Wartime miracles and a national scandal

There is an old fable which tells the story of two spiders, one the mother and the other her son. The story goes that mother spider made a lovely home in her web and she suspended this web from a single strand hanging from a tree branch far above. One day, her son paid a visit. As he surveyed her home he noticed this single strand seemingly ascending into empty space. Thinking it useless he cut it and instantly to his horror the whole web fell and was destroyed.

The spiritual lesson behind this fable is very simple. Many people today look back upon the wartime generation and regard their faithful belief in Almighty God as something really strange and peculiar. As a minister I have often heard comments like “Oh Granny and Grandad went to church every Sunday. I don’t know why”. Or “Granny read her Bible every day. How boring that must have been!” They might occasionally add “We have no interest in anything like that, being religious is a waste of time.” It is this kind of attitude which has led many people today to cut the thread of faith in God which supported previous generations and now to their horror the whole structure of our society has collapsed in a myriad of social and moral problems.

That thread, that faith in God; that Hope in Him, that Eternal Light which could never be extinguished, is precisely what kept previous generations going, through war and bloodshed. Today’s generation has largely dismissed this faith as being unimportant and we see the ruinous results all around.

It is often said that the past is like another country with regard to belief and behaviour and I am reminded of this truth time and again as I study the attitudes of those who experienced wartime. As a minister for over thirty years I have immersed myself in researching wartime events from both World Wars. I have personally talked to those who served in the trenches during the First World War and I have talked to numerous ex-service personnel from the Second World War. It has been a unique privilege to have been able to do this and I can say with total conviction that an underlying faith in Almighty God was absolutely integral to keeping people in this country strong and keeping them going. They believed that God was real and in turn they witnessed profound examples of God being at work in this world of chaos which men have made.

An example of just how strong and how widespread this belief in God really was, can be seen in the response of people, when King George 6th called for a National Prayer Day at the time of the Dunkirk crisis. In May 1940 when France had fallen and the British Army was trapped at Dunkirk where they were to be annihilated, King George 6th called for a National Day of Prayer to plead for Divine Intervention. So widespread and so deep was faith in God that literally millions of people flocked into churches to pray. The special service held in Westminster Abbey was so inundated that there is a famous photograph showing a queue a quarter of a mile long as people desperately tried to get in to pray. That’s how important and how widespread faith was in that generation. They knew God was real and they knew He could be petitioned through heartfelt prayer. The result of that National Day of Prayer was of course the miracle of Dunkirk, without which none of us would be here today.

History shows that the faith of that generation was regularly rewarded. Only those who study the events of the Second World War can fully appreciate just how close we came to losing the war and losing our freedom. The facts show that at numerous crisis points when it seemed all was lost, the people of this nation witnessed God’s Hand at work, changing what should have been the natural outcome of an event into a deliverance.

Recently I came across an article written by no less a person than the actual head of the British and American Planning Staff, the body responsible for planning D-Day and the liberation of Europe. He was in the unique position of knowing fully what was happening on the war front. His name was Lt General Sir Frederick Morgan and he wrote this article two years after the end of the war, as he looked back on events. These are his words;

“Miracles still happen. How many of them have we not seen enacted before our eyes in these past few years? There was Dunkirk and its flat calm sea. Who planned that? We saw no way out barring a miracle. Then came the miracle. Two years later, the British and American military convoy was sailing in order to land in North Africa. All the enemy submarines were on the lookout. A breath-taking moment came when a U-boat caught sight of the tall ship of one convoy. The rest of the convoy was obscured by a squall that appeared to be travelling along with our ships providing cover. The result was that the Nazi observer thought that what he saw was merely worthy of routine report. Then just as General Patton was due to land on the Casablanca beaches, open to the full Atlantic swell, at the very moment it seemed inevitable that the whole affair must be called off, the wind changed from on-shore to off-shore and let the small craft land successfully. There was surely more than human planning here too. Then there was the miracle of D-Day in 1944 with a last minute change in the weather. The history of other theatres of war tell of many similar happenings.”

When you read the reflections of those who were in authority, individuals who had direct knowledge as to what really happened behind the scenes during the War, they all describe the same thing. An over whelming sense of Divine Intervention at critical moments.

Wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill is another example. He like Morgan knew everything that was going on. Towards the end of 1942 as the tide turned in the War he wrote, “I sometimes have a feeling of interference. I want to stress that. I have a feeling sometimes that some Guiding Hand has interfered. I have a feeling that we have a Guardian because we have a great Cause and we shall have that Guardian so long as we serve that Cause faithfully.”

Then there is the testimony of Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding. He was the actual Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. He knew all too well what was really going on and how desperate things were. After the Battle was over he wrote, “I pay homage to those gallant boys who gave their all so that our nation might live...but I say with absolute conviction, that I can trace the intervention of God, not only in the Battle itself, but in the events leading up to it. At the end of the Battle one had the feeling that there had been some special Divine Intervention to alter some sequence of events which would otherwise have occurred.”

Or what about the account of General Sir William Dobbie who was Governor of Malta during its siege which began in 1940. It was absolutely vital that this outpost be held from the Germans because its capture was key to gaining control of the Mediterranean Sea. Looking back he wrote, “God in His Mercy, answered our prayers and in the two years and more of the siege, His help was very obvious and very real…. God’s protecting Hand was so much in evidence that on a number of occasions officers came up to me and said quite spontaneously ‘Do you know sir, I think Someone up there (pointing upwards) has been helping us today.’ Such conversations took place not once nor twice but a number of times.” Dobbie was so overwhelmed with the sense of God’s help during the siege that he later wrote a book about it entitled “A Very Present Help”.

And then there is the testimony of General Eisenhower. Eisenhower was none other than the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces responsible for D Day and the ultimate liberation of Europe. Like the others I have quoted, he too held a unique position where he knew everything that was going on. In June 1952 as he reflected on the events of D Day he stated “This day eight years ago, I made the most agonising decision of my life. I had to decide to postpone by at least 24 hours the most formidable array of fighting ships and of fighting men that was ever launched across the sea against a hostile shore. The consequences of that decision at that moment could not have been foreseen by anyone. If there were nothing else in my life to prove the existence of an Almighty and merciful God, the events of the next 24 hours did it…The greatest break in a terrible outlay of weather occurred the next day and allowed that great invasion to proceed, with losses far below those we had anticipated…”

When the war in Europe ended in May 1945 with the surrender of Germany, Field Marshall Montgomery, Commander in Chief of the 21st Army Group sent a personal message to all the Troops under his command. In his position as Commander in Chief he too had knowledge about what had really gone on during the War. My uncle served under him and he passed onto me a copy of this personal message. The opening part of the message sent to all troops, goes like this; “On this day of victory in Europe I feel I would like to speak to all who have served and fought with me during the last few years….We all have a feeling of great joy and thankfulness that we have been preserved to see this day. We must remember to give praise and thankfulness where it is due. ‘This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes’.” (Psalm 118v23).

I have quoted from six highly intelligent and gifted individuals who held the most profound key positions during the Second World War. These people where the most informed and knowledgeable of any in the Country and as they reflected on events, they recognised that Almighty God had answered the prayers of the Nation as it pleaded for His Intervention. The wartime generation knew God was real, they knew He would listen to prayer offered in a spirit of humility and repentance, and in turn their faith was rewarded with deliverance.

And just as there were great and mighty deliverances through wartime, there are also numerous examples of small and localised instances of Divine help. Listen to this personal letter written from a soldier to his mother. The soldier was called Joel, he was serving in Patton’s Third Army and he describes how the entire platoon narrowly escaped being wiped out as it faced the Germans in Luxembourg. He wrote “One of my best friends, Tom, with his whole platoon were pinned down by mortar and artillery fire. They were given the order to move but they couldn’t because the enemy had full view of them from a hill and were zeroing their fire on them accurately. Tom is the most conscientious Christian boy I have ever met in the services. He knew something had to be done to save the fifty men. He crawled from his foxhole and looked things over. Seeing the hopelessness of the situation, he lay down behind a tree and prayed earnestly for God to help him. This is true mother…after he prayed a mist or fog rolled down between the two hills, and the whole platoon got out of their foxholes and escaped. They reorganised in a little town behind the lines where there was a church building. They all went in and knelt down to pray and thank the Lord, and then they asked Tom to take the service. This is true mother, and it just shows how much prayer can mean. If that was not an answer to prayer I don’t know what is.”

In April 1945 the Bishop of Chelmsford Dr Henry Wilson wrote in the press, “If ever a great nation was on the point of supreme and final disaster and yet was saved and reinstated, it was ourselves. That is a fact which should be written on the souls of us all in indelible letters of fire. It does not require an exceptionally religious mind to detect in all this the Hand of God. It has been a miracle and the person who does not recognise that, is impervious to the deeper significance of events.”

Challenging people as to why we had been saved, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr William Temple said in his sermon at St Paul’s Cathedral on Battle of Britain Sunday in 1943 “Why has God preserved us? We may, and we must believe that He Who led our fathers in ways so strange, and has preserved our land in a manner so marvellous, has a purpose for us to serve in the preparation for His perfect Kingdom.”

It is plain to see that between the wartime generation and today’s generation the thread of faith has broken. In matters of faith it really is like a different Country between then and now. Just imagine if those individuals whom I have quoted, individuals who had personally witnessed God’s intervention first hand, were by some miraculous means sent back to speak to our Nation today, what do you think they would say? Their message would surely be; “This Nation must take Almighty God seriously and people must take the Bible seriously. They must carefully apply the Lord’s will, as revealed in Scripture, to their own personal lives because faith does matter, it makes all the difference; it is the single strand that holds the whole web secure.” But along with this message I think they would also have a question to ask of those holding positions of influence. They would surely want to know why the events they witnessed which were so profound and are so well documented, are at the same time so rarely taught, talked about or even mentioned in churches, Parliament or schools today. This is a National Scandal and a betrayal of the very freedoms and democracy which this generation claims to appreciate.

Faith is so important after all, that if it hadn’t been for the faithfulness of the wartime generation praying to Almighty God, none of today’s generation would ever have been born. This truth needs to be expounded from every pulpit and taught in every school, right across this Nation of ours. “Thank you Granny for reading your Bible every day and going to church. Your faith and the faith of your generation meant I could live.”

We must urgently pray for our nation

Guidance notes for prayer and reflection. Please circulate and share with others.

• What is my own personal standing before the Lord? For Almighty God to hear my prayer for the Nation, I myself need to be in a right relationship with Him. We come before God’s Throne of grace trusting not in our own righteousness but His Mercy.

• Psalm 107v34 “A fruitful nation will become impoverished because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.” Proverbs Ch14v34 “Righteousness will exalt a nation but sin will destroy any people.”

• Pray most especially for the repentance of the Nation and that people may come to truly know the Lord and follow Him. May there be heartfelt repentance at the neglect of His Church and His Laws.

• We have driven the Lord Jesus Christ out of our culture, out of our government and out of the education of our children. In the void we have replaced Him with idols, greed, carnality, materialism and immorality. We have polluted the land with pornography, profaned the sacred and sanctified the profane. No Nation that does this can expect God’s blessing of protection to remain.

• Many people are increasingly frightened by events around them. This world and this Country is in turmoil. Nationally we are in a mess socially; morally, politically, economically and spiritually. Pray that people may humbly seek God’s guidance and help regarding these issues.

• Pray for the protection of the Nation from acts of terrorism and that God may show mercy rather than judgement upon a Nation that has rejected His Laws and Commandments. We urgently need His blessing of protection from the threats around us and within.

• A Nation or Society will reap what it sows. Ask that God may open the hearts and minds of the spiritually blind in order that they may see that the way of salvation, peace and safety lies in following Him.

• Pray that the Lord may raise up Godly people to take on positions of responsibility and influence. The Church is a battleship and not a passenger liner which means that every devout “able bodied” Christian has a role to play in some way. Pray that Christians may recognise their responsibility to be a strong Christian witness wherever they are. Every Christian is a missionary and every unbeliever a mission field.

• Pray for the Queen, royal family and political leaders. Pray that God will raise up more Christians to guide and direct the thoughts of the Nation. The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. For example, pray that the Lord may call more Christians to be pastors and clergy, politicians and journalists, judges, magistrates and law makers, teachers, councillors, school governors, nurses and doctors etc, in order that a Christian influence may extend throughout every strata of Society.

• Pray for greater support for Christian run charities, missionary societies and organisations both at home and overseas.

• Pray that while being bold in our Christian witness we remain gracious, kind and loving towards those with whom we disagree.

• Pray for those Christians who have lost their jobs or livelihood because of their faithfulness to Christ.

• Pray that the issues arising out of the EU referendum will drive us toward, rather than away from God. Pray that God in His Providence will overrule the events of these troubled times to advance His Kingdom.

In Conclusion, as Christians we seek God’s mercy, forgiveness, healing, restoration, protection and revival upon our Nation. A true spirit of repentance will result in such blessings. Let us be encouraged by the moving promise in 2nd Chronicles Ch7v14 “If my people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

Take heart and be of good courage. The Lord can save by many or by few. See 2nd Chronicles Ch14v11. Also remember the story of Gideon and his 300 (Judges Ch7) and the reassurance given to weary and distressed Elijah when the entire nation seemed all but lost. (1st Kings Ch19vs11-18).

Suggested bible readings:

Joel Ch 2 vs 12 onwards

Isaiah Ch 58

Isaiah Ch 59 vs 1-8

Jonah Ch 3

Psalm 130

Daniel Ch 9 vs 4-19

“O God, Who has graciously preserved our Nation through two World Wars, and hast led us in wondrous ways; we confess that as a Nation we have turned far from Thee and have neglected our national responsibilities before the World; we have misused the liberty for which men and women gave their lives, we have pursued pleasure and not the Living God; we acknowledge that You will not bless or deliver our Nation from the future enemy until we have returned to Thee. Therefore we entreat Thy Divine Majesty, to turn the hearts of the people of this Nation to true repentance. Purge out the sins that dishonour Thee. Give us true religion; crown our faith with righteousness, and lift us up, a holy people, to Thy praise and honour, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”

To read about how God delivered our Nation against overwhelming odds, through two World Wars, click on the topic entitled “National Deliverance” located towards the bottom of the right hand index.

Please do share these prayer topics, readings and the above information with other Christians so that they too can use them and be encouraged in spirit.

The urgent need for national repentance

This year on St Georges Day (23rd April) many Christians attended prayer vigils across the UK, focusing in particular on the state of the Nation. Nationally we are in a mess, socially, morally, politically, economically and spiritually. We have driven the Lord Jesus out of our culture, out of our government and out of the education of our children and the result has not been peace and harmony but turmoil and discontent. Many people are frightened not just by world events but they are also frightened by what they see happening here on our own soil and in our own society. Each day, many watch the news with a certain sense of trepidation wondering “What has happened now?” It is against this backdrop that numerous Christians across the country met up to pray.

In Psalm 107v34 it states “A fruitful nation will become impoverished because of the sinfulness of those who dwell in it,” and in Proverbs Ch14v34 it adds “Righteousness will exalt a nation, but sin will destroy any people.” With this teaching in mind, they prayed that people in this Country would really come to understand why we are in such a mess and that this insight would then be followed by a spirit of true repentance.

Some time ago I came across a story which clearly explains this Biblical truth. Several years ago a certain woman had a strange dream. In her dream she found herself wandering around some shops in a large shopping centre. All of a sudden she noticed a particular shop which took her fancy. She wandered in and found the Lord Jesus behind the counter. Jesus then said, “You can have anything your heart desires.” Astounded, she immediately asked for “peace, joy, happiness, wisdom and freedom from fear”. Then she added, “And not just for me, but for the whole of the Country.” Jesus smiled and then said, “I think you misunderstand Me. We don’t sell the finished product, we only sell the seeds.”

In Galatians Ch 6v7 it warns “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows that he will also reap.” This verse could just as easily read, “For whatever a nation or society sows, that it will also reap.” God wants to bless our nation and our individual lives; He wants us to enjoy good things. He wants to deliver us from the misery of sin and to give blessings of protection and deliverance. The problem is that over many decades we have refused to plant, tend and nurture the seeds which would have grown into these blessings. Instead, there has been an increasing neglect of His Church and His Laws; the very things which would have brought blessings.

As a people we have sown “the wrong seeds”. We have gone our own selfish ways, let ourselves become
consumed by greed and materialism and ignored God’s will for our personal lives. What message does this give to Almighty God, Who so loved us, that He sent His own Son to die on the Cross for our sins? Was the Cross some trivial thing? Was the sending of His Son some minor act of no great consequence? The Bible describes God’s Gift of His Son as being so stupendous it is “indescribable”. In spite of this, since the end of the Second World War, our Nation as a whole has rejected God’s Gift and while God would love to shield and deliver us from trouble, we have consistently refused to obey those very Laws and Commandments which would have brought blessings of peace and protection. As a nation and as a society we are now reaping what we have sown.

Many politicians and economic experts have come up with all sorts of packages and ideas on how to sort out the problems confronting our Country– but this is really just tinkering with the symptoms, not dealing with the cause. The root cause of the problems we have is a spiritual one – and being spiritual, then only a spiritual solution will solve it.

Today I read from an ancient source of wisdom which gives the answer to all our problems. This ancient source goes back many millennia and has been passed down from generation to generation. Previous generations who followed its teaching in the UK used to be very much in the majority, but in this present age they are temporarily very much in the minority. These people know the real answer to our national problems. The Ancient Book is of course the Bible, and those who follow its teachings are devout Christians who genuinely take Almighty God and His Commandments seriously.

Scripture teaches that the solution to our national decline and the disintegration of our society is wholehearted “National Repentance”. There needs to be a genuine and widespread change of heart, whereby the people of this Country repent of their disobedience, selfishness and greed, and start obeying the Laws of God, both in their hearts and in their daily lives. Instantly, this would allow God to bless, protect and prosper us, as He did so in previous generations. Almighty God regularly intervened to help previous generations and He can do exactly the same for our generation, provided there is a true spirit of repentance and change of heart regarding His Commandments.

When Britain was close to defeat during the Second World War, and the entire British Army was trapped at Dunkirk, in desperation King George 6th called for a National Day of Prayer to be held on 26th May 1940. In a national broadcast he called for the people of the UK to turn back to Almighty God in a spirit of repentance and plead for Divine Intervention. Literally millions of people across the British Isles responded to his call and flocked into churches humbly praying for deliverance.

Two events immediately followed. Firstly, a violent storm arose over the Dunkirk region grounding the Luftwaffe which had been killing thousands on the beaches. And then secondly, a great calm descended on the Channel, the like of which hadn’t been seen for a generation, which allowed hundreds of tiny boats to sail across and rescue 335,000 soldiers, rather than the estimated 20-30,000. God’s response to the National Day of Prayer was so clear and so dramatic, people referred to it as “the miracle of Dunkirk”. Sunday June 9th was officially appointed as a Day of National Thanksgiving.

National Days of Prayer where held at several crisis points throughout the War and after each one, God responded with His blessing and protection. Looking back at these events the Bishop of Chelmsford Dr H.A. Wilson wrote, “If ever a great nation was on the point of supreme and final disaster, and yet was saved and reinstated it was ourselves…it does not require an exceptionally religious mind to detect in all this the Hand of God.”

What God dramatically did for that generation, He can also do for ours. Our Nation urgently needs His help and protection. May we, like the Wartime generation before us, turn to God in a true spirit of repentance and plead for Divine help. In 2nd Chronicles Ch7v14 He promises, “If people humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.” If our Nation, once again sought God’s help as it did during Wartime, now, just as then, miracles of blessing and protection would begin to happen.

Examples of God's help in wartime

Today the world is in a more dangerous state than it has ever been since the end of the Second World War. There is unrest and turmoil wherever one looks and watching the television news is becoming increasingly disturbing.  With all this in mind, it is uplifting to read about how God intervened to help individuals during that previous world conflict, when all seemed lost. Times have been dark before and amidst that chaos God was actively at work ensuring that ultimately evil wouldn’t be victorious. The following are four true accounts of God’s direct Divine Intervention. They are an encouraging reminder that God has not abandoned this world and just as God intervened then 70 or so years ago, we may be sure He is still actively at work today with the same aim and purpose.

The first story is about Divine Intervention which saved the life of Wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. On a regular basis Churchill used to visit antiaircraft batteries in order to inspire courage and confidence among the population. On one occasion after having watched gunners in action for a while, he walked back to his car. As his chauffeur held open the door to his usual seat, Churchill suddenly heard a Voice inside his head say “Stop”. As he later explained to his wife “It appeared to me that I was meant to sit on the other side of the car, and that is what I did.” Several minutes later, as his car was making its way through the blacked-out streets a bomb exploded beside it. If Churchill had been sitting in his usual seat, he would have been killed. It is important to realise that this act of Divine Intervention wasn’t for Churchill’s personal benefit, but because of the role he had in leading the free world in the struggle against Nazism. It was a Deliverance which was a blessing to countless millions.

Many devout Christians had to endure living in occupied countries during Wartime. The following three stories come from occupied Europe and are a reminder that “God shows no partiality; whoever fears Him and works righteousness from any nation is accepted by Him.” (Acts Ch10vs34-35).

On 30th January 1945 a certain Christian woman from Frankfurt was fleeing from the advancing Russian army. With great difficulty she succeeded in catching the last train leaving towards the west in the direction of Hannover, Braunschweig and Seesen. The train kept constantly stopping, however in spite of all this, she managed to fall asleep. Suddenly she was awoken by a Voice in her head which said, “Get out of the train.” She looked out the window and noticed that the train was once again at a standstill. All she could see was an endless snowy plain. Once again she heard a Voice say “You must get out.” She thought to herself “Surely I can’t get out here, in this snowy waste.” But the Voice repeated even more urgently; “you must get out.”

Somewhat reluctantly she picked up her two heavy suitcases and rucksack, opened the door of the carriage and jumped out. The snow was so deep it came right up to her knees. “You must be crazy” she thought to herself. She struggled on and at around 4.30am found the shelter of a small station. Shortly afterwards she learned that Hannover had been heavily bombed and that the train she had been on, had gone straight into the conflagration. Again, just as Churchill’s life was spared because of the role he had, this person’s life was delivered, because she had some particular role to play in God’s plan to help rebuild the country after the end of war.

A very similar deliverance occurred to another Christian lady two weeks later. On 13th February 1945 this particular person, who was also fleeing from the Russians, arrived in Dresden. The city was packed with people. As she stood among a crowd of literally hundreds of thousands reflecting on what to do next, she suddenly heard a Voice say very loudly “Just get out of here!” The Voice repeated the warning again and again. Finally she said to her traveling companion that she felt that the Lord wanted them to leave the city. Her companion thought she was being stupid, however not wanting to be left alone among a sea of strangers she accompanied her to a nearby station.

With great difficulty they managed to get onto an overcrowded train without even knowing where it was heading. A few hours later, Dresden was almost totally destroyed in a massive bombing raid. Her travel companion who was in a state of shock, repeatedly asked how she had known this was going to happen. She flatly refused to believe that her Christian friend had been Divinely guided, until they encountered two other Christians who had been given exactly the same warning. This incident is very reminiscent of how God delivered Lot and his family before fire rained down destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis Ch19vs12-16)

One dark winters evening in the inner city of Haarlem, deliverance came in a slightly manner to a young Christian mother. During the war a moonless night meant total and complete darkness. Blackout meant that not a single ray of light could be seen anywhere. Street lights were switched off and there were no bicycle or car headlights. This lady knew the area so well that she had learned how many steps she needed to take, in order to find her way home in the pitch dark.

Walking along she counted each step she made. Finally she came to the fish market stall. She felt for the stall with her hands and sure enough, there it was. From the end of the stall, she then counted out eleven paces after which she needed to turn sharp left over a canal bridge. Just as she was on the point of turning left, her arm was grabbed, pulling her back. At the same time she heard a Voice warn “Think of your children.” Somewhat startled, she carefully edged forward feeling out for the railings of the bridge. There was nothing there but empty space and deep freezing water. After a frantic search, she finally found the bridge and got back safely to her family. As she lay in bed thinking about it, the more puzzled she became. She couldn’t understand what had happened to the bridge. Finally, unable to sleep that night, she got up at first light and went back to the canal. Instantly it all made sense; the fish market stall had been moved from its usual position.

In a speech given on 31st October 1942, Winston Churchill stated “I sometimes have a feeling of interference. I want to stress that. I have a feeling sometimes that some Guiding Hand has interfered. I have a feeling that we have a Guardian because we have a great Cause, and we shall have that Guardian so long as we serve that Cause faithfully.” And this conviction was shared by numerous other people who likewise discerned God’s restraining Hand from time to time. (1st Corinthians Ch2v14).

Take for example, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding who was Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. He said in a personal testimony; “I pay homage to those gallant boys who gave their all that our nation might live…but I say with absolute conviction that I can trace the intervention of God, not only in the Battle itself, but in the events leading up to it. At the end of the Battle one had the feeling that there had been some special Divine Intervention to alter some sequence of events which would otherwise have occurred.”

General Sir William Dobbie likewise shared this view. He was so moved by the Divine Intervention which he witnessed during the siege of Malta, that he actually wrote a book about it entitled “A Very Present Help”. Dobbie was Governor of Malta during its siege which began in 1940 and it’s profoundly encouraging to read what he experienced. He stated “It was obvious to us that our human resources were woefully inadequate…God’s Word was a great standby to me and many others too at this time. In it, I read how God had helped His people in old times when they were faced with situations similar to that confronting us…Many people in Malta realised our need of His help and were prepared to ask Him to give it to us. By no other means could we be sure of holding this vital outpost. I humbly believe that God, in His mercy, answered our prayers and in the two years and more of the siege which followed, His help was very obvious and very real.”

He continued, “At about the same time that the siege began, I was greatly encouraged by a telegram I received from the Chief of the Imperial Staff, General Sir Edmund Ironside. It showed me that others in high places at home were thinking along the same lines as we were in Malta. The telegram, which was addressed to me personally, contained the reference, ‘Deuteronomy Ch3v22 “You shall not fear them, for the Lord your God shall fight for you.”’ This was a very welcome reminder of a great and well-proved truth and coming as it did from a person in his position and in view of its timing, it meant much to me.”

“I have said that the help which God gave was very obvious and real. The same help was noticed at the time
of withdrawal from Dunkirk, and during the Battle of Britain. It certainly was so in the Battle of Malta. During the two years which followed the declaration of war by Italy, God’s protecting hand was so much in evidence that people were noticing it and remarking upon it. On a number of occasions officers came up to me and said quite spontaneously; ‘Do you know sir, I think that Someone up there (pointing upwards) has been helping us today.’ Such a conversation took place not once nor twice but a number of times.”

Today the world is in turmoil and evil is rising like a tide threatening to engulf us all. Let us not despair. We can be sure that God has not forgotten this world. Just as He was active in human affairs during the last World War so we may be sure that He will be equally active during any future world crisis. Truly “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid even if the world is shaken or the mountains carried to the sea.” Psalm 46vs1-2.

National Day of Prayer

Please, please, share this extraordinary photograph with as many others as you can. In these frightening times it will show them that there is hope and help available, provided  of course,  it is sought for in the right place and in the right spirit.

The scene at Westminster Abbey, May 26th 1940.  The National Day of Prayer.

When Britain was close to defeat during the 2nd World War, and the entire British Army was trapped at Dunkirk, in desperation George 6th called for a National Day of Prayer to be held on 26th May 1940. In a national broadcast he instructed the people of the UK to turn back to God in a spirit of repentance and plead for Divine help.  Millions of people across the British Isles flocked into churches praying for deliverance and this photograph shows the extraordinary scene outside Westminster Abbey as people queued for prayer.  Two events immediately followed. Firstly, a violent storm arose over the Dunkirk region grounding the Luftwaffe which had been killing thousands on the beaches. And then secondly, a great calm descended on the Channel, the like of which hadn’t been seen for a generation, which allowed hundreds of tiny boats to sail across and rescue 335,000 soldiers, rather than the estimated 20-30,000. From then on people referred to what happened as “the miracle of Dunkirk”.  Sunday June 9th was officially appointed as a Day of National Thanksgiving.

 (A full account of this and similar extraordinary events, can be read in, “We have a Guardian” by W.B. Grant, Covenant Publishing Company. Available in print or Kindle format. See also, articles under “National deliverance” on www.internetpulpit.co.uk)

National Days of Prayer where held at critical times throughout the War. After each one, God responded with His Blessing and protection. Looking back, the Bishop of Chelmsford Dr H.A. Wilson wrote, “If ever a great nation was on the point of supreme and final disaster, and yet was saved and reinstated it was ourselves…it does not require an exceptionally religious mind to detect in all this the Hand of God.”

But something has gone very wrong with our Country.  Nationally we have been reduced to a  position of  weakness  in an increasingly hostile  world, we experienced apocalyptic  flooding during the winter of 2014, (the worst for 250 years),  have a National Debt  of over a Trillion pounds and the  fallout from the referendum on Scottish Independence in September 2014 has created numerous constitutional problems. People are asking “What is happening to our Nation?” “What has gone wrong?”

The answer is not hard to find. In Ps 107 v 34 it warns “a fruitful nation will become impoverished because of the wickedness of its people” and in Proverbs Ch14v34 it adds “Righteousness will exalt a nation, but wickedness will destroy a people”.

Sadly our Nation has ignored and rejected the moral Laws of God which are clearly written in Scripture for all to see.  Without God’s blessing of protection upon our Nation, we are no longer shielded from evil and disaster. In Deuteronomy Ch 31v17 when referring to an immoral and corrupt nation God said “I will forsake them…and many evils and troubles will befall them so that they will say at that time …‘Have not these disasters come upon us because God is no longer protecting us?’ “. This is precisely the position our Nation finds itself in today.

May we, like the Wartime generation before us, turn to God in a true spirit of repentance and plead for Divine help for our Country. In 2nd Chronicles Ch 7v14 God promises, “If people humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.”  If our Nation, once again sought God’s help as it did during Wartime, now, just as then, miracles of blessing and protection would begin to happen..

Daniel Ch12v10

When The Nation Prayed

The Providential Hand of God in the Second World War

Dunkirk 1940

May 27th, The German High Command announced: "The British army is encircled and our troops are proceeding to its annihilation."

Churchill said: "I thought - and some good judges agreed with me - that perhaps 20,000 or 30,000 men might be re-embarked. …The whole root and core and brain of the British army … seemed about to perish upon the field or to be led into captivity."

But, the previous day, Sunday, May 26th, at the request of His Majesty King George VI, was observed as a National Day of Prayer. In a stirring broadcast, the King called the people of Britain and the Empire to commit their cause to God. The whole nation was at prayer. Three miracles then happened:

• Hitler stopped his general advance.
• A storm of extraordinary fury grounded the German Air Force on May 28th.
• A great calm settled over the English Channel for several days.

335,000 men of the British army were evacuated from Dunkirk!

The Battle of Britain - another miracle

Hitler did not follow on after Dunkirk to cross the Channel and invade Britain, whose army had lost all its weapons. He continued to hesitate all through June 1940, giving Britain a breathing space. Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command, was asked: "What are your plans for defeating an overwhelming number of the German Air Force?" He replied: "I believe in God. And then there is radar."

Field Marshal Goering told his Air Commander that the way ahead for launching an invasion was to destroy the Royal Air Force.

On August 30th, 800 enemy aircraft darkened the skies of Southern England, flying in to put key airfields out of action. By September 6th, Fighter Command was in serious trouble. Aircraft and pilots were being lost at a rate far in excess of replacements. Defeat in the air appeared inevitable, and this would open the way to invasion.

Hitler suddenly ordered the Luftwaffe to switch its attack to London, and this saved Fighter Command. For the Germans it was a catastrophic blunder. Fighter Command built up its strength. Dowding later said: "By mid to late September, we were all right for aircraft. I think it was because we had faith."

The King, as if gifted with some foreknowledge, has expressed the wish that Sunday September 8th, should be fixed as a National Day of Prayer. There was a tremendous response. At a crowded service in Westminster Abbey, the final prayer began: "Remember, O God for good, these watchmen, who by day and night climb into the air. Let thy hand lead them, we beseech thee, and thy right hand hold them."

Germany had massed barges in ports from Ostend to Le Havre, sufficient to carry 50,000 men and much of their equipment. But by September 10th, the RAF had still not been destroyed and abnormally bad weather for the time of year caused Hitler to postpone his invasion plans.

Douglas Bader, DFC, later said: "The 15th September 1940 was the day that the battle was won. It was a Sunday." By the time Sunday worshippers were leaving their churches, the routed German air armada was in full flight. In the afternoon, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park commanding 11 Group was asked what fighter reserves were available. Park replied: "There are none." Ten minutes later, the action ended. The Germans had cracked. The miracle had happened.

On September 17th, a tele-type message clacked out from the German Supreme Command postponing the invasion of Britain, "until further notice."

Malta

There were later divine overrulings in the Mediterranean, the outstanding example being Malta, which lay in the path of Italy’s vital supply lines to North Africa. With the fall of France and the entry of Italy into the war, Malta was hemmed in by enemy powers.

The island was virtually unarmed, having only 16 anti-aircraft guns and 4 Fleet Air Arm Gloster Gladiators in crates in store!

General Dobbie was appointed as Governor of Malta. He was a Christian, a man of faith who testified to the power of prayer. He issued an Order of the Day to the garrison which included the following: "I know that the courage and determination of all ranks will not falter, and that with God’s help we will maintain the security of the fortress."

General Ironside sent General Dobbie a personal telegram containing the Bible reference, Deuteronomy Ch 3:22. Looking up the text, Dobbie read:" Ye shall not fear them, for the Lord your God, he shall fight for you."

Miracles Followed One Another During the Two Following Years

Remarkably, Italy did not attempt invasion. God sustained all on the island through the devastating 2,000 aerial bombardments. Remarkably, the German General Rommel, on arrival in the Western desert in 1941, did not invade either, in spite of the island hindering his supply route. Brigadier Desmond Young noted later that the Germans were strangely blind in failing to see until it was too late that the key to all supply problems and indeed the key to the control of the Mediterranean, was the capture of Malta.

Rommel later wrote in his official ‘Papers’: "It had actually been intended that Malta should be taken by Italian and German parachute landing forces early in 1942 … but for some unaccountable reason our High Command abandoned the scheme." Surely this was a sign of the restraining hand of God resting on the German High Command.

At the end of April 1942, Brigadier Young recorded Hitler gave permission for a surprise attack on Malta - Operation Hercules. It was twice put off and finally postponed "until after the conquest of Egypt", which never happened.

General Dobbie later wrote: "The very fact that in spite of all her disadvantages, Malta has remained in British hands … that surely is a miracle which cannot be gainsaid. It is God who works such miracles."

At the Gate of Cairo

After the fall of Tobruk, the Eighth Army was in full retreat, reaching the El Alamein line of defence on Monday 29th June 1942. Rommel’s army came up to it next day. Alexandria was only 65 miles away. The German radio boasted that Rommel and the Afrika Korps would sleep in Alexandria on Saturday night. Suddenly the advance stopped, the panzer divisions rolled westward. This sudden receding of the tide remains a mystery. Rommel, in his ‘papers’ said "Our strength failed in front of El Alamein."

The Turning of the Tide

Two dedicated Christian men were appointed to the most responsible  position in the Middle East on August 15th 1942, Field Marshal Alexander as Commander-in-Chief and General Montgomery as Commander of the Eighth Army.

On September 3rd, according to the wish of King George Vl, there was held another National Day of Prayer. People flocked to the churches all over Britain.

On October 23rd, Montgomery issued this Order of the Day to the Eighth Army:"Let us pray that the Lord, mighty in battle, will give us the victory."

A succession of remarkable occurrences followed. When the attack on the German Forces was opened, Rommel was in Germany, sick for the first in his life. General Stumme, appointed to take his place, died of a heart attack next day, leaving the German High Command structure in a hopeless state of confusion. At the same time  Rommel’s Chief of Staff was actually on leave. And, due to faulty intelligence, the Afrika Korps was completely off its guard when the bombardment began. Then, too, Montgomery’s tremendous pre-offensive build up had remained completely hidden from the Germans, although it included the movement of 900 tanks. Finally, the German Military Attache` in Rome, responsible for ensuring that supplies of petrol reached the Afrika Korps, had been on leave and was unable to give sufficient attention to the problem.

By the time Rommel arrived back at his headquarters in North Africa on October 25th, the battle was already lost. As his General Cramer said: "Alamein was lost before it was fought. We didn’t have the petrol." Surely none of these things could have been due to coincidence.

Said Churchill afterwards, concerning the Battle of Alamein: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat."

A Bumper Harvest

During 1942, shipping normally used to bring food to these shores from overseas, was urgently required for carrying men and munitions. Yet Britain had to be fed. A supreme effort was made by British agriculture and a degree of co-operation and united labour was achieved as never before in our history. Added to this were the prayers of innumerable people that God would bless their efforts.

There was a bumper harvest! It had become apparent to R.S. Hudson, the Minister of Agriculture, that God had been with us, for in a postscript to the BBC Nine O’Clock News on Old Michaelmas Night 1942, he said: "But this also I would say to you, in humility and seriousness. Much hard work and technical skill have played their part in these mighty yields, amongst the richest of all time. But I believe that we have a higher Power to thank as well, and from the depths of our hearts. Some Power has wrought a miracle in the English harvest fields this summer, for in this, our year of greatest need, the land has given us bread in greater abundance than we have ever known before."

D-Day 1944 - The Deliverance of a Continent

The task was a huge one. A massive instrument was needed and God had been preparing it and the men to lead it. King George Vl, General Montgomery, Admiral Cunningham, Admiral Tovey, General Sir Miles Dempsey (Commander of the British Second Army in the invasion of Europe and General Eisenhower (the Supreme Commander) - all these had a declared testimony of their faith in Almighty God.

There was also the preparation of the forces about to be involved in the coming invasion. The Deputy Chaplain-General, Canon Llewellyn Hughes, said: "The consecration of our armies has not been a last-minute effort. We were asked, and strongly asked, to make our men as Christian as we could, to preach the Word of Christ faithfully because it is true; to bring men to God that He might make them good. Most of the men are not regular churchgoing men but they are God-going men, and they have their picture of the King of Kings in the sanctuary of their hearts. And when General Eisenhower and General Montgomery in their final Orders of the Day asked us all to pray that God would prosper us, that prayer went up, and went up from honest hearts, freely and fully convinced that the business in hand was a liberation according to the will of God."

The Decision When to Invade

The Supreme Commander, his Commander-in-Chief and their Chiefs of Staff met at 4 a.m. on Monday June 5th for "the final and irrevocable decision". Messages went to all the vast forces concerned: the invasion of France would start on the morning of the next day. General Eisenhower gave testimony to the effect that this had on him, when he was speaking in Abilene, Kansas, his home town, on June 4th 1952 (‘Time’ magazine, June 16th 1952). "This day eight years ago, I made the most agonising decision of my life. I had to decide to postpone by at least 24 hours the most formidable array of fighting ships and of fighting men that was ever launched across the sea against a hostile shore. The consequences of that decision at that moment could not have been foreseen by anyone. If there was nothing else in my life to prove the existence of an Almighty and Merciful God, the events of the next 24 hours did it. The greatest break in a terrible outlay of weather occurred the next day and allowed the great invasion to proceed, with losses far below those we had anticipated."

V.E. Day 1945

The Rev. David E. Gardner, in his book ’The Trumpet Sounds for Britain’, Vol.2  (Christian Foundation Publications), from which the preceding material has been drawn (used by permission), writes: "I well remember V.E. Day. London was rejoicing. The Royal Family, the Prime Minister, the Service Chiefs and members of the Cabinet, all appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace before a joyful and tumultuous throng. It was a proud moment in our history. The Service Chiefs came to the microphone in turn, made short speeches, and paid tribute to the part which their respective arm of the Services had played in bringing about this great victory. The Prime Minister spoke - the one who had always been conscious of that overruling providence, that guiding, guardian hand. He must have come straight from the Thanksgiving Service in St. Margaret’s Westminster. His Majesty King George Vl then stepped quietly to the microphone. I can still hear his voice today, as he said with great emphasis: "We give thanks to Almighty God for the victory he has granted us in Europe." 

Written by Tremore Christian Fellowship, Tremore Manor, Bodmin.

The miracle of Dunkirk

September 3rd 2009 marked the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the 2nd World War and some are saying “it is so long ago, why remember the past?” This view shows how uninformed some people are today. The fact that these events took place 70 years ago is irrelevant because the real issue is that the consequences of these events are still with us now. If the outcome of the war had been different, quite literally you wouldn’t be alive to read this article and I wouldn’t have been born to write it. This uncomfortable truth must never be forgotten. Present lives need to be set in the context of what happened in the past.

Many don’t realise just how close we came to defeat and national annihilation. This country was in such a terrible state we were brought to our knees literally. At first when war was declared nothing much happened, but within a few months France and Belgium fell to the Germans. The only port from which to evacuate the British Army was Dunkirk where they were trapped against the sea. Our troops were encircled and the German Army was proceeding to their annihilation. The position was so serious it was estimated that a mere twenty thousand would be rescued. Almost the entire British Army was about to perish. There was no human solution to this crisis; the end of the British way of life had come or so it appeared.

In sheer desperation King George 6th called for a National Day of Prayer to be held on 26th May. In a national broadcast he instructed the people of the UK to plead for Divine Intervention. Together with members of the Cabinet, the King attended Westminster Abbey whilst literally millions of people across the British Isles flocked to churches praying for deliverance. Nothing like it had ever been seen before in our country or indeed in any country with people queuing to get into churches pleading for help. That’s how serious the situation really was.

What happened next was the most timely deliverance ever to occur in the history of our nation with two great phenomena following this Day of Prayer. The first was a great storm which broke out over the area on the 28th May hindering the assault of the German Airforce and the second was the great calm which settled on the English Channel the likes of which had not occurred for decades. This calm enabled an armada of boats to rescue about 335,000 men. Fours years later this deliverance further meant that Britain was able to provide a “launch pad” for the liberation of Europe. If the British Army had been destroyed at Dunkirk the UK would have been occupied and the liberation of Europe would never have happened. Again, this stark truth must not be forgotten. The violent storm and Channel calm immediately following this Day of Prayer made possible what people began to call “the miracle of Dunkirk.”

During the war there were so many instances of Divine assistance at crucial moments that in October 1942 Churchill commented; “I sometimes have a feeling of interference. I want to stress that. I have a feeling sometimes that some Guiding Hand has interfered. I have a feeling that we have a Guardian so long as we serve that Cause faithfully.”

During this season of remembrance let us reflect on how different it nearly was. We are now living our lives because of deliverances and miracles as well as the sacrifices made by countless people in the field of conflict. It is “no small thing” that we are remembering. And as we remember we must ask “is the UK showing itself worthy of such deliverances?” “Is our society setting an example to the world by our beliefs and moral standards?” Churchill stated that while we stood for a great “cause” we would have a “Great Guardian”. But what “Causes” does the UK stand for today; greed, immorality and unbelief? Such things have no Guardian. It is little wonder British society is in such a mess. The stark lesson from wartime is that if we want to be delivered from the problems besetting sour nation today then we need to put God and the Ten Commandments back at the heart of our society.