The Keeper of the Rain
By: Jim Walker

“Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James 5:7-8, NAS.

The Lord turned on the water faucets of heaven around 3 a.m. A metal roof outside my window gave an echoing reminder that sleep time was over for me. Sunny skies were on my personal agenda, but, as I was to learn later, God had His own reasons for the rain.

It was the midpoint of a three day retreat for 36 men who were either preparing to pastor or already pastoring local churches in the Philippines. The rain had little affect on my part of the training as a microphone would easily amplify my voice over the sound of the rain on the roof. However, a Filipino sister named Siony was planning on training the men in prayerwalking with a scheduled prayerwalk in the community afterward.

Rains continued throughout the morning, so I contacted Siony and informed her that we’d have to cancel the prayerwalk. Her reply surprised me. “No, we should not cancel the prayerwalk,” she said. “I believe God will stop the rain.”

I appreciated her faith, but I questioned her confidence. The clouds were black and the rain was still coming down in sheets. At 2:30 p.m. I finished my last session of the afternoon and Siony stepped up to give her teaching on prayerwalking. “Good luck,” I thought, as she began to teach.

Even with the microphone, her soft voice could barely be heard over the din of the rain. About thirty minutes into her presentation, there was a slight hesitation in the rain – almost imperceptible, but a slackening nevertheless. A little while later, toward the end of her teaching, the rain stopped.

After her presentation I took the microphone and confessed my sin of unbelief before the men. Siony seemed a little smug as she watched her prayer request unfold in a miraculous way. She had heard His still, small voice in her heart saying that everything would be alright and was simply acting on what God had told her. I told the men the story of Soiny’s prayer and they were extremely excited to go out in the community and prayerwalk.

There were ten groups of men that went out, and when they came back, every single one of them had stories to tell. It was almost to the point where I had to beat them back because everyone wanted to grab the microphone and tell the others what the Lord had done through them on their prayerwalk. After supper the stories continued until after 8:00 p.m. In the two and a half years I have been training these men, I cannot remember a time that they were more excited about serving the Lord.

Around 10:00 p.m., the rains started again. It is two days later now as I write this story and the rains have not stopped since the prayerwalk. In three days we have had only one small respite from the rain, and this was the exact timing for the prayerwalk! God taught me again that He is in control. Turning off the water faucets at just the right time is no problem for Him. I just needed a reminder from a sweet Filipino sister that when we hear a word from Him then our faith should remind us that it is as good as done.

Pray that:

The excitement of 36 Filipino church leaders will spill over into their churches and prayer will ignite a mighty revival in the Philippines.

Filipino believers will have sensitive hearts to hear God’s voice and boldness to act at His prompting.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.