From this day on, the prayer meeting will be the barometer of our church. What happens on [Wednesday] night will be the gauge by which we will judge success or failure.

[He] was on a needed break from the ministry doing a little fishing. "Lord, I have no idea how to be a successful pastor," he prayed softly. "I haven't been trained for this. All I know is that [my wife] and I are working in the middle of a ... city, with people dying on every side, overdosing from heroin, consumed by materialism, and all the rest. If the gospel is so powerful..." he couldn't finish the sentence. Tears choked him. Fortunately, the others on the boat were too far away to notice as they studied their lines in the blue-green water.

Then quietly but forcefully, in words heard not with my ear but deep within his spirit, [he] sensed God speaking: "If you ... will lead my people to pray and call upon my name, you will never lack for something fresh to preach. I will supply all the money that's needed, both for the church and for your family, and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response."

I was overwhelmed. My tears intensified. I looked up at the other passengers, still occupied with their fishing. Nobody glanced in my direction. I knew I had heard from God, even though I had not experienced some strange vision, nothing sensational or peculiar. God was simply focusing on the only answer to our situation-or anybody else's, for that matter. His word to me was grounded in countless promises repeated in the Scriptures; it was the very thing that had produced every revival of the Holy Spirit throughout history. It was the truth that had made Charles G. Finney, Dwight L. Moody, A. B. Simpson, and other men and women mightily used of God. It was what I already knew, but God was now drawing me out, pulling me toward an actual experience of himself and his power. He was telling me that my hunger for him and his transforming power would be satisfied as I led my ... congregation to call out to him in prayer. As the boat docked later that afternoon, I felt wonderfully calm. A few days later I flew back to [the city], still the same young pastor I had always been. But all the modern trends and new ideas about church growth were now irrelevant. God had promised to provide, to respond to our cries for divine help. We were not alone, attempting the impossible in a heartless world. God was present, and he would act on our behalf. A holy excitement came over me. I actually looked forward to the next Sunday morning...

"Welcome back, Pastor..." people said when they saw me that morning. "Did you have a good rest in Florida?" ... I couldn't wait to tell them something far more important. Early in the service I said, "Brothers and sisters, I really feel that I've heard from God regarding the future of our church. While I was away, I was calling out to God to help us - to help me - understand what he wants most from us. And I believe I've heard an answer. "It's not fancy or profound or spectacular. But I want to say to you today with all the seriousness I can muster: From this day on, the prayer meeting will be the barometer of our church. What happens on [Wednesday] night will be the gauge by which we will judge success or failure because that will be the measure by which God blesses us."

A minister from [out of town] ... happened to be present that morning - a rare occurrence. I introduced him and invited him to say a few words. He walked to the front and made just one comment: "I heard what your pastor said. Here's something to think about: "You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning. You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting." And with that, he walked off the platform. That was all. I never saw him again. "If we call upon the Lord, he has promised in his Word to answer, to bring the unsaved to himself, to pour out his Spirit among us. If we don't call upon the Lord, he has promised nothing - nothing at all. It's as simple as that. No matter what I preach or what we claim to believe in our heads, the future will depend upon our times of prayer. This is the engine that will drive the church. Yes, I want you to keep coming on Sundays - but [Wednesday] night is what it's really about. We ... have set our course, and I hope you'll come along with us."