Pentecost and Prayer

It was a cool, misty February weekend in 1971. It was the height of the Jesus Movement. One hundred seventy-five young people from at least 20 Assemblies of God churches across Northern California had gathered for a weekend prayer retreat amid the towering redwoods of the region.

These prayer retreats had begun two years earlier when God challenged me that while we had many great activities for young people in our church, including a ski club, a full-size gymnasium, and a coffee shop, something more was needed. Prayer retreats provided weekends to teach young people keys to pursuing God, including seeking Him all night.

I learned quickly that it was important to have organized, corporate prayer at the start of the meetings to keep the attention of the young people. My goal was to keep their attention in a corporate setting until at least midnight. I then challenged each student to find a quiet place in the main lodge to simply seek the Lord in his or her own way. Most would pray all night. Some kneeled, others were prostrate, and some gathered in clusters, praying together. It was a beautiful sight.

In this context I had a personal experience with the Holy Spirit that profoundly impacted my life. It happened well past midnight. I was sitting on the table with my legs dangling. I was watching the young people pray, highlighted by the glow of the large fireplace in the center of the room.

Some were quietly weeping. Others were just talking to God in an almost casual manner with open Bibles.

Suddenly I realized that even though the teens were obviously being deeply impacted, I felt nothing. I wasn’t weeping, I wasn’t even praying. I was more of an observer.

I asked myself a simple question: Why do I feel absolutely no emotion when so many people are dying without knowing Christ?

It was such a simple thought. I quietly added, Why don’t I care more for the millions who are lost?

In that moment I casually prayed, “Please, God, help me care!” It was just a five-word prayer.

I wiped away a few tears that slowly started to come, and said excitedly, “Yes, Jesus, that’s it. I need more of that!”

Soon, tears were flowing freely. Before long I was sobbing — really sobbing.

Frankly, I was a bit embarrassed. Yet, I couldn’t stop what was taking place. This was no ordinary encounter. I hadn’t planned it, nor had I sought it. All I had done was to pray, “Please, God, help me care!”

This Holy Spirit-initiated “travail” went on for several hours. Suddenly, the most wonderful peace came over me. Then I heard it. It was unmistakable. The still small voice of the Holy Spirit impressing on my heart that my ministry for the future had been born there that night.

I began to understand the reality of that experience a few years later when I joined the ministry of Every Home for Christ as director of Prayer Mobilization. Every Home is a 78-year-old ministry that has a vision to take the gospel to every home on earth.

I was asked by the founder, Jack McAlister, to develop a multihour seminar called, The Change the World School of Prayer. Within two years we had numerous instructors throughout the world. Within a decade these “Schools of Prayer” had been conducted in more than 100 nations, impacting some 120 different denominations. To date, more than 3 million believers have been equipped to pray more effectively for a lost world through these seminars.

In 1988, I was asked to lead the global Every Home ministry as president, a role that continued until 2022. I never could have imagined serving in a ministry that in future years would reach over 2.5 billion homes with the gospel or through our 180 national offices’ follow-up, we would receive more than 200 million positive responses as a result. This past year alone, under the leadership of my successor, Tanner Peake, over 20 million souls encountered Christ through the ministry.

To think I was able to be a part of this amazing ingathering of souls because of a Holy Spirit-empowered encounter where God helped me care!

We can’t overstate the importance of the Holy Spirit in relationship to prayer and its resulting fruit. The last words of Jesus before He ascended to heaven were a promise: “... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, as far as the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NASB).

Several things are of significance to me concerning the Upper Room encounter where the Holy Spirit was initially poured out (Acts 2:1-4).

First, it was clearly a prayer-saturated, prolonged season of prayer. Waiting was involved. Scripture tells us, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer…” (Acts 1:14, NASB 1995). Sometimes we need to tarry to receive the best of God’s promises. But they’re always worth the wait!

Second, not everyone witnessing the ascension that day chose to wait for the promise. Most didn’t! We know there were about 120 who did make it to the Upper Room, including Mary, the mother of Jesus. There were 500 witnesses of the Resurrection according to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:6. That means 76% who heard the command of Jesus recorded in Acts 1:4 to tarry in Jerusalem for the promise chose to do something else. This suggests that not all followers of Christ are necessarily interested in going deeper in their Christian walk. Don’t be left out of any blessing that could make your walk with Jesus stronger and more effective!

Third, 100% of those gathered in the Upper Room spoke with other tongues when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. This suggests this “enduement of power” is available to every believer. Jesus had told the disciples their Father in heaven was willing to “give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13b, NIV). My advice: Just ask! Just believe! Just wait!

I believe there is more for all who would tarry with a passionate desire to be filled with the Spirit and saturated fully with the presence of God! And that passion, I believe, will lead them directly to the harvest. It did for me — in more ways than I ever could have imagined!

Dick Eastman

An ordained minister with the Assemblies of God, Dick Eastman is the former international president of Every Home for Christ, a global evangelism ministry that has planted over 2.5 billion gospel messages home by home in 194 nations. His books on prayer, evangelism, and Christian growth have sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide.