A Call To Prayer

​------ Forwarded message -----
From: Michael Estle
mikeestle@gmail.com


A Call To Prayer

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1

My wife and I recently made a surprise visit to my 92-year old father. Upon our arrival, he exclaimed, “I’m so glad you are here. I have been needing to talk to you.” As we found places to sit, I informed him that if he needed to talk to me, I was glad I was there, too. So, he says, “It’s time.” Of course, my mind instantly raced to the thought that he must have given up, and was ready to meet his maker. So I said, “OOOOKKKK.”

How wrong I was! He informed me that he was certain that it was time for the Lord to take the necessary steps to rescue, recover, and re-unite His church. And, he was sure the first step would be to unite all of the unaffiliated Restoration Branches. I asked him how he thought that might happen, and he said that it was already happening when several branches get together to worship. He felt that if other branches would do the same that would be a start.

He then informed me that he felt we needed to stop trying so hard not to do what we know we shouldn’t do, and start concentrating on trying to do the things we know we should be doing. At this point, I was convinced that he had been inspired by the Lord. Why else would he have waited until he was 92, in the dusk of his life to decide it’s time? If this were a selfish endeavor, surely he would have wanted the church re-united 10 or 15 years ago so that he could have been a part of that.

So, I mentioned to him that any such effort would be met with multiple objections, i.e. don’t run before the Lord, we cannot start a new church, we don’t have a prophet, etc. And, he was quick to respond that our amazing, powerful God is very capable of overcoming any and all of these objections.

We talked a bit about why the Lord has not done this mighty work yet, and we determined that we, the saints, and especially the priesthood simply had not made ourselves available for Him to use effectively. I mentioned that the Apostle Oakman had commented in “The Call of Christ in an Age of Dilemma” that “If twenty thousand people in our church would spend fifteen minutes every day in studying the word of God when they were at their best, untold power would flow to the church.” And, if that same principle were applied to prayer, untold spiritual gifts and blessings would be poured forth. We spoke of the many revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants which were the result of the elder’s petitioning of the Lord.

So, we agreed that the best first step to take at this time would be for the Saints to come together in mighty prayer to make themselves available to be used by the Lord in the rescue, recovery, and re-unification of His church.

Therefore, in response to my father’s request, I now issue this Call to Prayer. Join me, brothers and sisters, as I cry unto the Lord for Him to use us in whatever way He will to call His church back into organization. I will do this twice every day, upon arising in the morning and upon retiring in the evening. If you prefer to make your prayers at other times of the day, please feel free so to do.

My father ended our visit with this comment, “I just hope that He will leave me here long enough just to see the beginning of the establishment of Zion.” And, that too is my prayer for him. IT’S TIME.