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Using the Spiritual Spade
February 25, 2008 By Albert Friend A spade is a sturdy, pointed shovel that can be pushed into the earth with the foot. The story I am telling you happened in the spring of
1936. During the Depression of the 1930's, my father had no
seed to plant, only a spade to turn the ground. He was saved according
to Acts 2:38 in 1925 and had become a praying man. Our home, in
Bridgeport, Ohio, was on a hillside sloping up away from our house in
the back. Not too far up that hill sat an apple tree, and then our lot
went further up the hill, giving us room for a garden. Dad picked up the spade and walked up the hill to the
garden area. He spaded the ground. He turned over the soil, breaking it
up, preparing it for planting. He had no job. He had no money to buy
either seed or plants. He had only a spade and faith to believe God. So
he spaded the ground. It took more than one day. When the ground was ready to be planted, Dad went down
to the shade of the apple tree and laid down his spade. At that time he
did not sit down but knelt down and prayed for seed and plants to put in
his newly-spaded soil. His testimony was this--I prayed until I prayed
through. That meant he prayed until the joy of the Lord filled his tired
body. It also meant that seed and plants were on their way; he just
didn't know from where. The next day a brother from the church came by to
greet my Dad. His name was Harry Reynolds. The custom of their day was
to buy seed and plants as cheap as you could. There were places in the
South that sold seed and plants. The more you bought, the cheaper they
were. If two men ordered together, they each got the cheaper rate. Bro. Reynolds told Dad why he had come to visit. He said, “I am going to order some seed and plants from Georgia and came by to see if you wanted to order some with me.” Dad did not answer his question. Dad said, “Bro.
Reynolds, let's have a word of prayer.” It was easy to pray during the
Depression. They prayed through their flesh until they touched God. This
meant they prayed through to speaking with other tongues as the Spirit
gave them utterance. After their prayer session, Bro. Harry Reynolds knew
his purpose for being there. He started the new conversation by saying,
“Bro. Friend, you make out the list of what you need to plant this year.
I am going to pay for it all.” Then Dad told him the story. That depression was 70 years ago. But you can have a
depression in the spiritual world, and that is worse. Learn to spade the
spiritual ground. Dad used a natural spade to turn the earthly ground.
His spiritual spade was prayer. He turned the spiritual ground until he
prayed through. The spiritual spade will turn the ground of your heart
up to where God can see it. Let God look at your ground. God understands
the ground and will plant in it the things that grow best in your soil.
© 2008, Albert Friend ---------- Albert Friend is a 77-year-old minister of 57 years. He lives in Hamilton, Ohio, with his wife, Jean. They had four children: Albert, Michael, Bonnie, and Mark. All four children went into the ministry. |
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