to be as persistent as the widow in Jesus’ story, who had to keep
petitioning the judge. Whatever the level of intensity and stub-
bornness of his emotions, he ended up under the rug over them,
and that made a crucial difference. He came to God confessing his
total weakness, for who can on his own eradicate envy or desire
for power? And the answers came, according to Emery, “in great
and mighty ways.”
Many decades after the incident—a few years before Ock-
enga’s death—we interviewed him in Boston. When we asked
Ockenga how he handled the pressures of serving as president of
Fuller Seminary in California and simultaneously as pastor of Park
Street Church in Boston, three thousand miles away, and later as
president of Gordon-Conwell Seminary and chair of CTI, his
response was, “I’ve always been very busy, but there’s a secret to
that.” His eyes twinkled as he pulled out some papers and told us
that for forty-one years he’d kept a prayer list. “When I go over
it, I’m reminded by the Lord if I haven’t tried to solve a problem.
If I have enemies I’m praying for, something may come to mind
that I can do about that.”
It’s significant that he prayed for “enemies.” Did prayer release
anxieties about his responsibilities? “Yes, that’s right,” he said. “I
never worry about them.”
As a result of the intensity and longevity of both men’s
prayers, all sorts of things were made possible, including the
highly fruitful partnership of Ockenga the intellectual and Gra-
ham the “simple” communicator. They made a remarkable team
for decades, complementing each other’s strengths and weak-
nesses. They led not only through their own institutions but
through related ones like Christianity Todayand the National Asso-
ciation of Evangelicals.
Billy has written, “Tennyson’s well-known words, ‘More
things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of,’ are no
mere cliché. They state a sober truth.”
Again, Peter Wust: “The great things happen to those who
pray.” Billy believed and personified that, and it made possible his
ability to lead others in those great endeavors.
Plugging into Continuous Voltage