined to master the Indian languages
that I would have to learn, and I resolved not to let
anything stand in the way that would hinder my
becoming a great missionary. That was my ambition.
This was not altogether perhaps of the flesh, but most of
it was. I loved the Lord and I wanted to serve Him, and
serve Him well, but 'self' was at the foundation of my
ambition.
"My father had a dear friend—a brother minister—
who had a deep desire to become a missionary, but his
desire was not fulfilled. He was greatly interested in
me, and was delighted that the son of his great friend
was going out as a missionary. He loved me and I loved
him and greatly admired him.
"When I got on board the steamer at New York,
bound for India for my life work, I found in my cabin a
letter addressed to me. It was in the handwriting of my
fathers friend. I opened it and read it. The words were
not many, but the purport of them was this: 'I shall not
cease praying for you, dear John, until you are filled
with the Holy Spirit.' My pride was touched, and I felt
exceedingly angry, and crushed the letter and threw it
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 63

into a corner of the cabin and went up on deck in a very

angry spirit. The idea of implying that I was not filled
with the Spirit! I was going out as a missionary, and I
was determined to be a good missionary, and yet this
man implied that I was not fitted and equipped for the
work! I paced up and down that deck, a battle raging
within. I felt very uncomfortable; I loved the writer, I
knew the holy life he led, and down in my heart there
was a conviction that he was right and that I was not fit
to be a missionary. I went back after some time to my
cabin and down on my knees to hunt for the crushed
letter. Finding it, I smoothed it out, and read it again
and again. I still felt annoyed, but the conviction was
gaining on me that my father's friend was right and I
was wrong.
"This went on for two or three days until I felt
perfectly miserable. This was the goodness of the Lord
answering the prayers of my father's friend, who must
have claimed a victory for me. At last, in a kind of
despair, I asked the Lord to fill me with the Holy Spirit,
and the moment I did this, the whole atmosphere
seemed to clear up. I began to see myself, and what a
selfish ambition I had. It was a struggle almost to the
end of the voyage, but I was determined long before the
port was reached, that whatever would be the cost, I
would be really filled with the Spirit. The second
climax came when I was led to tell the Lord that I was
willing even to fail in my language examinations in
India, and be a missionary working quietly out of sight,
that I would do anything and be anything, but the Holy
64 PRAYING HYDE

Spirit I would have at any cost.

"On one of the first few days spent in India, while I
was staying with another missionary, a brother of some
experience, I went out with him to an open-air service.
The missionary spoke, and I was told that he was
speaking about Jesus Christ as the real Saviour from
sin. When he had finished his address, a respectable-
looking man, speaking good English, asked the
missionary whether he himself had been thus saved.
The question went home to my heart; for if the question
had been asked me, I would have had to confess that
Christ had not fully saved me, because I knew that there
was a sin in my life which had not been taken away. I
realised what a dishonour it would be on the Name of
Christ to have to confess that I was preaching a Christ
that had not delivered me from sin, though I would be
proclaiming to others that He was a perfect Saviour.
"I went back to my room and shut myself in, and told
the Lord that it must be one of two things: either He
must give me victory over all my sins, and especially
over the sin that so easily beset me, or I must return to
America, and seek there for some other work. I said that
I could not stand up to preach the Gospel until I could
testify of its power in my own life. I was there for some
time, facing the question, realizing how reasonable it
was, until the Lord assured me that He was able and
willing to deliver me from all sin, that He had planned
work for me in India. He did deliver me, and I have not
had a doubt of this since. I can now stand up without
hesitation to testify that He has given me victory, and I
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 65

love to witness to this and to tell all of the wonderful

faithfulness of Christ my Lord, my Saviour."
As far as I can remember, it was in some such words
that Hyde gave me his experience. Can I ever forget his
face as he told me these things, that inexpressibly sad
look when he spoke of his sin, and that wonderful smile
of his when he referred to the faithfulness of Christ?
In the School of Prayer—Another Lesson
Learnt and Mastered
At the Sialkot Conventions there are two prayer
rooms, one for men and one for women, and prayer is
constantly going on there, day and night, without
intermission. Men and women separately meet there,
and two or three experienced Christians are always
present to help those who need help. At times persons
lead in prayer just as in ordinary prayer meetings; at
other times silent prayer goes on, or little groups form,
and have prayer for some object that presses upon their
heart. Missionaries and others bring anxious souls into
the prayer room, and they are prayed for and dealt with
by men who know how to lead souls into the light. The
power that is felt at the Sialkot Convention is the result
of the prayer room. I remember one year a missionary
full of work, attending the Convention for the first time,
and it was very evident that he did not feel at home at
the services. He came to me about the third day and said
that the Convention was on wrong lines altogether, that
the leaders and speakers should be on the platform "to
show themselves and encourage others," instead of
66 PRAYING HYDE

hiding themselves in the prayer room all day. I told him

that I did not agree with him, and asked whether he had
been into the prayer room, and he said that he had
turned in several times. Two days afterwards he came to
me with a beaming face, and said, "Do you know, I
have found out the secret of this Convention—it is that
prayer room. I never saw anything like it!" I told him
that I quite agreed with him, and we had a chat over the
blessings that he had received and the new visions of
Christ that he had had.
This prayer room, if I am not mistaken, was the work
of the Holy Spirit through Hyde; it was he that spent the
first nights on the watch-tower, but joined almost from
the very first by his beloved friend and brother,
M'Cheyne Paterson. I asked Hyde once how the Lord
had taught him this lesson, and he said that some time
before he was to speak at a Bible school one morning,
and he had had no time or insufficient time for the
preparation of the Bible reading, so he remained up all
night to prepare the message. The next day he thought
that, as he had spent a night in getting the message
ready, there was need of getting himself ready also, and
would not a night of prayer and praise be a good
preparation for a real blessing the following day? It was
the Holy Spirit's suggestion undoubtedly, for that night
he remained in prayer the whole night, and enjoyed it so
much that he repeated it the following night. Others
joined him, some for a part of the time and some for the
whole night. He was always careful in his preparation
for his Bible readings, sermons, or Convention
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 67

Addresses, but he often said that the preparation of the

Messenger was quite as important as the preparation of
the Message. What if we also realized this?
At the Sialkot Convention referred to, the Europeans
were accommodated in the dormitory of the Mission
Boarding School, a long narrow building, and our beds
were placed so near each other that we had very little
room to move about; the room was crowded between
the services. My bed had been placed between Mr.
Hyde and Dr. Griswald's beds, but I noticed that Hyde's
bed had not been occupied at all. Hyde spent his time in
the prayer room; but one morning he rushed in and went
down on his knees by his bed-side. This was in the early
morning soon after dawn. I went to have chota-hazri
(early breakfast), and came back and found him still
praying. Then I went out to the prayer meeting and
morning service, and came back at 11 o'clock, and
found him still praying. I went in to breakfast and
returned about 12.30, and lay down on my cot to rest
and to watch him. I went to the afternoon service, then
to tea, then to the 5 o'clock service, coming into the
dormitory each time before going to a fresh service. At
6 o'clock he was still on his knees, and had been all day.
As I had an hour to wait until dinner, I determined to
watch him and, if he rose from his knees, I would ask
him how it was possible for him to remain quiet the
whole day and to pray while there was so much noise
around, for people were coming in and going out the
whole time, and there was a great deal of talking going
on.
68 PRAYING HYDE

In half an hour or so he looked up and smiled. I sat

on his bed and asked him what was the secret of all this.
I also asked him to allow me to fetch him a cup of tea,
but he refused tea and asked for a glass of water only.
Then he said, "Let me tell you, what a vision I had—a
new vision of Christ!" His face as he spoke seemed to
be illuminated; he had come truly from the secret of His
Presence, and I shall never forget his words, they gave
me a new vision of Christ, and as he spoke to me I
could not keep the tears back; at times I felt that it could
not be true—that Jesus had never suffered so much for
me, but as Hyde lifted Him up before me, I had to
believe, and my heart went out to Christ in love and
gratitude such as I had never felt before, and also in
shame and sorrow that sin—my sin—had brought Jesus
so low, into such suffering, and that vision of my dear
Saviour is still before me. How I wish I could repeat it
as Hyde brought me step by step to see Christ that
evening.
A New Vision of the Master
He showed first of all what a condescension it was
for (1) Christ to become a man. I saw something quite
new in Christ "emptying Himself," leaving His glory
and entering our world, our sinful world; what it must
have cost Him to live in the atmosphere of sin; it was
no wonder that He often escaped from the haunts of
men, from the depressing, suffocating odour of sin to
the mountains, to have a breath of the fresh air of
Heaven. How Hyde described the environments of sin
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 69

and the Holy Person living in the midst of it! I felt that
even the Incarnation was an Infinite Sacrifice, even if
the death on Calvary had never taken place.
Then he stopped and said, "And He took this place
—became man—for me. " I saw the vicarious sufferings
of Christ then, in a new light. After a little time he
began again and said (2) Christ became a slave for me.
He washed His disciples' feet—this was the work of a
slave. He stooped and became a slave for me. Then he
described the life of a slave, and how Christ in every
sense of the word had voluntarily become a slave—not
like one—but actually He became a bond-servant, a
slave. He who was King of kings, who had the worship
and adoration of the hosts of Heaven, a real slave on
earth! "And all," said Hyde, “for me, for me.”
For some time he wept; we both wept, I wept at the
thought of the sufferings of Christ for me, and how
unfaithful I had been to Him; but Hyde was thinking of
what he was going to say next, and what he said gave
me such a shock that I hardly know how to repeat the
words lest they should be misunderstood. Hyde
continued speaking and weeping."I saw more. I saw that
my Jesus became a dog, a Pariah dog, for me." Is it
blasphemy to use these words? (3) Jesus became a dog
for me. Hyde said that he was thinking of the
Syrophenecian woman, and how Jesus applied the
contemptible word "dog" to her and the Gentiles, and
then, he said, the Holy Spirit led my thoughts to the
truth that Jesus had died for the Gentiles, for these dogs
—then it must be that Jesus had taken the dog's place.
70 PRAYING HYDE

"At first," he said, "this was too awful to think of, but
when I thought of His life, I had to come to the
conclusion that the life of Christ had more of the
characteristics of a dog's life, than anything else, and
that is what I have been doing," he said; "worshiping
Him and praising Him for this." He explained that it
must have been the intention of Christ to teach this truth
by this miracle; Christ would never have used the
epithet "dog" of a human being without a great purpose
in view, and it was this: He wanted men to realize that
He had gone down, even below men, for the purpose of
lifting them up.
Then Hyde showed the similarity between Christ's
life and the pariah dog of the East.
Christ had nowhere to lay His head. That is how the
dogs of the East live; they have no place which they can
call "home," and Christ was homeless, and "to think of
Christ suffering all for me," said Hyde.
The dogs of the East have constant kicks and blows
from men, and that is how men treated our beloved
Saviour, driven away from men, receiving oftentimes
great unkindness at the hands of men, cruel words,
scoffs, blows, and at last cruelly killed. Shall I ever
forget the tenderness of Hyde as he spoke of the
sufferings of Christ.
I remember nothing of the dinner that night, my
impression is that we both sat on that bed for hours,
speaking of Christ. I shall never forget it, and never
forget the vision I had of the love of Christ, going lower
and lower, suffering more and more, and all for me.
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 71

If we could only spend time alone with Christ, what

visions we would get, how we also could speak of Him
to others until they had visions of Him. The distractions
of our worldly affairs, the attractions of the world,
would cease to influence us as they do now. We need
our quiet times with Him, and to take time, and make
time, to be with Him, to see Him face to face.
The Burden of Prayer and Its Sure Result
The most wonderful week of my life was the one
spent in Murree with Mr. Hyde and several others of
like spirit.
Murree is a hill station on the way to Cashmere. In
the year 1907, several missionaries arranged to spend
three or four weeks of the hot weather in this place, and
the Spirit moved them to arrange for a week or ten days
of waiting on the Lord while there. Others heard of this
and joined them, and I had the great privilege of being
with them. When I say that several of the leaders (or a
better word would be the intercessors), from the Sialkot
Convention were there, one can understand the
privilege. I had the joy of sharing a tiny room with
Hyde, and that room was a little Heaven to me, and the
memories of it will never be effaced. We were
entertained by Mr. and Mrs. M'Cheyne Paterson, and all
the other guests in the same house were of kindred
spirit, so that the fellowship was almost perfect. Mr.
Hyde was very full of humor which was under perfect
control The sad burdened features relaxed when he was
in the company of those that shared his prayer life, and
72 PRAYING HYDE

his face was lit up with joy—a Heavenly joy. The

conversation at the table was most uplifting, and Hyde
and others led us "into green pastures," and some of us
who were only beginning to understand this life feasted
on the thoughts that passed through the lips of those
dear saints who lived in the secret of His presence. But
Hyde's place was often vacant; we knew where he was;
no one enjoyed the company of men and women more
than he did, but Jesus came first—he was afraid lest the
fellowship of the saints should come between him and
his Saviour.
He was always on his knees clothed in a heavy
overcoat when I went to bed, and on his knees long
before I was up in the morning, though I was up with
the dawn. He would also light the lamp several times in
the night, and feast on some passage of the Word, and
then have a little talk with the Master. He sometimes
remained on his knees the whole day. At other times he
would come with us to the services, and spend the time
in prayer in the vestry adjoining the church. The
services were full of power, every word seemed to
reach the hearts of men. It was not the power of the
messages, but the power of prayer that did it all. How
easy it was to speak; there was an atmosphere of prayer.
I would be in the vestry with him and a few others until
the service commenced, and back to the vestry for
prayer as soon as the service was over.
One day the burden of prayer for the Europeans of
the station had fallen on Hyde; for two or three days he
never went to bed nor did he go down to meals, and the
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 73

food sent up to his room was generally carried down

again untouched. How often he came and knelt by my
bed that I might try to help him to bear the burden. On
the Saturday night he was in great agony. M'Cheyne
Paterson and myself remained with him. Oh, how he
prayed and pleaded for the Europeans of the station. It
was a vision to me of real agonizing intercession; he
seemed to say like Jacob of old, "I will not let Thee go,"
and yet in the determination there was such deep
humility, such loving pleading. At two o'clock in the
morning there was a knock at the door, and M'Cheyne
Paterson quietly whispered to me, "I am sure that is my
wife reminding me that we ought to go to bed;" but it
was not so. It was a letter from a lady staying at the
largest hotel in the place, asking us to have a service for
Europeans in the drawing-room of the hotel. Hyde
heard us reading the letter, and he jumped up from his
knees and said, "That is the answer to my prayers. I
know now that the Lord has heard me."
The servant who was entrusted with the message had
gone miles in another direction, and had to come back,
and found it very difficult at night to get anyone to
direct him to us, hence his appearance at two o'clock in
the morning. He had been told that the message was
urgent and a reply absolutely necessary. Hyde's face
was just full of peace and joy, and he almost
commanded us to accept the invitation and arrange for
the service, which we did. It was not a large gathering at
the hotel, and the service was not a success from a
human standpoint, and yet I felt perfectly confident that
74 PRAYING HYDE

the Lord was carrying out His plans and purposes, and
that He was answering the prayers of His dear servant.
Hyde, of course, remained in his room to pray, or rather
to praise, for he was full of joy, and was not at all
disappointed when we told him that not many of the
hotel visitors had attended the service. He said that it
was all in the Lord's hand, and He knew how to carry on
His work. One at least that was at the service came to
the evening service which was held by us in the Scotch
church, and Mr. Hyde was present that night with such
Heavenly joy in his features that it was contagious.
What a privilege it was to be with him for that week!
What lessons I learnt! His Bible was always in his hand,
even when we had our morning cup of tea he regaled
me with manna from the Word. When he knelt to pray,
the dear old Book was always open before him, and his
hands rested on it. Face to face with the Lord and
resting on the promises. He had always some dainty
morsel or other to give me from the Word; he always
led me right to His presence when we prayed together.
How is it that we have so few who live thus at all times
"in the secret of His presence?" Why do we not yield
ourselves to the Lord and let our life be one of prayer
and communion with Him? Then we could lead others
to a higher life.
From Murree we all went together to the Sialkot
Convention, and probably that was one of the most
wonderful Conventions ever held. Mr. Hyde took some
of the morning Bible readings, which proved so helpful
to those present.
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 75

Intercession—A Continuous Ministry

There is no doubt that the Sialkot Convention at one
time, whatever it may be now, was one of the most
wonderful gatherings of the Lord's children that ever
took place, and Hyde had a great deal to do with the
form it took. He was not conscious of this, but the
atmosphere he brought with him seemed to affect the
whole place. One felt a change coming over one as one
entered the compound of the Convention. It was a spirit
of prayer, and when we entered into the "prayer room"
we understood the cause of the change of atmosphere.
Perhaps I should explain what this "prayer room"
really is. Mr. Hyde and a few others realized the
necessity of preparation for the Convention, and he felt
that his work was to wait on God and plead for those
who would attend. There are men in the Punjab who are
specially endowed of the Spirit to organize such
gatherings.
Dr. Gordon, on whom in the old days the great
burden of organizing all the departments of work fell,
was so guided and helped by the Spirit that everything
went like clockwork. To cater for 2000 people is not an
easy task, but the arrangements were so perfect that Dr.
Gordon and all his willing assistants, including the
missionary ladies that superintended the commissariat,
were able to attend the services. I remember Dr. Gordon
telling me that he had really nothing to do except to
enjoy the Convention. He spent much time in the prayer
room, and one day he took me into his little tent, and
76 PRAYING HYDE

showed me his account books, beautifully written, and

everything noted down. The previous year's account had
balanced to a pice, and all the work was carried on
without any bustle or worry.
Why do I mention these things in writing about
Praying Hyde? Because prayer had so much to do with
it. Hyde and his companions were in a room on the
ground praying when Dr. Gordon and his companions
were putting up the scores of tents, arranging the
cooking apparatus, the supply of water, and the one
hundred and one little details necessary. Hyde felt and
caused others to feel that it was necessary to prepare the
messages and the tents and the food and the sleeping
accommodation and, when others reached the ground to
arrange the external necessities, he was on the ground to
enter the prayer room, and for two or three days and
nights, Hyde and a few others were on their faces
praying, pleading, praising, and claiming a blessing.
Has the marquee been erected? Hyde and his party
enter in at once to dedicate it to the Lord, and to make
the spot a real Bethel where God would meet with His
people. Is the dining-tent in position? The praying party
must be there at once, so that the Spirit of God can use
the meal-times to bring blessing to His people.
Sometimes the conversation in the dining-tent destroys
the effect of the messages given in the preaching-tent;
but in Sialkot we never heard any gossip during meal-
times. Men and women formed parties, Indians and
Europeans together, sitting at tables or in small groups
on the floor eating their meal, and feasting on the
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 77

fellowship in the Lord. Was there anyone in spiritual

difficulties? Some brother or sister would say, "Let us
go together to have a little food and talk over this great
matter," and there, while eating, they realized that Jesus
was with them; the meal was sanctified by His
presence, and everything appeared in a new light.
someone has found the Saviour, and the Lord must be
praised and a hymn or a Bhajan is started, and in an
instant the whole place is full of praise. The ladies
giving out the food, the Christian waiter;, as well as
those who are eating, all unite in praising God. The
Punjabis can sing, and the missionaries can sing, too. It
was in the dining-tent I heard the "Glory Song" sung in
a way that I shall never forget, and I longed to go to
"Glory" there and then to begin this glory life. The food
was left and got cold before we could eat it, but our
hearts had been warmed up with the fire of His love
burning within. Had Hyde's prayer anything to do with
this? I do not know, but I do know that this is what he
and his companions prayed for.
The first day of the Convention, and often on the
previous night, the two prayer rooms were open, one for
men and one for women, and prayer and praise went on
continually until two or three days after the Convention.
It is immediately after the seed is sown that the birds
come and devour the seed, "then cometh the Devil, and
taketh away the Word out of their hearts" (Luke 8. 12).
M'Cheyne Paterson always says the the time for very
earnest definite prayer is immediately after the service
or a Convention is over, and Hyde believed in this, and
78 PRAYING HYDE

so when others remained on the ground after the

Convention was over to pull down the tents, etc., the
prayer room parties remained to plead that the results of
the Convention might be permanent.
If we had more prayer in the very place of our
conferences and assemblies before they commence,
during the sessions, and when they are over, how
different the atmosphere would be! If we only realized
that there is as much need for heart-preparation as
there is for comfort-preparation; if we could feel that
this is the absolute necessity, and for some to take this
burden upon them as Hyde did, what a blessing we
would have! Can we not take this lesson to heart?
Within the Veil
Let us look at Hyde in the prayer room, say, in the
Sialkot Convention. The prayer room is in the Scottish
church. Some of the seats have been moved aside, and a
carpet covers this open space. Sometimes there are
hundreds of people there, at other times only two or
three. Right on his face on the ground is "Praying
Hyde"—this was his favorite attitude for prayer. Listen!
He is praying—he utters a petition, and then waits; in a
little time he repeats it, and then waits, and this many
times, until we all feel that the petition has penetrated
into every fibre of our nature, and we feel assured that
God has heard and without a doubt He will answer.
How well I remember him praying that we might "open
our month wide that He might fill it" (Psa. 81.10). I
think he repeated the word "wide" scores of times, with
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 79

long pauses between, "Wide, Lord," "Wide," "Open

wide," "Wide." How effectual it was to hear him
address God, "Oh, Father! Father!" Even before he
asked anything I always felt that the Father knew what
he was going to ask for.
When he finished his prayer, perhaps half-a-dozen
are sobbing. Hyde goes to one of them, and others who
are present go to the others. Hyde's arm is around the
neck of the one that he is going to deal with; he speaks
but little, but his well-worn Bible is used, and before
long he stands up with a smile, and the man with him,
and he begins to sing: "'Tis done, the great transaction's
done," and he is so full of joy that his whole body
begins to move, he claps his hands, and then his feet
begin to move, and look! he begins to dance for joy,
and others join him until the whole place rings with
God's praises.
Sometimes he wants to be alone, and I heard of him
climbing into the belfry; there, in the dark, high above
the others, he pours out his soul to God. Men hear the
echo of his voice, and realize that be must not be
disturbed, for he is wrestling with God.
What about his meals, and his bed? The Convention
lasted for ten days in those early days, and his "boy," a
lad about sixteen that he had taken to his home and his
heart, had brought Hyde's bedding and had carefully
made his bed, but it was never used during the
Convention. I saw him more than once, when the prayer
room was full, go aside into one of the corners and
throw himself on the floor to sleep, but if the room
80 PRAYING HYDE

began to get empty and prayer to flag, he somehow

seemed to know it and was up immediately and took his
place with the other intercessors. Did he go to his
meals? I think it was only once or twice that I saw him
with us at table. Sometimes his "boy," or Gulla, the
sweeper, or one of his friends would take a plate of
curry and rice or something else to him to the prayer
room, and if convenient he would go to a corner and eat
it. How his "boy" used to cry because he would not eat
properly and would not go to bed to sleep.
Hyde was not the only one that did this; there were
other missionaries who did the same, and Indian
workers also, but it was Hyde's spirit and example that
first of all led them into this "prayer life." How often
Hyde told me that he was afraid of following the
example of men, and he dreaded lest anyone should try
to follow his example, or M'Cheyne Paterson's example,
and so I wish to close this chapter of reminiscences by
begging of our readers to follow Hyde in his prayer-life
and prayer-spirit, but not necessarily in the "form" that
he manifested it.
There are thousands of God's children who cannot
spend weeks in prayer and fasting as he did; they are
physically unfit for it; but every one can have this
prayer-life, making prayer their very breath. We need to
be in the line of God's will in this as in every other duty.
Hyde realized that in his case God demanded it of him.
We all feel our need of more prayer, and to be more
persistent in prayer and intercession, whether we spend
a night or a month on our knees. Realizing my own
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 81

need, may I ask my fellow-workers, Indians and

Europeans, especially at this time, shall we not give
more of our time to prayer? Can we not have an
occasional day of prayer and fasting? Let us go to the
Lord and settle it with Him. Let us be willing to
sacrifice our own comforts in order to have more time
for prayer.
A Living Message from the Empowered
Messenger
I wrote about Hyde at the Conventions, and promised
to give one or two other incidents which I observed at
the Conventions. He felt that his place was in the prayer
room, but he had to enter the platform at times, and his
messages were delivered with tremendous power, as we
would naturally expect when he came straight from the
prayer room to deliver his message. I shall never forget
the effect of one of his Bible readings on the
congregation, and on the whole Convention.
He spoke in Urdu, and those who know Urdu say
that he spoke the language well, if anything a little high
flown, using the book-language more than the
colloquial. I could not follow him, for my knowledge of
Urdu is very meager, so I had an opportunity of
watching him and the congregation. I realized very soon
that he was delivering a solemn message, for there was
a solemnity in the congregation that was almost
oppressive. He spoke quietly, but all could hear him,
and I felt that his life was in the word.
He once told me that one had to give himself if he
82 PRAYING HYDE

wanted to serve God and help men, that it was not

enough to give our time and our talents, that our "life"
must be given. This was true, he said, both in praying
and in preaching. Alas! how few of us give of our life;
when we think that our life is touched, we feel it is time
to draw back. How often we have beard it said, "You
will kill yourself if you work as you do; take it easy."
But Hyde used to say, "Give your life for God and
men." Let that vital energy, that living power within, be
poured out for men. Who was right? Hyde or the
modern man? Hyde gave himself as he preached—he
poured out his life as he prayed. . . that morning in
Sialkot he did this, and men realized the power. I heard
that immediately after the service, the committee was
called together to consider God's challenge to them, and
for prayer that the message might influence men. At
breakfast, men were in groups, asking what should be
done, and I know that many went away alone to have
their lives readjusted by the Holy Spirit.
At one of the Conventions he spoke to the
Europeans. Most of them were missionaries. He spoke
on "The Cross." I think that the Spirit used him to give
us all an entirely new vision of the Cross. That was one
of the most inspiring messages I ever heard. He began
the address by saying that from whatever side or
direction we look at Christ on the Cross, we see
wounds, we see signs of suffering—from above we see
the marks of the crown of thorns, from behind the Cross
we see the furrows caused by the scourging, etc., and he
dwelt on the Cross with such illumination that we
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 83

forgot Hyde and every one else, the "dying, yet living
Christ" was before us. Then step by step we were led to
see in the crucified Christ a sufficiency for every need
of ours, and as he dwelt on the fitness of Christ for
every emergency, I felt that I had sufficient for time and
for eternity.
But the climax of all to me was the way he
emphasized the truth that Christ on the Cross cried out
triumphantly, "IT IS FINISHED," when all around thought
that His life had ended. It seemed to His disciples that
He had failed to carry out His purposes; it appeared to
His enemies that at last their dangerous Enemy had
been overcome. To all appearances the struggle was
over and His life had come to a tragic end. Then the
triumphant cry of victory was sounded out, "IT IS
FINISHED." A cry of triumph in the darkest hour.
Then Hyde showed us that if united to Christ we can
also shout triumphantly, even when everything points to
despair. Though our work may appear to have failed,
and the enemy to have gained the ascendancy, and we
are blamed by all our friends and pitied by all our
fellow-workers, even then we can take our stand with
Christ on the Cross and shout out, "Victory, victory,
victory!" From that day I have never been in despair
about our work. Whenever I feel despondent, I think I
hear Hyde's voice shouting "Victory!" and that
immediately takes my thought to Calvary, and I hear my
Saviour in His dying hour, crying out with joy, "IT IS
FINISHED." As Hyde said, "This is real victory," to shout
triumphantly though all around is darkness.
84 PRAYING HYDE

I remember that the Hon. M. Waldegrave (the late

Lord Radstock's son), was in the service, and in leaving
at the close, he said to me, "I generally go to my tent
after every service and write the message that I have
heard to my wife, but Mr. Hyde's message just delivered
seems so sacred and appealing that I dare not try to
write it."
I had a long talk with Hyde afterwards about the
Cross and the message, and he told me that for a whole
year he had been fascinated by the Cross. "I cannot
speak on any other subject now," he said. I heard him
speak on the Cross at another Convention some weeks
afterwards, and that was accompanied by the Holy
Spirit's power in a similar way.
How the Spirit of Dissension was Quenched
at Sialkot
At the first Convention that I attended at Sialkot, the
Evil One made a desperate attempt to destroy the whole
work. At the previous Convention some terrible
confessions had been made both by missionaries and
Indian workers, and at the Convention that I attended,
sins were revealed that shocked all persons present.
Some few that attended were exceedingly annoyed, and
wanted the committee to consider the question and
decide either that there should be no public confession,
or else that men and women should be separated, and
men should confess at the men's meetings, and women
at the women's meetings. These people wanted the
committee to meet them to discuss the whole matter.
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 85

The reply of the committee was, "Let us meet together

to pray over the matter." These men would not, and said
that it was useless to pray until the question had been
decided. As I was an outsider, I heard the arguments on
both sides. I did not like to hear open confession of the
sins of immorality, but I deplored the spirit manifested
by some of the people who were against confessions.
One young fellow, thumping the table, said, "I'll smash
the whole Convention."
I had a quiet talk on the subject with Hyde. He was
one of the committee, and manifested such a tender,
loving spirit and was so sane through it all, that I was
greatly impressed. He said that the committee had never
called for confessions, that it was the Spirit of God that
had moved men to confess. He said that he felt that
legislation on the question, and setting apart special
meetings for confessions, would be like taking the
matter out of the Holy Spirit's hand, and it would in one
way give sanction to open confession. I well remember
how earnestly he said that the sin of immorality was
more prevalent among the Christians than anyone
dreamt, and that the Holy Spirit saw that extreme
measures were needed to get men to realize the sin.
"Some men, I fear," said Hyde, "are guilty, and are
afraid that the Holy Spirit will compel them to confess."
How tenderly he spoke of these men, how confident he
was that the Lord at the right moment would reveal
clearly His will in the matter; it was one of the darkest
hours of the Sialkot Convention, and yet Hyde's face
was full of joy, for he knew that victory was assured.
86 PRAYING HYDE

Victory came; those who opposed confession went

together to the prayer room, hoping to discuss the
question. Hyde was praying, several others of the
committee were praying, and they gave such a hearty
welcome to those men to pray with them that they did
so, and after some time, M`Cheyne Paterson, one of the
members of the committee, spoke, and spoke with such
power that the discussion dropped. He showed that no
member of the committee had ever urged public
confession. All that the committee desired was implicit
obedience to the Holy Spirit. These men said that they,
too, desired that all men should obey the Spirit, and
then someone began to praise God, and all joined in
singing, and the prayer room became once more a
praise room.
I realized then in a new way how much better it
would be to settle our differences by meeting together
to pray, by allowing the Holy Spirit to have His way
with us. Since then I have put this matter more than
once to the test. When at committee meetings or
conferences disputes arose and feelings ran high, when
men began to get excited and fight for their own
opinions, the best way to meet all this was to keep quiet
in a corner, praying that the Holy Spirit might come and
reveal His will and direct men's thoughts in the right
path, how wonderfully He has led us out of the mazes
and brought peace and happiness to men's minds.
This was Hyde's way of meeting difficulties, and this
was the way of the Master. Shall this be our way?
Whatever may be the trouble, let us put ourselves in the
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 87

right attitude towards God, and then wait for the Holy
Spirit to work in us to do what is right.
A Resting-Time in Wales
I left for Wales in December, 1910. I saw Mr. Hyde
the previous October, and knew that he intended taking
his furlough early in 1911. I asked him to take a run
across to see me when passing through England, and he
replied, as he generally did, that he would call if the
Lord would open the way. I gave him my address, but
he lost it. The day before his steamer was due to arrive
in Liverpool he asked a C.M.S. missionary who was on
board whether he had any idea what part of Wales I
came from. I had only a casual acquaintance with this
missionary, and had never seen his wife, but he
immediately told Hyde that his wife had my address,
and he went down to her cabin and brought it up. To
this day I have no idea where she obtained my address.
The steamer arrived in Liverpool on Good Friday,
and he crossed over to Birkenhead to get a train for my
home (Llangollen). When he reached the station he was
told that only one train ran on Good Friday, and that
had gone. Someone overheard the question and answer,
and told him that there was a cheap excursion train
going direct to the place, and told him to book an
excursion ticket, which he did, but, when he reached the
train, he was told that he could take no luggage with
him, and he had all his belongings in a big American
trunk. He waited a moment, and prayed, I am sure,
when the guard came to him, and said, "Go and secure
88 PRAYING HYDE

your seat, and leave your trunk with me. I shall bring it
in my van," and he did so. All these incidents I have
mentioned were clear indications to him that he was in
the line of God's will. He lived so near the Lord that he
was sensitive to the slightest promptings of His will,
and he seemed to know at once when the Lord was not
with him. How everything fitted together because all
was under the direct control of God for the good of His
servant!
But this was not all. It had been arranged by the
Mission that I should be on deputation work for some
time in Carnarvonshire just those days, but at the last
moment the tour was canceled, because the people were
too busy in arranging for the installation of the Prince of
Wales as Prince in Carnarvon, for arrangements to be
made for missionary meetings; and so I had a fortnight's
rest in my old home, and I wondered what was behind
all this. I was glad of the quiet time, but I felt there was
some other reason.
On Good Friday morning I went round the little town
just as I used to go when I was a boy, and told my wife
that I would be back in less than an hour, but when I
arrived back, my wife rushed to the door, and said,
"Guess who has come? Of all your numerous friends,
which one would you like to see and have his company
on Good Friday?" I could not mention anyone, but I felt
that there was some joy in store for me, and I saw that
my wife was greatly excited, for she had longed for
years to meet Hyde. Then she said, "Go to the bedroom
and see who is there having a wash." I rushed upstairs,
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 89

and there was Hyde, with his face beaming with joy,
and that was the beginning of a month or two of a little
Heaven on earth for me.
It was not difficult for me to persuade him to make
his home with me for some weeks. A dearly beloved
doctor and his wife who lived near begged that they
should entertain him, and as I knew that he would be far
more comfortable there than in the little house where
we stayed, and I knew that he needed the care of a
doctor, we gladly allowed them to have him there to
sleep, and he came for most of his meals to us. What a
time that was! He and my wife seemed to understand
each other from the very first hour, and no brother and
sister in the Lord ever loved each other, and understood
each other, better than they did. What time we spent
around that little table, where we had our meals! The
fellowship was so sweet, the blessing asked for before
the meal commenced often turned into a lengthy prayer,
and the food became cold, but our hearts were warmed
up, and every morsel we ate seemed to be tasty and to
have an additional relish. What a privilege it is to have
one of the children of God who lives in His very
presence with us at the table. It became the Lord's
banqueting house, and we freely drank of His Spirit.
What would I not give to have one of those days back
again! Will my readers forgive me for dwelling so long
on this? I had such a blessing I can never forget it.
We went round to visit some of the old saints, and,
among others, we called on a dear aged child of God
who was very deaf. Mr. Hyde himself was deaf. This
90 PRAYING HYDE

dear old lady shouted to him, that she missed the

services very much, "for I cannot hear anything when I
go," she said, and to her surprise he said, "You ought to
praise God for that." She thought that he had
misunderstood her, and she said again, "I cannot hear, I
tell you," and he answered, "That is why I tell you that
you should praise the Lord." Then he explained to her
what he meant. He said that it was rarely that he could
hear anything when he went to the services, but that it
was a fine opportunity to pray, everything was so quiet
and the whole environment seemed to help him to pray
and worship. He said that he looked at the preacher and
prayed for him, then at the different people, and prayed
for them as he looked at them, until he began to praise
God for being deaf, as it gave him such a glorious
opportunity for prayer and adoration. The dear old lady
laughed heartily and entered into the spirit of his
remarks, and said quite cheerfully, "I think I shall try
that way, too. " And some two or three years afterwards
she wrote to me and said that she praised God for what
Hyde had said, and that it had made a wonderful
difference in her life. She has gone Home, and no doubt
they have been drawn together on the other side and
praise God together for all the way that He led them.
What walks we had together on the mountain side,
and we would sit down together on one of the rustic
seats provided for visitors, and have a time of prayer
together, or throw ourselves down under some of those
shady trees, and have fellowship with the Master. How
one longs for Him!
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 91

It was during some of these walks that he gave me

some of his early history. He spoke a great deal about
his mother, what an earnest Christian she was, and what
careful training she had given him. He often spoke of
her singing; and over and over again he said that she
was the best singer he had ever heard, and such a holy
woman. I felt at the time that he just longed to go home
to her.
When he was staying with me, he often spoke of
Keswick, and his one desire then was to remain in
England over Keswick Week. He wanted to attend the
Convention, and to have M'Cheyne Paterson with him
there, and he was giving me the privilege of being with
them so as to make a trio, and we were to have a prayer
room in Keswick during the Convention, and to
continue in prayer day and night. However, both he and
M'Cheyne Paterson were ill during the Convention, and
failed to attend. The Lord allowed me to go there, but
we did not have the prayer room, though I did suggest
it. I often think what would have been the result if they
had come there. Mr. Walker of Tinnevelly was present,
and would certainly have joined us. To this day the
"prayer room" has not had its place at Keswick, but
there has been so much prayer for this, that it may yet
come, and then Keswick will be as near perfection as
we can imagine any holy gathering this side of Paradise.
Victory Over the Powers of Darkness
One of the red-letter days in my friendship with
Hyde was in connection with one of the missions which
92 PRAYING HYDE

Chapman and Alexander conducted in one of the towns

in Western England. Mr. Hyde was staying with us in
my home, and we happened to be without deputation
work for some days, and we heard that a mission was to
be conducted by Messrs. Chapman and Alexander, and
I suggested that we should attend this mission for three
days. We engaged small rooms in a quiet hotel. For the
first afternoon we had two of the Lord's children with
us, a man and wife who had been greatly blessed in the
1904-5 Revival, and Mr. Hyde's company was made a
great blessing to them.
Mr. Hyde had never met Mr. Chapman, but, as they
both belonged to the same Church, Mr. Hyde was
anxious to meet him. We reached the town
(Shrewsbury) about midday on a Thursday. The first
service was to be held at two o'clock. After a little food
we made our way towards the service, so as to secure a
good seat, as we expected a great throng. It was some
little disappointment to me personally to find the street
comparatively empty.
When in sight of the hall we saw Mr. Chapman and
party coming, and we waited for them, and Mr. Hyde
immediately went and introduced himself to Mr.
Chapman. Possibly Mr. Chapman had heard his name
as a missionary of his own Church, but little did he
guess the help that this missionary was to render him in
his mission and his life. Very few people were in the
hall, but a few more came by two o'clock.
There was nothing very remarkable in the service; it
was good, and I enjoyed it, but we were all so
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 93

disappointed at the congregation, that we all felt more

or less depressed. I met one of the ministers, and
expressed my disappointment, and he said that such
missions were not popular in their town, and evidently
he was very well satisfied. At night we had a larger
congregation, but there was no enthusiasm. We
thoroughly enjoyed the service, but were surprised at
the lack of zeal and response at the meeting. It was very
evident that Mr. Chapman and the others who were
helping him were also disappointed. Hyde said very
little. That night one of the leading elders of one of the
Churches, an old friend of mine, joined us at supper,
and he was surprised that we had come all the way to
attend a mission. He had heard of it, but had not
attended the meetings. We persuaded him to interest
himself in the work, and he promised to attend if he
could.
It was suggested by Mr. Chapman that the ministers
and leaders should meet together the next day for a
quiet talk and prayer to see whether anything could be
done to rouse the people to attend the services. Mr.
Hyde and myself were asked to be present, and it was at
this meeting that we realized the great need of prayer.
The ministers present, and they were a good number,
seemed to treat the whole mission as some little side-
show. Mr. Chapman's address was intense, but the
remarks made by some of the ministers revealed a state
of appalling indifference, so that even Dr. Chapman
with a sad countenance said that if that was the spirit in
which the leaders faced the mission, that he had nothing
94 PRAYING HYDE

more to say, and asked the people to excuse him, and

went out. That to some extent sobered the most
frivolous, and the few earnest souls had their way. I
noticed Hyde's head getting lower and lower, and his
face wore that burdened look he always had when the
burden of prayer was coming on him. He spoke but
little to anyone that night, and the next afternoon we
had to leave, for we both had preaching engagements on
the Sunday; but he came to me and asked me to engage
his room for him for the following week, that he
intended coming back on Monday morning.
"I cannot leave a brother minister to bear this burden
alone," he said. I secured the room for him. He spoke
with power at two or three services on the Sunday; and
returned by train early on Monday. Knowing the weak
state of his health, and fearing lest the burden should be
too much for him, I wrote (unknown to Hyde) a line to
Dr. Chapman, asking him, if possible, to arrange for
someone to be with Hyde, so as to help him in his work
of intercession. Mr. Chapman very kindly arranged for a
worthy, sympathetic helper in the person of Mr. Davis,
of the Pocket Testament League, and the two being
kindred spirits became very friendly.
What was the result of this intercession? Let Mr.
Chapman's letter tell.
"At one of our missions in England the audience was
extremely small. Results seemed impossible, but I
received a letter from a missionary that an American
missionary known as 'Praying Hyde,' would be in the
place to pray God's blessing down upon our work.
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 95

Almost instantly the tide changed—the hall was packed,

and my first invitation meant fifty men for Jesus Christ.
As we were leaving, I said, 'Mr. Hyde, I want you to
pray for me.' He came to my room, turned the key in the
door, dropped on his knees, waited five minutes without
a single syllable coming from his lips. I could hear my
own heart thumping and his beating. I felt the hot tears
running down my face. I knew I was with God. Then
with upturned face, down which tears streamed, he said,
'Oh, God!' Then for five minutes at least he was still
again, and then when he knew that he was talking to
God, his arm went round my shoulder, and then came
up from the depth of his heart such petitions for men as
I have never heard before, and I rose from my knees to
know what real prayer was. We have gone round the
world and back again, believing that prayer is mighty,
and we believe it as never before."
Mr. Hyde remained in the place for a whole week,
and then crawled back to us. I saw at once that he had
been wrestling with the Lord and had gained the
victory, but it had almost been too much for his
physical strength. The following day he could scarcely
speak, he was so weak! But he smiled and whispered to
me as I bent over him, "The burden was very heavy, but
my dear Saviour's burden for. me took Him down to the
grave."
From other sources we heard what a great success
the mission had been, how the churches were revived
and many were brought to the Light. I was specially
glad to read of a stirring address given at a Presbytery a
96 PRAYING HYDE

few weeks afterwards by the very elder who had joined

us at supper and was scarcely interested enough to
attend the mission; but he did attend, and was
gloriously blessed, and his account of the mission and
the blessing which accompanied it stirred the whole
Presbytery. How much had Hyde's prayer to do with
this?
Thinking over Hyde's share in the work, I could not
help comparing his devotion and my lack of
responsibility. He realized the need in a way that I did
not. He was willing to sacrifice everything so that
Christ's Name should be honored in that town. How
willing he was to work out of sight; he never thought of
himself, he just saw the town, the condition of the
churches, the indifference of the ministers, as Christ
Himself saw these things, and instead of criticizing and
blaming the men, he took their burden and carried it to
the Lord. Not one word of criticism did I hear, not one
word of what be had done, but he did speak of the glory
of Christ manifested, of the powerful messages
delivered by Messrs. Chapman and Alexander, and
especially of the power of intercession which his
companion Mr. Davies had received. Oh, for that
absence of self in me! For the power of prayer, and the
Spirit's insight to see the need all around!
Triumphing under Testings
Two incidents which occurred when Mr. Hyde was
in England gave me great pain, but they did not appear
to affect him in any way; and to watch him at that time
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 97

made me realize how very Christ-like he was, and

brought home many lessons to me.
Hyde and myself were invited to join the Keswick
speakers and promoters in a two-days' prayer meeting at
the residence of the late Evan Hopkins. We were glad
of the invitation, and had two days of very precious
fellowship with the Lord and the dear saints assembled
(about forty or more). The time was spent in prayer—it
was an ideal time of intercession. I could see that the
burden of prayer had come upon Hyde, for his very
countenance proved it. He was in his element with so
many experienced intercessors around him. But I saw
that he longed that they should be led into a still deeper
life of intercession. He did not say so, for criticism was
not in his line at all. I do not think that I ever heard him
criticizing any persons, though he could vehemently
denounce sin. It was by his prayers, when we were
praying together, that I was led to realize this. Towards
the middle of the second day, one or two spoke, and
there was a kind of discussion over the question of a
prayer room for Keswick, and we were asked to state
our experience of this in Indian conventions. I stated
very briefly my thoughts on the subject. I wanted Hyde
to have as much time as possible, for I felt that he
would raise the question to a much higher level than the
setting apart of a prayer room, where continued prayer
could be made.
He began, and spoke more slowly, if anything, than
usual. I happened to be the only one that knew him, and
knew by his manner that he was heavily burdened with
98 PRAYING HYDE

his message. He spoke very quietly for three or four

minutes, then one of the ladies present began to sing a
popular hymn, and it was taken up by several others,
and the message was never delivered. Mr. Hyde just
closed his eyes and prayed. I was afraid that his feelings
would have been hurt, but there was not a word of
resentment or even displeasure. How many of us would
have borne it as he did? The burden weighed so heavily
upon him that he was prostrated, and had a violent
headache and became so weak that he could not leave
with the rest of us that evening, so he stayed on as the
guest of Mr. Evan Hopkins, and he told me afterwards
that he had such blessed fellowship with him. Not one
word did he utter about the meeting having sung him
down, but spoke with love and tenderness of all. How
many of us would have stood it in the same way? I am
afraid I would have keenly felt it even if I had not
resented it; but Hyde's constant: fellowship with Christ
in prayer had made him impervious even to such subtle
attacks of the Evil One.
A similar incident took place at a Presbytery in North
Wales. Mr. Hyde had been speaking with great power at
many of the churches belonging to that Presbytery, and
many were the invitations that he had to be present at
the following Presbytery and deliver a message to the
ministers and elders. He was not officially asked by the
moderator, but the leaders in the church where the
Presbytery was held had pressed him to be present.
Being a Presbyterian himself, he told me that he looked
forward with joy to the gathering. It was at a great
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 99

sacrifice that he attended; he had to leave very early in

the morning and take a long railway journey so as to be
in time. He was suffering, too, at the time from a severe
headache and from the malady which carried him away
in less than twelve months. The Presbytery was a large
one, for it was rumored that Hyde would be present.
Word was sent up to the moderator and to the secretary
more than once, but the meeting closed without even
welcoming a brother Presbyterian minister, who had
been a missionary for years to their midst. A visitor is
usually welcomed, especially if his name be known, but
Mr. Hyde sat out throughout the whole meeting. Being
deaf he could not hear, and the proceedings being
carried on in Welsh, he would not have understood had
he been able to hear. His eyes were closed, and I knew
he was praying for all present. When the meeting closed
and many rushed up to him to shake hands with him
and to express their disappointment that he had not
been asked to speak, he smiled on all and spoke quite
cheerfully, and when I expressed my sorrow and my
indignation to him when we were alone, he gently
rebuked me and said that the Lord knew everything, and
it was not our place to criticize the Lord's people.
Scores of times since then have I thought of him
when the Lord's children were inclined to act unkindly
towards me, or appeared to me to misunderstand my
attitude willfully, and been compelled to check myself
and not to criticize them, but to praise the Lord that He
knew all and to pray for the very friends that acted so.
How often Mr. Hyde excused men who had been
100 PRAYING HYDE

unkind to him. "They do not understand," he said. "I

know they do not want to be unkind," he once replied
when he was asked to defend himself against a bitter
and unjust attack. A friend even offered to write and
explain, but he quietly said, "This is my cross which He
wants me to take up and carry for Him."
What if we all had this spirit—misunderstandings in
mission stations, etc., would cease. How the work in
many stations in India is marred and hindered by these
trivial misunderstandings. The parties themselves
grieve over this and wish it could be removed. How
often the work of the Holy Spirit has been hindered and
even stopped by petty jealousies; someone feeling that
he is not having the position he ought to have, or
someone has passed an unkind remark or an
uncharitable criticism about someone else. Oh, these
petty quarrels, jealousies, and misunderstandings
among the dear children of God. How can they be done
away with? I think that Hyde's way is sure to succeed.
Be much in prayer: let any slight or even insult be an
occasion to pray for the very persons that do these
things, and praise God for the privilege of being
permitted to bear these things. I think it is Madam
Guyon that used to say when she was insulted or
persecuted, "Thank you, Father; you saw I needed just
this humbling."
But we need a life of prayer to be able to do this, not
a spasmodic spurt, but a habit of prayer, to live in
communion with Him. Shall we take this lesson from
Hyde?
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 101

His Three Outstanding Characteristics

Thinking over Mr. Hyde's life as a whole, I find
some special features in him which account for his
influence over men.
1. His ardent love for the Saviour. I asked Hyde one
day how it was that he was not married, that a wife
would be able to look after his comforts. He smiled and,
after a little time, he said, just as if he were betraying a
secret:
"Years ago I felt that I wanted to give something to
Jesus Christ who loved me so, and I gave myself to Him
absolutely, and promised Him that no one should come
into my life and share my affection for Him. I told the
Lord that I would not marry, but be His altogether."
What a devotion! and how loyally he kept his
promise. Christ was all in all to him, he was constantly
talking to Him; this accounted for the atmosphere of
prayer that Hyde lived in. This love was a gift, and we
can have the same gift; Hyde went down lower and
lower, so that the love of God could be poured into his
life; he opened his life for God's love to flow in. Oh,
that we could do this, then prayer would naturally flow
into our lives also.
2. Arising out of this, all knew that he had a
passionate love for the people among whom he worked,
so that he practically sacrificed everything for them. He
lived with them, he ate and slept with them. I repeatedly
heard that some took advantage of his kindness and
imposed upon him. He knew this, but would say
102 PRAYING HYDE

nothing to them, even though they stole his goods. He

saw men wearing his clothes he would not call them to
account lest the men should be driven farther away
from Christ. He so loved men's souls that worldly goods
were of no account when a soul was in danger. He was
often blamed for this by some of his fellow-
missionaries, but it had no effect upon him. An Indian
doctor in the Punjab told me soon after Mr. Hyde's
Home-call that some time before, the Arya Samaj was
troubled because of his influence over men and the
number of men that were converted under his
preaching. The members of the Samaj determined to
send a man to find out all about Mr. Hyde's life, to
watch for his faults, and then they would publish these
abroad and so break his influence over the people.
One of their number went to Mr. Hyde and pretended
that he was an inquirer, and wanted to know all about
the Christian religion. Mr. Hyde received him kindly
and invited him to stay with him. This was just what the
man wanted, and he remained with Mr. Hyde for three
or four days, and then ran away, and went to the men
that had sent him and said, "He has no fault, the man
has no fault, he is a God! he is a God, and not man!"
This was the verdict of a man who lived with him day
and night for three or four days—no fault. How many of
us would have stood the test? He so loved men, and
men realized it, that they could see no fault in him. This
again accounted for his prayer life. Hyde must have
seen much fault in the men, but to see a fault was only
an excuse for prayer for those men. He always found
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 103

some excuse for those who deceived and robbed him; it

was so like the Master, "They know not what they do."
If we loved men more and sacrificed more for them,
we would pray more for them.
3. His genuine regard and affection for his fellow-
missionaries, and yet he dared to go against their
opinions when he felt that the Lord was guiding him in
that direction. We have heard some of the members of
his own mission say that for years they did not
understand him, but once they did they were the first to
acknowledge his power. Some hard things were said to
him and of him, but I do not think that anyone ever
heard him speak an unkind word to any missionary or
of a missionary. He said more than once to me that
some of the missionaries did not understand him. Many
thought that he was a morose, melancholy person, but
he was not, though he looked like that at times. When
he was in the company of those that understood him,
how bright and cheerful he was; he had what some have
called "sanctified humor." He was very humorous, but
he had it under perfect control, and he seemed to keep
the company that he was in in the same spirit.
His influence over missionaries the last few years of
his life was wonderful. I think that it would not be
wrong to say that he created a new era of prayer in the
Punjab among some of the old prayer warriors that
knew and felt India's needs. They prayed much for the
country, and loved to be with Mr. Hyde, for he gave
them a new conception of prayer; the dear Indian
Christians flocked around him, and he always gave
104 PRAYING HYDE

them some dainty morsel from the Word. He was as

faithful in leading men to Christ; if he thought that men
were looking up to him and not to the Master, he would
run away and remain away in some hiding-place
praying for them.
"He being dead yet speaketh" is true of him. It is now
many years since he was called Home, but he is not
forgotten; he is speaking to us today, and throwing light
on the prayer life of Christ. Whenever I spent a few
days in his company, I always vowed that I would pray
more than I had ever done, and Christ always seemed
more real to me; it seemed easy to pray, for Jesus had
become more precious than ever to me. And if these
reminiscences of him will lead us nearer to Christ and
give us a new conception of prayer, then they will not
have been written in vain.
Praying—Preaching—Persuading
We do not know of any three words that describe
him better than the words, "Praying, Preaching,
Persuading." This was the sum and substance of his life,
and if we could bring ourselves and get others to make
this to be our very life, what a blessing it would be to
India and to the world.
PRAYING. Our difficulty is to keep the prayer
balance of our work, to keep duties in their right
relation, to put first things first. We have been told over
and over again, and we have often told ourselves this,
though we may not have said so openly, that duties are
so pressing that we have no time to give to prayer as we
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 105

ought to give. We all acknowledge the importance of

prayer, but we excuse ourselves for not giving more
time to intercession by saying that duties have been
given to us and we must attend to them, and if we gave
some hours to prayer it would mean the neglect of those
duties. But if we probe down to the real cause we shall
find that it is not so much the duties that press upon us
as the fear of men; we wonder what would men think of
us, and say about us, if we apparently fail to carry on
the work entrusted to us or postpone it. It would
sometimes lead others into trouble and they would
blame us. But Hyde had learnt to put God first, and
would allow himself to be misunderstood rather than
neglect prayer. Sometimes the burden of prayer would
be upon him, and during those days letters would reach
him, but Hyde felt that he had to concentrate his whole
life on prayer and to attend to his correspondence would
be a distraction. He was not one that willfully neglected
his correspondence, but when this interfered with his
prayer life it had to be kept in abeyance. Sometimes he
had been announced to speak, but the burden of prayer
would come, and he dare not go, so men would be
disappointed, and some would be annoyed.
He was careful in keeping his engagements; labor,
sleep, money, would gladly be sacrificed in order to
keep his engagements, but nothing would move him
when the burden of prayer came upon him. Do we put
prayer first? Should we not readjust our lives so that we
can give time to prayer? Is not this the great cause of
our lack of power? The prophet Isaiah says that the
106 PRAYING HYDE

cause of failure is our sin. "Your iniquities have

separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid His face from you, that He will not hear." How
true this is. We cannot pray, we cannot be alone with
God while we knowingly, willfully harbor sin in our
life. The sin must go if we are going to plead with God.
One of. the Lord's servants who is filled with the Spirit
and with power told us how he entered into this
experience; he realized his need and was miserable, so
he determined that he would shut himself in his room
and "have it out" with God, but no sooner had he
dropped on his knees than God said, "Give up this habit
of yours." He felt angry with himself for being so
childish and sentimental, but he could not pray, and left
the room, but he felt so miserable that he tried again,
with the same result, and this went on for some days. At
last, in a kind of despair, he told the Lord that he would
give up everything, though he did not believe that the
habit had anything to do with his failure, but if the Lord
wanted it removed, he was willing for the Lord to do so,
as he could not do it himself, and instantly the whole
atmosphere changed, and he had access to the Lord, and
every day he was drawn to the secret place. Many other
sins during the following days were revealed to him
while on his knees, but it was not difficult to part with
these sins.
Perhaps our sins hinder our prayers; we may be very
sure that we cannot keep on long in secret prayer while
we nurse secret sins in our lives. But what we wish to
emphasize is the fact that prayer must come first, that
 A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR 107

whatever duty has to be set aside for a time, prayer

cannot be. Let us take this lesson from Hyde's life.
Our Saviour wept over Jerusalem, and this was one
reason why Hyde had such influence over men—he
followed the example of his Master and Paul and wept
over men. Could we keep back the tears did we realize
the terrible condition of men, the cost of their salvation,
the sin of rejecting the message?
This comes from prayer, getting face to face with
Christ—the Crucified Christ, and then going straight
from the sacred, secret sanctuary of His presence to be
face to face with a lost world, we would cry out with
Jeremiah, "Oh, that my head were waters, and mine
eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night
for those around us."
This is the Spirit of Christ that works in us—the
spirit of prayer, of preaching, and of persuading men.
Let us yield ourselves anew to the Spirit, and He will
work this spirit into our lives.
 Praying Hyde
PART III

A Master Fisher for Souls

BY R. M `CHEYNE P ATERSON
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS.
PART III.

Pleading with Tears.

J . N. was a Brahmin attending our mission school.

As he grew up, the teaching of Christ attracted him,
and he was the faithful scholar of one of our lady
missionaries at Sunday school as well. When he left
school and was beginning to earn his own living, he
was drawn to confess publicly that Christ was his
Saviour. He did this in the face of the bitterest
opposition of a widowed mother and relations. Then
they tried a more subtle plan: they began to please him.
Their kindness won his heart—he went back home, and
he was surrounded by young men who led him into
drink. It must have been an inherited weakness with
him. He fell, and denied his Lord. But, thank God, he
was miserable, and went to see Mr. Hyde, who received
him as did the father his prodigal son. The lad living
with Mr. Hyde was won from his evil ways, and once
again confessed faith in his Saviour: but what a trial he
was when the drink demon would possess him! Again
and again he stole Mr. Hyde's clothes, and sold them to
110 PRAYING HYDE

satisfy his mad craving. I met Mr. Hyde about that time,
and he said to me with a smile, “I may not get up to you
to the hills this summer; the Father evidently desires me
to spend my hot weather in the plains, for 'I have no
warm clothes left!'” He took the "spoiling of his goods"
cheerfully and thought they were a small price to pay in
exchange for an immortal soul. He would point out how
our Lord bore with Judas and others, how He never sent
any away who were anxious to remain in His company,
and so Hyde bore with this demon-possessed youth. In
his sane moments the lad realized what a privilege was
his to live with such a saint.

* * * * *

I was traveling in the train, and a Christian lady

ticket-collector met me at W-----. She was full of a
wonderful man she had seen. He was speaking to a lad
seated in a train going to Lahore. The boy was loud and
almost abusive. "I am tired of this sort of thing—I am
going to my boon companions, and shall have a good
time," he said. Then the gentleman he was speaking to
leant forward and in a low tone begged him not to go
away from him. He got back only a rude answer, and
she, feeling angry and disgusted, left them. When she
came back she saw the missionary still leaning into the
carriage window, and she heard him beseeching the lad
not to leave him. He was imploring him in Christ's
Name, and she saw tears flowing down his cheeks as
he reasoned with the head-strong lad. "Ah!" I
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 111

exclaimed, "he knew the value of an immortal soul."

In spite of all entreaties the lad took his own way,
but to the very end that missionary was seen in
deadly earnest trying to win that soul.
She lost sight of the missionary when the down train
steamed out. (He went sadly to some dear friends in
Gujerat alone).
Next day she saw the same lad coming back from
Lahore. She said to him, "You have come back very
soon again." He looked up with a pale face. "I am going
back to him," he replied. "I have not been able to sleep
all night—I could not forget his tears." And he came
back a penitent. That missionary was John Hyde and
that lad J.N.
I often feel that if souls could say the same of us, that
we wept over them—our tears would bring them to a
proper frame of mind. Our Lord's whole body shed tears
—when "His sweat became as it were great drops of
blood falling down upon the ground."
"Jesus wept. " The Jews therefore said, "Behold, how
He loved him!"
Soul-winners, can this be said of each one of us?
Grace Abounding!
Those interested in the case of the Brahmin lad
mentioned in the previous memoir will be glad to hear
that he afterwards paid me a visit. He seemed much
chastened, and never before had he been so like his
former self. He spoke of his aged mother as one who
had to be considered, and the old narrow-minded
Brahmin friend accompanying him said to me in a kind
112 PRAYING HYDE

of stage-whisper: "He will be with you again whenever

his mother dies." The lad heard it and smiled up assent
with the old love in his eyes.
We talked long of John Hyde—whom he referred to
as "up there," pointing Heavenward, and when I
besought him once again to give up drink and become a
teetotaller, he owned that he had not kept his promise.
"With God's help you can." He agreed to that. Praise
and pray on!
The same lad has visited me a second time, and we
had a heart-to-heart talk about Mr. Hyde. He tells me
that when he returned miserable from Lahore after
running away from Mr. Hyde, he met me near the
Mission school in the city and I told him Mr. Hyde was
at our mission house.
He went there, and going to his room, found him
praying. Mr. Hyde opened his eyes, saw him, took him
into his arms and said, "I have just been praying that
God would send you back to me, and see, He has
answered me!"
When I asked him how he got to know Mr. Hyde so
well, he told me a long story, the gist of which I set
down just to show how this man of God used to win
hearts for his Master. He saw Mr. Hyde at Moga
railway station, went up to him, mentioned a fellow-
missionary's name, and said that he had been
baptized but had fallen back. "Why did you deny
Christ?" Mr. Hyde asked. The lad began to make
excuses, but Mr. Hyde took him with him, went into
the third class waiting shed, and with two other
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 113

Christians, the three knelt down and prayed with this

lad—he kneeling among them even though a crowd
gathered, and his relations came and saw him
praying with the others. The lad says he does not
remember exactly what Mr. Hyde said in prayer, but
he prayed for him. Then the train came in, and he
said goodbye to the lad, adding, "We will meet again
in a week's time or so, God will arrange it."
All this made such an impression on the boy's heart
that he took leave and set out to find Mr. Hyde. He at
length heard that he was away inland at a Christian
colony holding meetings. A Christian lad and he set out
on foot for it, and after two days' travel arrived tired
out. They were told that Mr. Hyde was in his room
praying. He looked up, and seeing the Brahmin lad,
took him in his arms in good Punjabi style, and then
finding he was tired out, made him lie down and began
to rub and press his swollen feet. The lad objected, but
Mr. Hyde insisted upon waiting upon him and
ministering to his wants with his own hands. He has
told me of this with tears in his eyes, adding, "I often
see him in my dreams before me as of old."
"Remember, he is praying for you," I have reminded
him.
That night while they were all eating dinner news
came that the Indian pastor was taken suddenly ill, and
at the same time his house had caught fire. Mr. Hyde
ran with the others to help. While they fought the
flames, he went to the pastor, and found him crying out
in agony and, for fear of death, some unconfessed sin
114 PRAYING HYDE

was evidently weighing on his conscience. Mr. Hyde

talked and prayed with him, and then said, "I think it is
God's will that you confess your sin in church before
your congregation." The pastor agreed, and he was
carried to church on his bed. Lying on it, with tears he
declared that he had committed a great sin against God
in that very church, and prayed for forgiveness. Then a
great peace fell upon him, and all pain and sickness at
once left him. Upon this some twenty members of the
church were conscience-stricken, and confessed their
sins, finding pardon and peace. They were joined by the
others who had put out the fire, and the service lasted
for an hour and a half, a great work for God beginning.
Afterwards they all returned to their half-finished
dinner.
The next day they left for a hill station where Mr.
Hyde had received an urgent call to conduct
evangelistic services. They traveled in the third class in
the hot weather to the foot of the hills. They had
only money for one pony and a coolie between them,
so they got on the pony turn about. One night the
Indian preacher was riding on ahead, when suddenly
his pony stopped short, trembled in every limb, and
advanced towards a great big cat, that seemed to
fascinate the poor beast with its eyes. Then the
preacher felt a big body whiz through the air and
land just behind him; the pony, recovering itself,
dashed away up the road and leaped a ditch at the
side in its terror, leaving the baffled tiger standing
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 115

on the roadside. It must have slunk away, for when

Mr. Hyde passed there was no sign of the animal.
When they came near the bungalow they were met
by the preacher in a great panic, along with a
number of men who had gone back with sticks to
see what had happened to Mr. Hyde. He made them
go back to the place where the tiger had made his
spring. In the moonlight they saw the marks of its
paws on the dust of the roadside; but the animal had
gone. They heard that it had killed people and many
bullocks. They remained a week in that hill station,
and held daily services for Christians. A real work of
grace began there, and this lad, too, was convicted of
the sin of denying his Lord, and, making confession,
was again received into fellowship. On their return
journey they each had a pony. "So they went like
beggars and returned like kings!" The lad laughed and
said, "Yes, and a missionary lent me his own pony to
ride back on because one of the Christian workers had
said to me, 'Why did you come and increase the
expenses?' and I had burst into tears at this rebuke."
Perhaps friends will join me in prayer about this lad
also. It is not for nothing that God has sent him back to
me and he is sitting by my side as I write.
The Secret of Hyde's Power with God and
with Men—"Giving Thanks in Everything!"
This is God's command to those who would be full
of the Holy Spirit, and no one I have ever known
116 PRAYING HYDE

obeyed this command more faithfully than John Hyde.

It was one great source of his joy and therefore of his
attractive power. Again and again he would declare that
if we want to know why trials are sent us, let us begin
by thanking God for them, and we will doubtless soon
see why they have been sent. We had among ourselves
a phrase, "Praising God through shut teeth, " that meant
praising God in the face of the greatest troubles and
darkest hours of life. This we can always do, for we can
never doubt that He is our Father in Heaven, and so all
must be well for us at all times and in all circumstances.
He used to tell of a remarkable experience he had.
He and his catechists were all itinerating together in his
district. They had arrived at a village, and as it was the
hot weather, they had to rise early to go out preaching.
This morning John awoke with one of his worst
headaches; it was so painful that he could not lift his
head from his pillow. Yet he could look up to his
Heavenly Father and thank Him for the love that had
permitted that headache! His evangelists carried his bed
out to a shady place and then went away to preach at his
express desire. Now in that village, work among the
womenfolk was at a standstill. Some of the men had
learnt of Christ and confessed Him in baptism; but their
wives had never come forward. When spoken to they
would always make the excuse that they had never
consulted each other, so that all of them might be
baptized together. These women heard that the Padri
Sahib was not well, and in a body went to commiserate
with him. He spoke to them of the claims of Christ,
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 117

which they at once admitted. Yes, they believed He had

died for them, sinners. John asked them why they had
not confessed Him before men. They said they had not
talked the matter over among themselves. He said there
was no time like the present, let them do so now. To
this they agreed, and after some discussion they all
declared that it was plain to them that they ought to be
baptized. To the great joy of their husbands and the
evangelists this was done, and John Hyde saw why the
headache had been sent. He was enabled to thank God
then with understanding. He always declared this
experience was a valuable lesson to him and enabled
him to thank God "for all things" "at all times."
Now this became no mechanical habit on his part,
but a deep-rooted principle of his life founded on
experience of God's marvelous love. The deeper our
sense of that love, the more we will be able to praise
and thank Him. How John Hyde used to agonize in
prayer for believers that they might know the love of
God! In this matter he was strictly in the Apostolic
Succession—a Succession for all missionaries, both
men and women.
Mr. Hyde had a wonderful experience, to which he
owed, I believe, his power with God, and therefore with
man. He used to speak of it as one of the most direct
and solemn lessons God had ever taught him. He was
up in the hills resting for a short time. He had been
burdened about the spiritual condition of a certain
pastor, and he resolved to spend time in definite
intercession for him. Entering into his "inner chamber,"
118 PRAYING HYDE

he began pouring out his heart to his Heavenly Father

concerning that brother somewhat as follows:
"O God! Thou knowest that brother how—" "cold"
he was going to say, when suddenly a Hand seemed to
be laid on his lips, and a Voice said to him in stern
reproach, "He that toucheth him, toucheth the apple of
Mine eye." A great horror came over him. He had been
guilty before God of "accusing the brethren." He had
been "judging" his brother. He felt rebuked and
humbled before God. It was he himself who first needed
putting right. He confessed this sin. He claimed the
precious Blood of Christ that cleanseth from all sin!
"Whatsoever things are lovely ... if there be any virtue,
if there be any praise, think on these things." Then he
cried out, "Father, show me what things are lovely and
of good report in my brother's life." Like a flash he
remembered how that brother had given up all for
Christ, enduring much suffering from relations whom
he had given up. He was reminded of his years of hard
work, of the tact with which he managed his difficult
congregation, of the many quarrels he had healed, of
what a model husband he was. One thing after another
rose up before him and so all his prayer season was
spent in praise for his brother instead of in prayer.
He could not recall a single petition, nothing but
thanksgiving! God was opening His servant's eyes to
the highest of ministries, that of praise.
Mark the result also on that brother's life! When Mr.
Hyde went down to the plains, he found that just then
the brother had received a great spiritual uplift. While
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 119

he was praising, God was blessing. A wonderful Divine

Law, the law of a Father's love. While we bless God for
any child of His, He delights to bless that one!
This was the secret of John Hyde's power with God.
He saw the good in God's little ones, and so was able to
appreciate God's work of grace in that heart. Hence he
supplied the Heavenly atmosphere of praise in which
God's love was free to work in all its fullness.
This, too, was what gave him power with men. We
are attracted to those who appreciate us. All our
powers expand in their presence, and we are with them
at our best. Hence they call out all that is good in us,
and we feel uplifted when with them.
To such souls we turn as naturally as the flowers to
the sun, and our hearts expand and bloom out with a
fragrance that surprises even ourselves.
Now this is a law that holds good especially with
children, and with those who are yet young in the
Christian life. The more mature God's people are the
less they depend on man's approbation or censure, but
not so when they are children. Remember, too, our
Lord's solemn warning against casting a stumbling
block in the way of any of His little ones! When we
look at their faults, we shrivel up their energies, they are
at their worst. In a word, we encourage their faults by
thinking about them.
Let us remember above all else that God's people on
this earth are in the making. This is His workshop and
souls are being fashioned and formed in it. The final
polishing touches we will not receive in the present life,
120 PRAYING HYDE

but when this body of our humiliation has been

transformed. Suppose you go into a carpenter's shop
and begin to find fault with his unfinished chairs and
tables! You say, "How rough this is! What an ugly
corner that is!" The carpenter will doubtless get angry
and say, "Bear in mind that I am still making these
things. They are not yet finished. Come and see the
pattern after which they are being fashioned. See, this is
what they will yet be like when I have done with them."
He shows you beautiful chairs and tables—shining,
perfectly formed, polished to perfection! Is the
carpenter not right? Is the critic not in the wrong? The
one looks at the things that are lovely and eternal. The
other at those which are unlovely and, thank God,
fleeting.
Would you have power with God and man for the
upbuilding of the Indian Church—of any Church?
Follow the method of the Carpenter of Nazareth who
never broke the bruised reed, who never quenched the
smoking wick, no matter how much smoke it was
giving out. He turned His eyes to the light of God, there
burning dimly, and by so doing blew it into a flame till
erring disciples became the Light of the World. This is
the way of Love and of Eternal Hope. The other is the
way of sense and of present fact and failure—all of
which are fleeting—none of which is the Eternal Truth
in Eternal Love.
I never met any man whose very presence seemed to
help the weak to become strong, the sinful to repent, the
erring to walk aright so much as John Hyde. The secret
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 121

of his success in building up the people of God lay in

this method of looking for all the good in men and
making it so to expand that the evil was driven out for
want of room. Then should we shut our eyes to the
faults of all? Should we never reprove sin? Turn to our
Lord. Did He not do so at times? Yes, to the impenitent
—to those who opposed Him and would not come to
Him for help. Just because He was in the habit of
looking at all that was good—for that very reason He
was able to reprove with all the greater power. No one
could do so more severely than our Lord just because
He loved much and sympathized so much with all that
was good in men.
One Cause of His Success
It will be a comfort to many when they hear that Mr.
John Hyde was not naturally a bright and happy man.
On the contrary, he was in himself inclined to be
morose, retiring, shy, and silent. Yet he became one of
the most joyous souls I have ever met.
He was very fond of Isaiah 61.3, where that
wonderful exchange is effected by our Lord. He will
give us His own "Beauty," His own "Oil of Joy," and
His own "Garment of Praise" if we hand over to Him
our ashes (what is our past life but "ashes"?), our
mourning and our spirit of heaviness. So he received
our Lord's double gift of joy (John 15. 11), freely from
his Master's hand, and then would burst out into joyful
praise. For no one can be filled with the Divine joy and
not sing His praise. As we joy in God we soar up into
122 PRAYING HYDE

His immediate presence, and it is only in song that our

joy finds vent. As well expect the soaring lark to keep
silent as expect the joyous saint not to sing God's praise.
In this matter of praise Mr. Hyde used to tell how "a
little child shall lead them." He was taught again and
again that joyful praise is the Divine method for
catching men alive.
One day he was in a country cart traveling to a
distant village. His faithful Punjabi evangelist was with
him—one who was transformed through contact with
John Hyde. Two of the evangelist's little children were
in the cart. The elders were speaking sadly about the
village—how long the Gospel had been preached there
and how little interest had been aroused among its
people. The children had no such sad thoughts; they
were so happy that they sang, and went on singing
psalms and hymns one after the other. This was
infectious, and the two men were constrained to join
them, and they, too, were so carried away with the spirit
of praise that they all continued singing till they came to
that village. Imagine their amazement when they found
the people full of real interest and zealous to confess
Christ and follow Him. Before they left over a dozen
showed such a living faith in their Lord and Saviour
that Mr. Hyde felt he dared not refuse them baptism
then and there. Thus was the first Gospel triumph in
that village heralded and brought about, he was
confident, by the spirit of praise which the children had
evinced.
Another time they had a more marked experience.
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 123

He, with a party of his evangelists, was encamped in a

certain village where the work had been carried on for
thirty years. The farm servants had for years been
putting off the question of deciding for Christ. They
were now in the habit of saying, "Not now during the
harvest, but afterwards when it is over." So, alas! every
year it had ended with:
"The harvest is past, the summer ended, and we are not
saved." (Jer. 8. 20.)
This mission party were so disheartened by their
previous experiences that on this occasion they had
made up their minds to leave early next morning. That
night someone suggested they should all go into the
village and sing the Gospel in it. This they did, and they
were so carried away that they sang on and on till after
midnight. Next morning they were preparing to leave
when a young man came running from the village. He
begged them not to go away, for the Panchayat
(council) had been called and was meeting even now.
No one had gone to work that morning; they were
considering whether they should not at once decide for
Christ and confess Him before all men. They gladly
waited, and presently the same young man came
running back with the welcome news that they had all
decided to serve Christ. Mr. Hyde found some fifteen
men—mostly the heads of families—quite prepared for
baptism, and with an overflowing heart he baptized
them before all. After the service that same young man
who had brought the message—a new convert—said to
Mr. Hyde, "This is the result of your singing last night.
124 PRAYING HYDE

"You remember how we sang

'Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
And let the King of Glory enter in!'
"Has He not entered in this morning?" No one had
noticed till then the connection between the song of
triumph of the night before and the reality of that
triumph of the next morning until they learnt it from
this babe in Christ. Yes, verily,
"Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
Thou hast perfected praise."
In fact, Mr. Hyde used to say that at any time when
he noticed few souls being led by him to Christ, he
invariably found it was all due to his lack of the spirit of
praise. He would then confess his sin, ask pardon, and
take the Garment of Praise for the spirit of heaviness.
His experience then invariably was that Christ would
again draw souls to Himself through him. Now the
reason for this is plain. No fisher can possibly throw his
line lightly when he is dull and sad. It is only the bright
and joyous soul that can win souls to Christ. Notice
how St. Paul connects these two in Philippians 4. He is
speaking of his fellow-laborers or fellow-fishers and of
their success in the work. Then he goes on as if to give
the reason for this success and how it may be continued:
"Rejoice in the Lord always,
And again I say unto you rejoice."

A Second Cause of his Success

This was his wonderful love for souls. It
overpowered all else, making him forget everything but
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 125

that soul with whom God had brought him into contact.
He would go on past his railway station as far as the
man with whom he was in touch who was traveling, in
order to talk to him the "Words of Life." This was
irritating at times, especially once when he was almost
ordered to attend an important business meeting of his
mission. He met an Indian in the train when traveling to
that same meeting, fell into conversation with him
about Christ, and continued the train journey with him
that he might tell him more of the Saviour of the world.
This made him late for that meeting, no doubt to the
annoyance of even his best friends, but John Hyde's
mind was at peace. He had bought up his opportunity
(Eph. 6. 16), paying a heavy price for it, perhaps, and
had faithfully held Christ up to a soul that had need of
Him. That was sufficient motive and reward for John
Hyde. It must be said his mission at last saw his gifts,
and this special work to which he seemed more and
more drawn as he grew older, and set him free for it.
One of his old evangelists, who shared his village mud
house with John Hyde for some time, once told me with
tears of regret in his eyes of his great love for souls. He
said Mr. Hyde was always giving away his clothes,
anything he had, to those who came to see him about
the things of God. "If by any means I may win some"
seems to have been his life's aim.
One cold winter night Mr. Hyde tapped at the door of
this evangelist's room. It was late, and he did not want
to open. So Mr. Hyde called out his name, and said,
"Can you lend me a sheet for the night?" "Where are
126 PRAYING HYDE

your own blankets?" was the angry retort through the

still closed door. "Oh, yes! that drunken sot that was
with you has gone off with them. He will sell them, get
drink, and make a beast of himself. Do you know that
you put us all about by doing things like this and then
shivering yourself in the cold?" He owned with remorse
how impertinent he had been, and the tears came to his
big black eyes as he asked me if I could imagine all the
answer Mr. Hyde gave him. He called him by his name,
and said, "Ah, J——! J——! If the prodigal had come
back to you, you would have taken a stick to him!"
This same evangelist told of another experience. It
was in the days when souls were being gathered in.
They were at times assured how many would be granted
them. That morning after prayer it was ten souls. They
then set out away among the Punjab villages in a
country cart. The road lay along a river bank, dangerous
at night. They reached that village. They sang, they
preached, then sang again and preached. The day wore
on. Not a sign even of one soul being interested. They
became hungry and thirsty. No man gave unto them.
Then the two Indian evangelists became impatient to
get home to food and rest. But John Hyde would not
move. He was waiting for those ten. At last near a
common cottage they asked for a drink. The man
offered them milk and water. They went into his
humble house and were refreshed. Then as they talked
he showed most intelligent knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Yes, he had entertained them in His Name. Would the
family not allow Jesus to enter and take possession of
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 127

their home? The father replied they had been thinking

of this. Then why not now? He agreed, and called his
wife and children. They certainly realized what they
were doing, and there and then made up their minds to
take their stand at once on the Lord's side.
One can picture how tenderly John Hyde received
them into God's family in the name of the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yes, all were baptized,
nine altogether. It was now getting dark, the short cold-
weather day was wearing to an end rapidly. Now at any
rate they could depart, so thought the two evangelists,
before the darkness made their return journey
dangerous. The father began to urge it, too. Unwillingly
John Hyde left that home. The cart was sent for by one,
the other hastened John Hyde's steps towards it. When
it came they tried to get him to climb in. But no, his
eyes were fixed pleadingly on this evangelist. "What
about that one?" he asked, longingly. Surely that cry
from a true shepherd's heart found a response! He
hardened his face, and said something about their wives
and children being anxious for them at home. But John
Hyde stood there waiting, waiting for that tenth soul.
He knew that the Good Shepherd was Himself
searching for that one still outside the Fold. The two
evangelists told me afterwards with shame how they
urged John Hyde to come away from that village, and
how the same cry always broke from his lips "What
about that one?"'
By and by the father of the family came up
wondering about this delay—why had the Padre Sahib
128 PRAYING HYDE

waited so long? John Hyde told him about the one

sheep still wanting. "Why there he is," cried the father,
"my nephew whom I have adopted. He has been living
with the rest of us: but has been out playing." He
brought the lad forward, a bright intelligent boy. Mr.
Hyde asked him of his faith. The boy answered very
clearly and intelligently. There could be no doubt about
him. So he, too, was brought into the fold. "That is the
ten," said John Hyde with a weary sigh of heart's ease as
he climbed up to his seat. They were kept safe along
that dangerous road in the darkness and arrived home
tired but content. That is the "rest of soul" our Lord
Jesus gives to His faithful earnest under-shepherds.
Yes, and that is the rest of soul they give Him, too, for
in their passion and longing for the lost, He sees of the
travail of his soul and is satisfied.
Lord teach us at whatever cost to satisfy Thy great
heart of love, broken over wandering sheep. So shall we
apply balm and healing to that Heart. So shall we bind
up Thy wounds and give Thee the joy that was set
before Thee. May we realize that the angels envy us
such service! They cannot render it unto Thee. Only
pardoned sinners can, by bringing others into the circle
of Thy pardoning Love.
Lord show us that this passion for souls cannot be
worked up by any efforts of our own. It comes forth
from Thy bleeding heart, O Thou Lamb upon the
Throne, Who art still giving forth Thy glorified Life for
us, "He ever liveth to make intercession for us." We
praise Thee O Lamb of God that Thou madest known
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 129

Thy Father's Name and wilt make it known, "That the

love, wherewith Thou, O Father, lovedst me may be in
them and I in them."
His Child-like Obedience
Not a day did I pass in John Hyde's company but his
simple obedience surprised me and led me to see what a
real son he was, and how much his Heavenly Father's
will guided his life. Let me mention one such instance.
Once at the Sialkot Convention, which was so inspired
by his prayers in those old days, the Committee, in
order to lay stress on the message instead of on its
messengers, did not announce the names of the
speakers. John Hyde was suddenly asked to speak at the
evening meeting. Somehow it got noised abroad and
many were saying "Mr. Hyde will speak tonight!" The
meeting was very full and expectant, especially as a
great friend of his was in the chair in place of the usual
chairman. Just before the speaker's prayer meeting this
friend was asked what Psalm should be sung. The
subject of our Lord's sufferings being much on his
heart, he suggested the 22nd Psalm. Imagine his
surprise when the leader of song announced that they
would sing the 22nd Psalm at Mr. Hyde's request. It was
supposed they had talked it over together. There was
much prayer, the praise was fervent; but Mr. Hyde was
sitting down on the platform behind the pulpit deep in
prayer. As he did not move, the chairman read
Zechariah 13, commenting at some length on that
question and answer, "What are those wounds between
130 PRAYING HYDE

thine hands?" Then he shall answer, "Those with which

I was wounded in the house of my friends." He spoke of
the loneliness of Christ in His sufferings, no one
knowing about His sorrows and pointed out that only
three disciples even entered Gethsemane with our Lord;
the other eight were left outside; those three, alas, were
full of sleep, so much so that Peter referring to this with
a certain guilty conscience speaks of himself as only a
"witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a
partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." He was not
yet a partaker of these sufferings. So is it today; the
majority of Christians know nothing of Gethsemane. At
the best a few are "witnesses" only of His sufferings.
Hence the world is not won for Christ, nor will it be
until His people as a whole become fellow-partakers of
His sufferings.
All this time John Hyde was lost in prayer. After this
the chairman during another singing laid his hands on
his shoulder and said with a friendly squeeze, "If God
has a message, for you to give, will you give it now?"
As John did not move, the late John Forman, then
chairman of the Convention, said to his brother in the
chair, "Is he going to speak?" "I have asked him," was
the reply, "You ask him, too, if you are led to do it."
Presently as the singing stopped he said, "May I give
two messages God has laid on my heart?" He did so,
and the meeting proceeded to its close after which, there
was a very earnest after-meeting and much prayer by
those present. During that time John Hyde went away to
the Prayer Room without addressing a word to the
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 131

meeting. The people were thus taught to attend to God's

message and not to the messenger.
Some time afterwards I asked him about that matter.
He told me that he felt full of a subject, "The Glory of
Christ's Kingdom." When however, the chairman laid
his hand on his shoulder, he seemed as if he pressed
John down. This thought was enforced by his words, "If
you have a message from God." John began to doubt if
God wanted him to give this message then, and so of
course, waited on God in prayer and never had His
direct leading to speak to that meeting!
Only a man very closely in touch with his Heavenly
Father would have been quick enough to follow this
leading and only one whose supreme wish was to please
God and not his fellow-men would have been brave
enough to keep silence in the circumstances.
A friend, afterwards speaking of the Revival, said to
me: "We ought to have emphasised the lesson of
absolute obedience more than we did. I believe it was
want of obedience that grieved the Holy Spirit and
stopped that Revival.
I could not but agree with him, at the same time
telling him this incident to show that one of the leaders
in that Revival at least could not be accused of the sin
of disobedience.
Honouring the Holy Spirit.
All know how loyally John Hyde supported the
Sialkot Convention. It was really his addresses that led
to the great blessing in that first Convention of 1904.
132 PRAYING HYDE

This Convention was attended largely by missionaries

especially those in the vicinity; and it was a time when
God met His own people: when "self" was unveiled:
when God called His own to a deeper consecration:
when the Holy Spirit convicted of sin and led to many
changed lives. In fact, it was there that the heart-
surrender of the leaders took place which led to the
Revival of 1905. Mr. Hyde's addresses on the Holy
Spirit were much used of God to this great end.
This Convention in the summer of 1904 owed much
also to the Punjab Prayer Union, begun by a few souls
(about April, 1904) on whom the burden of united
prayer for Revival had been heavily laid. Needless to
say, one of the moving spirits of this union was John
Hyde. All its members were greatly inspired by his
habits of prayer—and by his whole life of intercession.
Most particularly did they value and benefit by his
presence at the annual meetings of the Union. His
addresses there appealed to many hearts, and the
conversation he had with them led to lives of joy and
service such as had never been dreamt of before.
Who can forget that memorable annual meeting of
the Punjab Prayer Union in the spring of 1905? It was a
time when all felt the great burden of the Indian
Church, and her need of revival, so very keenly as to be
inexpressible in words. This was mainly due to the
teaching of John Hyde and those like him in regard to
"the fellowship of Christ's sufferings." There was a
general breakdown of all hearts when this subject was
talked and prayed about. To many the Lamb of God
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 133

appeared with His wounded hands and side, and

showed them how His heart was still being made to
bleed by His children when they were not fully
consecrated to Him, and when they were not filled to
overflowing with His Spirit. Little wonder that the
Convention of 1905 touched so deeply the life of the
Punjab Church! Here again John Hyde was the moving
spirit of the whole Convention. It seemed as if the
mantle of his second great spiritual teacher (the first
was Mr. Ullmann)—D. Lytle of the American United
Presbyterian Mission-had descended upon him. The
burden of Mr. Lytle's later teaching had been that self-
support could only be looked for on the old Apostolic
lines—when the baptism of the Holy Spirit and then the
constant infilling of the Holy Spirit, received its true
place in the heart and life of the Christian community.
Then self-supporting congregations would spring up
everywhere as a natural consequence. Mr. Lytle loved
to point out that almost all the Apostolic congregations
over forty in number were self-supporting and also self-
propagating simply because they put first things first,
and never rested till they had received the Baptism, and
then the infilling of the Holy Spirit for every new
service.
This was the burden of John Hyde's addresses at the
Sialkot Convention of 1905. What a thrilling message
he delivered! How plainly he showed that the Holy
Spirit was the One True Witness—to be put first and
foremost by all Christians—so that they might also give
their witness in His strength and by His help. When he
134 PRAYING HYDE

addressed pastors, asking them who was first and

foremost in their pulpits—they themselves, or the
Divine Teacher and Guide into all the truth—I don't
think there was a single preacher who was not
convicted of this sin.
Then he went right through the Life of Christ—
showing how all the mysterious events of that life were
performed by means of the Holy Spirit—our Lord's
Birth, His Baptism, His preaching, His miracles, His
Sacrifice, His Resurrection, the Holy Spirit was witness
of each event, so He alone is the true witness. When
John Hyde called upon all to see to it that this Divine
Witness was depended on to teach all inquiring souls
the meaning and the mystery of each event, few hearts
were unmoved. And then afterwards when John Hyde
intimated that he had no other message to give, the
chairman was led to leave each meeting to the guidance
of the Holy Spirit—surely that was the direct result of
this teaching! What else could result but that the Divine
Spirit, given His true place, should move all hearts,
break them down, melt them into confession and tears,
and so begin the first great Revival in the Punjab?
In the Convention of 1904, missionaries were much
blessed. It was then that one leader brought things to a
crisis by saying: "Either we missionaries receive power
from on high now, or else let us all take the first
steamer home, for we are otherwise unfit for this task."
In the 1905 Convention our Pastors and elders were laid
hold of largely through Mr. Hyde's teaching and perfect
obedience. In the Convention of 1906 the blessing
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 135

extended to Christians generally and reached outside

congregations all over Northern India.
Memories of the First Annual Meeting of the
Punjab Prayer Union.
At the first meeting in the spring of 1905 we were
kept for days in His presence and oh, how He revealed
"self" by revealing Christ and Him crucified. It seemed
as if He bowed us lower and still lower in the white
light of His holiness—showing more and more of our
blackness and blankness and more and more of His
exceeding fullness of love. John Hyde was most
impressed by the experience of the other three with him
alone in a little chamber. To that little band Jesus was
revealed in a new way suffering and dying for the sake
of India, His love seemed to flow out of His broken
heart in unceasing streams, North and South, and East
and West. "You, before whose very eyes was held up a
picture of Jesus Christ on the Cross" (Gal. 3.1)
(Conybeare & Howson), or "You to whom Jesus Christ
has been vividly portrayed as on the Cross"
(Weymouth). Yes, He was so revealed to us four that
afternoon.
As in that famous passage of Zechariah 12. 10 we
mourned for Him and were in bitterness for Him when
we looked on Him Whom we had pierced. But how
those tears were changed into a holy joy when we
realized that India was now Christ's—as the whole
world, too, is—because He had bought it unto His
Father "by His Blood." Yes, that was John Hyde's place
136 PRAYING HYDE

of "emptying"—the Cross. There God lays His

emphasis on our being empty, for it is only the want of
room that hinders all the wealth of grace in Christ from
flooding our hearts continuously so that from within
them may flow those "rivers of living water" promised
by our Lord in regard to every believing child of His.
How that emphasis was laid upon the "emptying" again
and again by John Hyde to the very end of his life we
realized when we heard him speak of that deep subject
in 2 Kings 3: "Thus saith Jehovah," "Make this valley
full of trenches." Aye, only valleys are fertile and
glorify God aright! So hills must be made low. Yet even
these valleys must be made full of trenches. We must
go deeper and still deeper down with our Lord into His
grave—for He was crucified, dead, and buried. The old
self has to be buried—put out of sight that it no more
offend one of God's little ones or come between the
Living Saviour and seeking souls. Oh, that we would
learn Martha's lesson and not keep the dead in their
graves by coming between them and the Life-Giving
One even as she did.
No wonder John Hyde so definitely covenanted with
his Lord that if at any time he came between a soul and
its Saviour, He would put him aside, stop him and show
him his sin even as He did to Martha and others! That
illustration of a tree burying itself deeper into the
ground and so growing upward the more it went down
was constantly used in those early days. "In days to
come Jacob (the old man), shall take root; Israel (the
new man), shall blossom and bud; and they (both the
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 137

old man by dying more and more and the new man by
so blossoming more and more), shall fill the face of the
world with fruit" (Isa. 27. 6). This is repeated for our
instruction, "And the remnant that is escaped of the
house of Judah shall again take root downward and
bear fruit upward" (Isa. 37. 31).
Empty Vessels not a Few
John was very fond of the next chapter (2 Kings 4),
and the "even empty vessels ... not a few." How eagerly
he would point out that the empty vessels failed first
and it was only the want of empty vessels that stopped
the flowing of the oil; it is always we who are to blame
when the Spirit's work ceases, never He. He dwelt much
on how our Lord emptied Himself. He was constantly
doing it: always giving up even from the age of twelve,
yea, before that when He became man, yea, even before
that when He became the Creative Word carrying out in
Creation the Father's will and saying, "Let there be
light." Yea, even before this when in eternity He yielded
to the Father's plan of redemption, and so was "the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world."
See how our Lord gave up His own privacy for His
unsympathetic disciples in John 1! How He gave up
home, and then friends, rest, and comfort. How He gave
up His own mother at last and life itself! What else
could our Lord have given up that He did not give up as
He hung despised and rejected of men—giving up
honor itself—on the Cross? This entering more and
more deeply into the death of our Lord was the secret of
138 PRAYING HYDE

John Hyde's growth in every spiritual grace and very

especially in his passion for souls. Let me tell of an
experience I had with him in that same church whose
pastor he wanted to pray for and ended by praising for
and with such a glorious result. They arranged for a
series of meetings for some days. I was invited to be the
preacher. John was as usual out of sight—in the prayer
room. His face was drawn and thin—it was apparently a
hard fight. I never encountered a blacker wall of
indifference and stolid content. Night after night the
atmosphere remained cold and dead. Poor John seemed
to shrivel up more and more. The burden on him was
awful! I just fancy I see that black cold night we had to
face, and to this day it fills my soul with horror as of
darkness out of the bottomless pit. Yet all that should
have filled my soul with the joy of victory, for the
greater Satan's efforts the more certain it is that His
conqueror will tread him under His feet. Oh, struggling
saints of God! The harder the struggle, the more hope
should possess your souls, for Satan only fights hardest
where he is most afraid of defeat. So the more he seems
to prevail, the more glorious the victory at hand!
At length the very last night of those meetings came.
The message was given with tears—not another eye
was wet—not a heart touched. John was as usual in the
"inner chamber," his face buried on the floor in agony
of supplication. We all knew where he was and what
doing. Just after the address our aged friend and chief
elder (now with John—yea, rather with his Master—in
glory), came forward and asked in a low voice
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 139

permission to speak. Of course it was gladly granted.

He turned to the audience and said, "Brethren, you may
have noticed that I have been very seldom at these
meetings. The reason is that God has had a controversy
with me. You all know that a famous Persian carpet is
for sale in this station. Well, I had made up my mind to
buy it, and thought that if it went cheap I would keep it
for my own drawing-room; but if it went dear it could
be put in my office and Government would pay for it
(he was a distinguished Government servant). Every
time I came to these meetings that carpet started up
before my eyes and kept me from getting my blessing.
Now I have resolved that if that carpet sells dear I'll
have it for myself, but if it sells cheap it will go into my
office." Then he cried aloud in agony, "Oh, brethren, it
is I, your chief elder, who has been standing between
your souls and blessing! I have put that stumbling-block
in your way! I confess it with shame. God forgive me
for this great sin I have committed against you His
people as well as against Him!"
How marvelously He showed His forgiveness! How
He there and then "cleansed from all unrighteousness!"
All were touched; not a dry eye to be seen there. Tears
flowing to the right and left. The tense silence was
broken by another elder. "Brethren, our friend is not the
only one who has been preventing blessing from this
congregation. I have been a greater sinner than all. I
have for years been quarreling with my brother elder"—
and he named the man with whom he had for long had
deep never-dying enmity—"I have been telling lies
140 PRAYING HYDE

about him." There was a movement away on the

opposite side of the church. A man rose, his face
working. "Brother, I have been a bigger sinner than you
about this. Only today I have been telling lies about
you. I pray you to forgive me, for God has graciously
heard my cry for pardon and forgiven me." Then the
two moved towards one another, and there in the church
these life-long enemies embraced each other as brothers
in Christ.
What followed no pen can describe. "There is joy in
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth." What a joy when so many were repenting.
That congregation, more divided perhaps than even the
church at Corinth, though, thank God, not so full of
glaring sins (yet St. Paul can thank God for the grace
and gifts that had been given unto a Church that sank so
low)—that congregation was united as one family in
Christ that night. On all sides old enemies were
becoming friends. The Holy Spirit was convicting all of
sin and leading to this great tenderness and forgiveness
of the past. I heard one sister say to another, "You
remember that cock you lost and you blamed me for its
disappearance? Yes, I did kill it. I'll send you over two
hens in its place" (a fourfold requital).
"No, no," says the other. "I ought not to have allowed
it into your garden to destroy your plants," or some such
excuse. A lad caught me by the feet—he was kneeling
before me weeping. "Padre Sahib, forgive me; for
Christ's sake, forgive me." "My boy, I have never seen
you before." "I know that, but during all the meetings I
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 141

have been speaking against them." "God has forgiven

you, my son. How can I do otherwise?"
And John Hyde? He was seeing of the travail of
Christ's soul and ours, being satisfied. But he was out of
sight that all the glory might be to God alone. No tears
are ever in vain. It is only when His people travail in
pain that souls are born again. No soul is born without
such birth-pangs. And those pangs are temporary—
fleeting, for they give place to joy when the soul enters
the Kingdom. But there are other pangs—life-long—not
passing away—nay, ever becoming deeper and deeper,
even that Third baptism to which our Lord looked
forward and longed that it were over!
"I came to cast fire upon the earth."
"And what is my desire?"
"Oh, that it were even now kindled!"
"But I have a baptism to be baptized with."
"And how am I straitened till it be accomplished."
St. Paul speaks of the same baptism when he says
"My little children of whom I am again in travail till
Christ be formed in you!" He thus shows that there is a
second and continuous agony which will become
greater and deeper, "till Christ is formed in His people."
Therein is the glorious fellowship of Christ's sufferings
—a fellowship, however, which continues unto "His
patience and unto His Kingdom," as well, thank God!
For how could we expect to endure daily such life-long
suffering unless His patience was our treasure-house to
draw upon.
142 PRAYING HYDE

Hyde as an Intercessor
Let us remember that it is our Great High Priest
alone who made John Hyde an intercessor like Himself.
No, not equal to Himself, for "He ever liveth to make
intercession for us." The same Christ can fill each one
of us with His own prayer life so that it becomes as
natural for us to pray as it is for us to breathe. We don't
need to give up our daily duties to be such intercessors.
What if those very duties which once were stumbling-
block in the way of prayer can be transformed by
Christ's Holy Spirit into stepping-stones, enabling us to
pray all the more! What if a new atmosphere of prayer
can be breathed into us and into our daily work by Him
who still baptiseth in the Holy Ghost and in fire! What
if we have two Divine Intercessors—the One within us
praying according to the will of God and so teaching us
how to pray as we ought, and how to go on praying and
not faint; the other presenting our prayers faultless
before the Throne and ensuring answers "exceeding
abundantly above all that we can ask or think."
What if we have all the soul-passion of Jesus Christ
our glorified Lord to draw upon at our every hour of
need! What if His love is ours to make use of moment
by moment!
"Righteous Father . . . I have declared unto them Thy
Name (Father) and will declare it (Blessed Promise!)
that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in
them (what a wealth for us!) and I in them." What a
comfort His presence is, for He is the source of all we
 A MASTER FISHER FOR SOULS. 143

daily and hourly need—all the wisdom and power and

grace and longsuffering and gentleness and joy and
peace and hope, and above all, love! All are hidden in
Him—hidden from the world, but seen by the eye of
faith and open to the hand of faith to take out and make
use of moment by moment. "Oh, but I so often forget
this!" We at times cry. Well, there is a Divine
Remembrancer—sent to remind us of the things of
Christ—"to bring them to our remembrance!" "What
more could I have done for thee," saith our God and
Father, "that I have not done?" This dependence on
Christ and His Spirit was the secret of John Hyde's
success in everything—especially in the prayer life.
This is the open secret of every saint of God! "My
strength blossoms out to perfection in weakness" is His
word. So "when I am weak, I am strong"——strong
with Divine strength. The more we grow in grace, the
more dependent we become! Never let us forget this
glorious fact, and then we will be able to thank God for
our bad memories, for our weak bodies——"for
everything," and in that sacrifice of praise shall be His
delight, and also our own. So this fruit shall fill the
whole earth!
Praying Hyde
PART IV

Extracts from his Letters

 LETTERS OF JOHN HYDE
PART IV.

Letters to His College Magazine

L AST year (1893) until June 1st, I was at my station

studying Hindustani, then I went to the Himalayas
for three weeks, and was there again a week later; saw
many missionaries and enjoyed it. The rest of the time
till November 15th I spent in Dehra Dun. I was studying
there under Mr. Ullman, one of our missionaries sent
out some 55 years ago by Mr. Gossur of Berlin. He is a
fine teacher, and his spiritual influence was most
helpful to me: a distinct blessing came to me there after
months of seeking. The Blood of Jesus now has to me a
power not realized before. Most of the winter and
spring until today was spent among the villages with
Indian preachers. Yesterday eight low-caste persons
were baptized at one of the villages. It seems a work of
God in which man, even as an instrument, was used in a
very small degree. Pray for us. I learn to speak the
language very, very slowly: can talk only a little in
public or in conversation. For my classmates I pray
constantly. Will not some of you come out this year?
146 PRAYING HYDE

The laborers are few—so few."

The following note will be of interest: "Hyde was an
old friend of mine in the Punjab days, and I well
remember his sending in his resignation to the Synod in
despair of getting the language owing to his deafness.
With his letter came a petition from his village people
begging the Synod not to accept the resignation on the
plea: 'If he never speaks the language of our lips. he
speaks the language of our hearts.' And so he stayed, to
become one of the best linguists in the Mission."
Letter to Seminary Magazine
We can see in his letters to his Seminary Magazine
the burdens that began to weigh heavily upon him even
then. This is how he writes at the close of the year 1895
—what a change has come over the Punjab since.
"I am associated with Mr. Martin of Lahore, and
work with him in both districts—Lahore and
Ferozepore. This work lies among the countless villages
and towns, containing probably 1,200,000 people, but
especially among the low castes, whose numbers I think
will reach about 200,000. They form the despised serf
element of almost all villages, and are degraded enough
to eat the flesh of animals that die of themselves. In the
Lahore district among them are some 300 or 400
Christians in nine or ten villages. In this district a
handful of them live in some three villages who have
been baptized within the year that ends today (1895).
To minister to these and to extend the work to other
villages is our employment. I know the work here in
 LETTERS OF JOHN HYDE 147

Lauke best, so will try to picture it to you. The low-

caste Christian teacher here and a man of a near village
discussed together for some time last summer, with no
result. Our teacher gave him a copy of the New
Testament, for, better than most, he could read. He told
me the other day that when he came to the words,
'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall
not pass away,' then he was convinced. Now he himself
is one of our teachers. Thus we have been given a
teacher. God gave us a little revival season here for
some two or three weeks in January. In these same
meetings I remember how one low-caste man's face and
mind seemed to take in the word—literally to drink it
in, and I was given such simpleness and clearness of
expression that I wonder at it yet.
"At our early morning prayer meetings during those
weeks we all prayed short prayers, and men learned to
pray there. This will let you see a little of the work that
was most encouraging. We would like to see similar
things in each of the villages where there are Christians.
Another picture is this. We have been here again for a
month. Now is the persecution time. The villagers who
are not Christians, those of the higher castes, have tried
to stop our water-carriers from bringing us water, have
stolen from us, and I understand have threatened to pull
down our tents, all apparently to get us away. They have
succeeded in taking the house our teacher occupied, so
we have no place for a teacher here. Last Saturday night
one of the Christians was beaten, and they threaten
them all with such suffering that these are times of
148 PRAYING HYDE

trouble and trial of faith. I have been much at the

Throne—I have needed to go for myself, too—but it is a
Throne of Grace.
"While I have already occupied more than my share
of space, it will let you into the work here better,
perhaps, than any other way. As for myself, may I say
humbly that since coming to India God has given me an
understanding with Himself. We have come to
understand each other. He is apparently ready to bless
the missionaries, workers, Christians and non-
Christians, especially the low-castes. Pray in faith for
immediate blessings in India. Wilder has been among
us some of the past year. He was in Lahore in February,
and we hear that Dr. Ewing, the President of our
College there, has received the Pentecostal gift, and that
others have entered in. Praise the Lord!"
His letter to his college magazine at the end of 1896
reveals to us something of the aspirations he had in
those early years, and how the Spirit of God was
teaching him and preparing him for greater things. This
is what he wrote then:
"This year there were no conversions in the villages.
There were last year. What is the reason? This reason
we are seeking today—the two or three workers here
and myself. The very thought of seeking has been
started and confirmed today by mentioning the matter in
this letter. We are thinking of taking tomorrow just as a
day of prayer for this purpose, and if we do, I believe it
will be fruitful. If our hearts and lives are not right, but
become right before God, we shall receive a great
 LETTERS OF JOHN HYDE 149

blessing; or if it be delayed, it will be like holding back

a strong—flowing river which will come with mighty
power when let go. I believe that if our hearts are right
Christ's love must give us immediate, constant,
unmeasured, ever-increasing blessing. It is the essence
of love to be thus. If the heart be right blessing cannot
be withheld, it can only be delayed; and to delay such
blessing means only that it should overwhelm when it
does come.
"Personally, this faith in the love of Christ is a new
thought, and it is not the least of the blessings for which
I have to be thankful. The life in Christ is a wondrous
life—sometimes an experience of joy that can only be
described by the words—'They shall mount up with
wings as eagles;' and how the currents of life sweep
upward, too, from the solid rock, as in the thick of
flying darts one realizes that he stands upon the
atonement of Jesus Christ; that, standing on the rock of
His death he may claim every promise of the Bible; that
is in spite of what we are or feel. 'It is all right.' I find
the nearer one comes to Jesus Christ the more earnestly
he prays the 51st Psalm."
In 1897, Mr. Hyde writes: "Had a great privilege last
summer in a six weeks' vacation at Poona, near
Bombay, in Mr. R. P. Wilder's home. His home is such
a holy place, and he is so sensible and happy, too. Our
Christians are taking more interest in the work than I
have ever known before. God is blessing individuals
among us in Bible study, confession of sin, and
restitution."
150 PRAYING HYDE

Sickness and Convalescence

In 1898 we find that God was preparing him for
work in a very different way. God was answering his
prayers and leading him along a path that he would
never have chosen for himself. For seven months he
was laid aside; he had typhoid fever, and this was
followed by two serious abscesses in his back, which
caused such nervous depression, that he was compelled
to take absolute rest. When convalescent he wrote
several short letters, extracts of which follow:
"For a long time after my illness of last May, nervous
weakness kept me in the hills, though I wished much to
go back to work. I did not leave the hills until
December 1st—spent a few days in Ludhiana at our
Annual Mission Meeting; then a few days in Lahore,
reaching my home (Ferozepore) just before Christmas.
All along the year, the prayer of Jabez (1 Chron. 4. 10),
was running in my mind. I prayed, 'Enlarge my border,'
with perhaps some temporal things much in mind and
hope. The answer was an illness, straitening and
limiting strength and efforts—taking me, keeping me
from work for months, pressing home lessons of
waiting, impressing the great lesson, 'Not my will but
Thine be done.' But with the waiting and straitening
came spiritual enlarging. How often God withholds the
temporal, or delays it, that we may long for and seek the
spiritual."
"The mission work during the past year has been
greatly hampered by lack of funds in the treasury of the
 LETTERS OF JOHN HYDE 151

Board. The cut of this year was greater than ever before.
Perhaps the lack of funds is due to the lack of prayer to
Him who says, 'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine'
(Hag. 2.8). The Indian Church is putting forth great
effort for self-support. Our whole Mission unites in
prayer every Sunday for the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon us. Since my return to Ferozepore I have not
been very strong, and have spent only two weeks and a
half in itinerary work, but these days were greatly
blessed. The people listened very attentively and many
were turned to Christ. I baptized several, and many
more enrolled themselves as catechists. Will you not,
each one, seek God's face in prayer for India and for me
that my health may be precious in His sight? India is so
exhausting, and I do want to stay here."
At the Close of the Year
The letter sent to the College Magazine at the close
of the year 1899 shows us very clearly how the Lord
was leading Hyde on to the prayer life and into it. The
letter we believe will speak to the souls of many of our
members. How many of us have trained our bodies to
endure the strain and burden of souls? As far back as
1899, Hyde began to accustom himself to "prayer
nights." No doubt there are many who have such
burdens upon them that they have to spend nights in
prayer. Let us ponder over the 1899 letter.
"The years have been full of trial which tells even on
physical power, and I have not known how to work
below my capacity to withstand and endure. The
152 PRAYING HYDE

spiritual things of India have been intense in my soul,

and my body is not trained to bear their strain easily.
The past year I have been in Ferozepore, and have been
well, but just now (March) I am trying to recover
somewhat from the strain of the winter. It has been one
of work and prayer. Results I have not seen, or but little.
There are a few inquirers, and our work has seen a few
baptisms. I am a helper of Dr. Newton and his family,
and want, as Meyer says, to help my Heavenly Father a
little in His work. Have felt led to pray for others this
winter as never before. I never before knew what it was
to work all day and then pray all night before God for
another. Early in the morning, 4 or 5 o'clock, or even
earlier, and late at night to 12 or 1 o'clock. In College or
at parties at home, I used to keep such hours for myself
or pleasure, and can I not do as much for God and
souls?
"This letter is all about myself, but you will forgive
me, I know. May the Lord be with you all."
A Challenge to Service
The word "challenge" has been much in use in
religious circles the last two or three years. It is a
challenge to the Church, a challenge to service, a
challenge to faith, a challenge to prayer, etc., and truly
these are days of challenge. This is a challenge to us!
Are we to go on just preparing the way for the Lord's
work? Or are we going forth to reap the harvest? To do
this we need to venture more on God. He challenges us
to do so! We must be willing to be ridiculed by men;
 LETTERS OF JOHN HYDE 153

we must be ready to be considered crazy men. The Lord

loves nothing more or better than a venture of faith; and
when the Lord challenges us are we going to slacken
our hands or go forward to win and conquer? "Prove
Me now, saith the Lord, if I will not open the windows
of Heaven and pour out such a blessing that there will
not be room enough to contain it." Most of us are ready
to fall in when success begins to come, but the Lord
calls for leaders, pioneers in this work, venturing on
God.
It is this that strikes us so forcibly in Hyde. He
challenged God and God challenged him, and he would
take hold of God and would not let Him go, and God
would take hold of him and humble him, and make him
almost a laughing-stock at one time, hated at another
time, but he just clung to God whatever men might say
or do, and with what result! Is not this a challenge to us
from the Living God to venture all on Him? "To let go"
is not easy; "to take the plunge" needs faith; "to
continue" in spite of adverse circumstances—these are
marks or signs that the challenge has been accepted. To
the timid ones the account of Hyde's life during the next
few years that we shall record, viz., 1900 and onwards,
will be most encouraging.
This is what he said in 1900. "There is an ailment out
here called
The 'Punjab Head'
It is not the 'big head,' but a queer head. Having it,
one gets over-conscientious, does unwise things, adopts
154 PRAYING HYDE

extreme opinions, cannot be guided by others, etc. K—

thinks I have it, and has been lecturing me the past year
on the need of being wise. He has told me various
things, and since I cannot say he was mistaken, I
suppose I must forgive him. I am still at Ferozepore,
living in Dr. Newton's home, as for seven years past. It
is not a small privilege to be allowed to live in a saintly
home."
1901. "The spiritual condition of the Christians in
the village this year has reminded me of the Corinthian
Church of the First Epistle. But God's grace is powerful.
We have used the Word and prayed much and worked
earnestly, and several of the evils have been removed.
Others seem moving. It makes one believe in a living,
present Saviour, to see His people blessed in answer to
definite prayer, and inquirers, though only a few, asking
to be taught, when our condition is so weak in every
way. I wonder how the century has begun with you all. I
believe it is to be a time of Pentecostal power, of even a
double portion of the Pentecostal Spirit. I interpret God
as laying a burden of prayer on souls, pouring out the
spirit of grace and supplication, that Christians and the
unconverted may look on Him whom they pierced, and
mourn in deep conviction of sin. I interpret God as
opening a fountain for sin and uncleanness, which
means a mighty turning unto Him. The past century
seems to me like the days of Jesus' earthly ministry,
with its marked evangelisation and wonderful
amelioration in the physical well-being of men. The
Church's piety and spiritual power, also, of the
 LETTERS OF JOHN HYDE 155

nineteenth century seem like those of the Christians in

our Lord's lifetime. The standard was good, but not up
to the level of that of the Apostolic age. We live in the
latter age. Can we not have a century besides the first
which has the normal life of its own age? I hail in the
twentieth century, the blessing of our age restored—a
Church holy in life, triumphant in faith, self-sacrificing
in service, with one aim, to preach Christ crucified 'unto
the uttermost part of the earth.' And if this blessing
begins with the deadness in the Church and an eclipse
of faith in many, it cannot be worse than in the days just
preceding Pentecost. The disciples then were shut up to
prayer, and can anyone say what would happen now if
God's Church should give herself up to this same
resource? "
In 1902 Mr. Hyde had
His First Furlough.
We know very little about the work he did at home,
but in a letter to his beloved friend and fellow student,
he describes his visit to some relations, and says he
cannot travel any more because his money had come to
an end. He says that he takes care of himself, and closes
with the words, "I am poor and needy, yet the Lord
thinketh upon me."
This is how he writes for the College Magazine,
which reveals to us the working of his mind at the time,
or rather, the working of the Holy Spirit within him and
through him.
1902. "The home-coming last spring was one of
156 PRAYING HYDE

great pleasure.
The Spiritual Life at Home
and the interest in Foreign Missions is distinctly
encouraging. There is an advance, too, in both, which, I
believe, we all long for. It is a distinct raising of the
accepted standards. And if I might I would say its
realization lies in bringing out the Scripture teaching of
the fullness of the Spirit. In this is the power needed.
'Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you,' and then indeed shall the Church
witness at home and unto the uttermost parts of the
earth."
In 1903. No communication was received from Mr.
Hyde. In 1904, we have a paragraph which reveals to us
something of the condition of the people and of himself.
When we remember that this was just before the revival
in Wales, and afterwards in India, we see that it is the
dark hour before dawn. The burden placed upon our
dear friend, which weighed him down even to
weariness, but we realize how the Lord was only
preparing him for the great part that he was to take in
The Revival in the Punjab
in the following years.
This is the paragraph. "We need many missionaries
and your prayers for laborers, both foreign and Indian.
We are here in this district alone, two men and three
ladies in 950,000 people. This year has been differing
from others to me. For ten years after coming to India, I
 LETTERS OF JOHN HYDE 157

was 'running,' and did not 'grow weary.' But the past
year I have been feeling the drudgery and home-
sickness of life here. In the midst of this, to 'keep a-
pluggin' away' in patience and sweetness and courage
and quiet, strong heart for the work—this I think is the
finest quality we may have in Christian service. I do not
think Isaiah wrote an ante-climax when he said, 'Rise
up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and
not faint.' The last must be the true test and strongest
manifestation of the Christian life."
In 1905, there was no message from Hyde to the
College Magazine. It was in March, 1905, that the
Revival commenced in Assam, and regular accounts of
the Spirit's work were sent to the "Nur Apan," the
Punjab Christian paper, and we can imagine how Hyde
would devour these reports and then give himself to
prayer.
In 1906. The only report we have from a letter of
Hyde's sister, in which we find that he had been
transferred to Ludhiana, and lived in Dr. Wherry's
house alone with his servants. He had spent much of his
time in the villages, and she says that he had seen some
of the Revival that was so manifest in many parts of
India, and he realized anew the truth of the verse, "It is
not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the
Lord."
Praying Hyde
CONCLUSION

A Challenge to Prayer
 CONCLUSION

A CHALLENGE TO PRAYER

F ROM beginning to end the two little volumes have

been steeped in prayer, and we know now that
hundreds have been praying that men may take up the
"challenge" that God is sending them, and today we are
able to say without any hesitation that God is
abundantly answering their prayer. Day by day as the
postman brought the letters in and so many of the Lord's
children speak of blessing, we could only bow down
and praise the Lord for His wonderful goodness, at
times we had to shout "Hallelujah," and ask the Lord to
use the books more and more. It may be profitable for
others to hear of these blessings that have come into the
lives of men and women. We purposely withhold the
names.
Letters About the Challenge.
One says: "I don't know how to tear myself away
from the 'Challenge.' I get away to my knees to read and
read and read again and —! If your life-work meant
putting that book into the hands of God's children!
Think what it means, because through its message
160 PRAYING HYDE

numbers of the Lord's children have at last been led to

put prayer first."
Another old prayer warrior writes: "Many thanks for
the book. It is the life of a wonderful man, one in a
thousand, and it makes us feel that we want to have that
passion for intercessory prayer, or that power in prayer
which we all so much need.
"The book will do great good. In the hard places, and
in hard times, when we are up against things seemingly
insurmountable, the thought of 'Praying Hyde' will give
courage and keep us on our knees till light comes."
Again, "I have read 'The Challenge' through very
slowly and carefully, and have derived much spiritual
help. There is much food for thought, and I am certain
the reading of it will be blessed to many and a great
help in our daily walk in life."
Another writes: "Thank you very much for the two
copies of 'Present-day Challenge to Prayer' which I
received a week ago. I could not go to sleep that night
until I had finished reading the little book. It just
gripped me and created within me a longing to know
the Lord as Hyde did and to be used unreservedly by
Him."
Yet another: "Thanks so much for the book on Mr.
Hyde. It is fine, and will I am sure prove a great
blessing. It is just what I am needing of late. I shall send
for more copies later on which I can pass on to others."
Another very interesting letter from a devoted, hard-
working lady missionary: "Thank you for the book
about Hyde. I have read it and passed it on to one of our
 A CHALLENGE TO PRAYER 161

catechists. Will you please send me three more copies,

so that I can lend them about among our men who know
English. I do wish we would, all of us, learn to pray—
Europeans and Indians. The so-called 'impossible'
would then be done. But alas! not only is prayer
neglected, but those who do pray have generally to pay
for it. They are either counted lazy or cranks, just as
Hyde was. I wonder why so many of us are so obsessed
with work, for most of us, if asked, would say that we
believed prayer to be the mightiest power there is. I
often think of a remark that an old missionary made to
me some time ago, and which I heartily endorse:
'Indians had learned to look on us missionaries as
friends, as people who would help them, and as good
workers, but they had not yet learned to look on us as
men and women of God.' I feel that if we would only
spend more time in His presence, our Indian friends
would realize Whose we are and would want to be His
themselves."
A very busy medical missionary sends us such a
helpful note. His quotation from the late Dr. Maclaren's
words has been in our mind since we received his letter,
and we know others will try to live up to it. This is what
he writes: "Many thanks for sending me a copy of 'A
Challenge to Prayer.' The reading of it has done me
good, and I shall circulate it. One realities more and
more the great need for more prayer and meditation. I
have had some good times recently, and I am seeking to
live all the time in the consciousness of His presence, in
close union and fellowship with the Lord. There is a
162 PRAYING HYDE

saying of the late Dr. Maclaren of Manchester. Have

you ever heard it? 'We should live each day as if Christ
had died yesterday, rose again this morning, and is
coming again to-morrow.'"
This is how one devoted worker in England—an ex-
missionary—writes: "I believe the books will be mighty
instruments in the hand of God in preparing the Bride
and making straight the way for the return of our
blessed Lord. I long that all the leaders and teachers at
our missions and conventions should get the books into
their hands—but I believe that Satan would do much to
hinder this, for the books will prove to be mighty levers
in the hands of the Lord's children. There are many to
whom the books will bring no message, for they need
awaking on preliminary points, but to others it is a call
from the Holy One. "
That experienced watchman on the walls of Zion,
Mr. Albert Head, wrote: "The ultimate issue of such a
message to the Christian Church and Churches is most
timely. Very opportunely do they arrive, for the
unsettlement of our own beloved nation as well as the
kindred nations throughout Europe—and indeed the
world—need the unfolding of God's purposes as set
forth in His own precious Word, besides the more
mundane word, which each contains as to the prophetic
indications enunciated, and the awakening message
conveying the warning to take heed, 'for the Coming of
the Lord draweth nigh.' That this voice comes from
India is very opportune, and should result in a wide-
spread awakening and constitute an urgent call to study
 A CHALLENGE TO PRAYER 163

the Word of God individually and collectively as to

when these events may be expected. "
To us it is most interesting to note the development
in the spiritual life of Hyde, and to find how much like
ourselves he was in the early days of his life in India.