If you are familiar with Moody Bible Institute you may also be familiar with the name Emma Dryer. She was an intelligent and prayerful woman and when D.L. Moody met her, he knew she was someone that could contribute significantly to his work in Chicago. He brought her on board but I wonder if he really understood what that decision meant for his future.
More than 125 years ago Emma gathered a group of people for weekly prayer meetings. Together they sought God to move Moody’s heart so that he might come back to Chicago and begin a training school. Many believe that it was through those relentless prayers, humbly submitted to God, that Moody finally accepted that he was the one to lead the building of a training school in Chicago. This is the legacy on which Moody Bible Institute was founded, and it is this legacy we hope to continue.
In this modern age of tweets, status updates and blog posts, the 125th Anniversary planning team has decided to take advantage of these new media tools to help promote and maintain 125 hours of straight prayer. In a sense we are hoping to engage in a global multi-media, multi-day prayer meeting. You can read more about how to sign-up and join with us here and you can read some more of the background here.
For the next seven weeks each post on this blog will focus on prayer. You will read entries from our leadership and various employees; faculty will write about D.L. Moody’s prayer life and the history of prayer in the church; you will also read entries from students and even an editor or two from Moody Publishers. We hope you will join us for the 125 Hours of Prayer as well as engage with us in this space, on Facebook and Twitter.
I love the story of Emma Dryer. I researched her for a project at Moody a couple of years ago, and wrote up her story. She was an amazing woman of God, and prayer saturated her life.
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