I just finished reading
The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson. I love the testimony to the power of prayer that Wilkerson had. He shared how he used to spend two hours every night watching television. One night he decided to sell his television set and spend those two hours in prayer instead. His life was never the same after that. I love how when we set aside the things that seem important to us in order to spend time with God, He draws near to us. He becomes dearer to us than the thing that we prized before.
At that time—before he sold his TV set—Wilkerson was a pastor of a small country church that was doing well. If we were able to observe the church and pastor at that time we would probably think that everything is going along very well. To think what would have happened (or rather,
not happened) if Wilkerson did not listen to the quiet prompting from God to spend his evenings in prayer rather than watching television! The lesson that I see here to apply to my own life is that we should never become complacent with where we are at, especially when it looks like things are going well. Wilkerson was a successful pastor before, but after he devoted his time to prayer he was very different. He was receptive to God's leading and could discern what God wanted him to do. I hear people talk about how they never hear God's voice, or feel His promptings. I have to wonder how much time they devote towards
listening for God's voice. Two hours may seem like a lot of time (and it is!), but we can see that the investment that Wilkerson made towards getting to know God better and listening for His voice was definitely worth it.
God used David Wilkerson in a big way to reach the lost teenagers of New York City. He started the
Teen Challenge Program, and brought countless gang members and drug addicts to Christ. As the story unfolded throughout the pages of
The Cross and the Switchblade, it was clear that God was with David Wilkerson. Wilkerson was continually being led by the Lord's leading. Even when it seemed like everything was going wrong, it was obvious that God had His hand on David Wilkerson's life. God used the things in Wilkerson's life that seemed like mistakes, and used them all for His Glory.
One of the main themes that stuck out to me in
The Cross and the Switchblade was how David Wilkerson had been prepared to hear the voice of the Lord and got to know Him better during the hours that he spent in prayer before most of the events that were chronicled in the book happened. It seems that during those hours David gained something—a closeness to the Lord, a sensitivity to His spirit, and the faith that he needed to be able to follow God's leading. It seemed at first like a risk for David, to sell his TV set. He wrote how he felt like he needed "downtime," and liked spending those hours mindlessly watching TV to be able to relax. He chose to not obey the desire to please his self but to use his time to glorify God. It was when he surrendered his time that He was able to be changed by God. It makes me examine my own life to see if there are any pockets of time or habits that I indulge myself in that could be surrendered to God.
Read this book & be encouraged by the incredible life of one of God's faithful followers.
