Article of The Week: May 4, 2003

8 O’Clock Each Evening

Never stop praying for “hopeless” cases; the example of E. Howard Cadle teaches us there are none. Cadle’s mother was a Christian, but his father was an alcoholic. By age 12, Cadle was following his father, drinking and out of control. Soon, he was in the grip of sex, gambling, and the Midwest crime syndicate.

“Always remember, Son,” his worried mother often said, “That at eight o’clock every night, I’ll be kneeling beside your bed, asking God to protect my precious boy.” But her prayers didn’t seem to slow him until one evening on a rampage he pulled a gun on a man and squeezed the trigger. The weapon never fired and someone quickly knocked it away. Cadle noticed that it was exactly eight o’clock.

Presently, his health broke and the doctor told him he had only six months to live. Dragging himself home, penniless and pitiful, he collapsed in his mother’s arms saying, “Mother, I’ve broken your heart. I’d like to be saved, but I’ve sinned too much.”

The old woman opened her Bible and read Isaiah 1:18- “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow.” That windswept morning, March 14,1914, E. Howard Cadle started life anew. With Christ now in his heart, he turned his con skills into honest pursuits and started making money hand over fist, giving 75 percent of it to the Lord’s work. He helped finance Gipsy Smith’s crusades in which thousands accepted Christ. He also began preaching on Cincinnati’s powerful WLW, becoming one of America’s most powerful radio evangelists.

It’s really wonderful when somebody’s always praying for us, youth. Let’s be true in our hearts to pray for others, too, for their good health, protection, their needs, etc. God bless! J

Love,

The Youth Core Group

Excerpt from: From This Verse by R.J. Morgan