Jim Cymbala, in his book “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire”, details the miraculous growth of the Brooklyn Tabernacle because of its dedication to prayer. In 1972 he was asked to pastor part-time a small church in a shabby two-story building on Atlantic Avenue in New York City. The location was bad. The people were few. The facilities were falling apart. In fact, he tells about how a pew broke one Sunday night, spilling several people onto the floor as he preached.

As he prayed one day about what to do, Cymbala writes that he sensed God speaking: “If you and your wife will lead my people to pray and call upon my name, you will never lack for something fresh to preach. I will supply all the money that’s needed , both for the church and for your family, and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response.”

He went back to the church and told them that from that moment on the health of the church would be measured by its Tuesday night prayer meeting. That first night 15 people came. God began to move. The church grew. The prayer meeting became larger. They were forced three times to seek larger facilities. By 1985 they were running 1600 each Sunday

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