If you’ve ever wondered what life is like when it is lived totally dependent on God for everything, this is a pretty good start (except for the Bible of course). The book chronicles the life of Rees Howells, a Welsh man who was called by the Holy Spirit to be an intercessor. What I love about the book is how it describes God’s gradual design to pull Rees closer to Him, getting Rees to give up more of “self” in favor of God. When we become responsive to God, we have to give up what we want and do what He wants. But in the end, what He wants is better for us than what we want. The hard part is making those steps toward “dying to self.”

God slowly took him through giving up his usual food he loved, and then giving up worrying about what others thought, to ultimately giving up his right to spend his money his way. God called Rees to be totally dependent upon Him for every bit of money he had, and accountable for every cent he spent. In the end, what Rees did for God far outweighed everything he gave up.

In the 1920’s, God called Rees and his wife to the mission field in Africa, and was present during the African Revivals in the 1920’s, and was probably responsible for 10,000 new souls won for Christ. What would you be willing to give up knowing that by doing so, God would work through you to do work that saved that many people?

In the 1920’s and 1930’s, Rees built the Bible College of Wales, and trained hundreds, if not thousands, of new missionaries for God’s work. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Rees and the people at the Bible College of Wales were called to prayer for the battle against Germany. Through Rees, God saved the British at Dunkirk, defeated Rommell in Africa, diverted Hitler from a certain invasion and probably victory invading England and sent him against Russia. How much would it be worth to you to know God involved you in that struggle?

I would hope I would be willing to give up what I have in this world to do God’s work while I remain. I think I would, but the comforting thought is that God wouldn’t call me to do it all at once, but gradual “dying to self” over years.