DAY SIX — W. Terry Whalin, Writer/ Editor

God Allows U-Turns Guest Blogger

At least ten years ago, I had the opportunity to write a couple of biographies about Luis Palau, who is as remarkable speaking to millions of people as he is one on one. For an entire day, I sat in the Palau home listening to stories of how God had worked in his life and ministry. For me, it was another life-changing experience and resulted in two different books. From one of those books, Luis Palau, part of the Men of Faith series, I thought it best to give you an example of how Luis Palau talks about his faith—in any setting. Luis and his team at the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association was preparing for the Mission to London.

“At a welcoming party for Mission to London in 1984, Luis sat beside a member of the royal family. A picture of politeness, the princess turned to Luis and said, “Dr. Palau, I am going to talk to Mr. Pickford for twenty minutes, then I will talk to you. Is that all right?”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness,” Luis said. After almost exactly twenty minutes, the Princess turned and began conversing with Palau.

“Dr. Palau, I have wanted to talk to an evangelist for years and years. I have two questions, First, do you have the assurance of eternal life? And, if you do, how do you come about it? And, if one wanted to have this same assurance, how would one get it? Can you help me?”

Luis could tell by her expression that the princess was engaging in more than polite conversation. She was earnest about each question she asked.

“Yes, Ma’am, I can help you,” he said. Luis knew his time to convey the truth would be brief. He used the gospel presentation that Child Evangelism taught him in Argentina. The princess listened intently as Luis quoted several verses, including 1 John 5:11–12, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

She said, “But how do I get the Son of God, if I want life?”

“Ma’am, the Bible says, ‘Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God’” (John 1:12).

“But, Dr. Palau,” she asked earnestly, “how do I received Him into my heart? What do I have to do?”

“Ma’am, Jesus says, ‘I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me’” (Revelation 3:20).

“And how do I open the door?”

Luis continued, “Your Highness, you pray a simple prayer and you invite Jesus into your heart. It would be as if I were going to the palace this afternoon and knock on the door. You might look out the window and say to your husband, “Oh dear, it’s Palau. What are we going to do? He talked too much. Do we let him in or not?” Luis smiled, “And if you want me to come into your home, all you have to do is send one of the guards to open the door and say, ‘Come in, Luis, take a seat; what would you like to drink?’ And I will come into your house and visit with you.”

While the princess closely followed Luis’s explanation, she still looked perplexed. “But how do I open the door to my heart?”

Slowly Luis put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a copy of the Four Spiritual Laws. Should I lead her in a little prayer right here? Maybe it isn’t good protocol. Instead Luis handed the booklet to the princess and said, “Your Highness, don’t tell anyone I gave you this little booklet but put it in your purse, and tonight when you get to the palace explain to your husband (seated about ten seats away) what I have told you know. Then get on your knees beside your bed, and together pray the prayer in this booklet, inviting Jesus into your hearts.”

The princess smiled in gratitude as she took the pamphlet. “Thank you. I have waited all of my life to know how to have eternal life. I have another question. I understand you have four sons.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Luis said.

“Do you read the Bible to them and pray with them?”

“Yes, when they were little we did that almost every night.”

“If I wanted to do the same with my own children, how would I go about it?”

Luis explained, but he was curious as to the source of her question. “Your Highness, where did you get the idea about reading the Bible and praying with your children?”

She proceeded to tell Luis about one of their visits to Africa. At a cocktail party the royal couple stood in the middle of a lengthy reception line with about a thousand people. Suddenly an African gentleman came up to her with his hand in his pocket. As he pulled out a small book, the secret service agent grabbed it from his hand.

“I protested,” the princess said to Luis. “I wanted to see the book.”

“Then the man said, ‘Your Royal Highness, the Lord told me to give you this book.’ I put it in my purse and I took it home.”

“Yes, it was called Our Daily Bread.”

“Oh, I know it. It is published by the Radio Bible Class in Grand Rapids, Michigan.”

The princess smiled because Luis was familiar with the book. “That’s right. It’s a daily Bible reading with a prayer and a meditation. I’ve read it four times and I am getting a little tired of it. Do you think you could get me more to read?”

“More? Ma’am, I’ll send you a planeload!”

The conversation was only the beginning, for the princess went home and prayed, personally committing her life to Jesus Christ, and her life was changed.”

At the Mission to London crusade, Luis preached every night for six weeks in Queen’s Park Ranger’s Stadium. People from every creed, color, religious background, and walk of life trusted Jesus Christ—a top rock star, a famous actress, a disillusioned policeman, a car dealer, a truck driver, and a bus driver were interviewed on the same night on the BBC; an official crusade photographer, an Australian soccer player, a young businesswoman, a gentleman whose wife had prayed for his salvation for twenty-nine years, twenty-five boys from a British boarding school, a young gang member who had helped disrupt the meeting earlier that same evening, a runaway teenager, and more than a few religious ministers.”

This brief story from my book, Luis Palau, is just one example of how the Lord has used this single person to touch millions of lives.

This is Terry Whalin signing off for today. Tomorrow will be my final entry.