The very presence of people of faith has enormous impact on those who cross their paths. One of the women I wish I’d met was Dr. Henrietta Mears, who served on the staff of a California church in the 1940s, but whose ministry covered the world and whose influence touched countless lives over the years. In his book on revival, Bill Bright talked about a life-changing evening in 1947. He said:

I was in a meeting at Forest Home Christian Conference in California. A dear friend of mine, Dr. Henrietta Mears, director of Christian education at the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, was the speaker. Dr. Louis Evans Jr., the son of the senior pastor, and I walked her back to her cabin. We were chatting and enjoying our fellowship, so she invited us in. As we continued to talk, suddenly the Holy Spirit enveloped us. As a young believer, I did not know very much about the person of the Holy Spirit, so I did not know what was happening to me. But I found myself intoxicated with joy. Dr. Evans said it was as though coals of fire ran up and down his spine.

While we were in prayer and praising God, Dr. Richard Halverson entered Dr. Mears’s cabin. He was a defeated, frustrated, fruitless Presbyterian minister from Coalinga, California. He had come to seek her counsel on how he might leave the ministry and return to the Hollywood entertainment world from which he had come before his conversion.

When he walked into the room, we were praying and no one said anything to him. But instantly the Holy Spirit healed him of his defeat and frustration, and his heart was filled with joy and love.

In moments we were all changed. None of us was ever the same again, and God gave each of us major responsibilities in His vineyard. Dr. Evans went on to become a nationally-known Presbyterian minister. For many years he pastored the National Presbyterian Church, “the church of the presidents.” Dr. Halverson became chaplain of the U.S. Senate.

And Bill Bright? He went on to establish Campus Crusade for Christ, now known as Cru, which became one of the greatest evangelistic forces of the twentieth century, one that still continues in 191 countries.

Henrietta Mears didn’t cause that moment of revival in her cabin; the Holy Spirit did. As I’ve read her biographies, however, I’ve noticed that moments like that seemed to happen when she was around. Oh, how we want our own lives to radiate revival and to encourage others to wait upon the Lord, to mount up with wings like eagles, and to overcome the lower climates of fear, worry, anxiety, discouragement, and defeat.

Robert J. Morgan, Worry Less, Live More: God’s Prescription for a Better Life (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2017).

We have just released a new Bible study on based on Robert Morgan's book, Worry Less, Live More

These lessons are available on Amazon, as well as a part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking Subscription Service. Like Netflix for Bible Lessons, one low subscription gives you access to all our lessons--thousands of them. For a medium-sized church, lessons are as little as $10 per teacher per year.

Sessions include:

The Practice of Rejoicing

The Practice of Gentleness

The Practice of Nearness

The Practice of Prayer

The Practice of Thanksgiving

The Practice of Thinking

The Practice of Discipleship

The Practice of Peace