Peter N Millward

If we seek to understand history we can often find surprising examples of Gods intervention - One such is a testimony Derek Prince shared when he was in the British army during the Second World War - Derek asked himself "How can I pray for such unworthy leadership – how can I ask God to bless it?" The following is Derek's remarkable testimony:

"This first one is given in my book and I’ll only deal with it briefly. In 1941 – 42 I was a soldier with the British forces in North Africa and took part in the longest retreat in the history of the British Army. Now, retreating continuously for 750 miles without knowing why or what will happen next can be very demoralizing. I for one felt one of our major problems was that the officers were selfish and undisciplined and therefore lacked the confidence of the men. For instance, water was the scarcest commodity in the desert at that time, and the average soldier was given one military bottle full of water for all his needs for two days – drinking, washing, cooking, etc. We used to wash our shirts in high octane gasoline because it was easier to obtain than water. During this period, however, in the officer's mess the officers used to mix with their whiskey more water than the men used for all other purposes. That is not calculated to produce high morale among the rank and file!
At that time I was newly saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit. I felt I ought to pray, but I asked myself, "How can I pray for such unworthy leadership – how can I ask God to bless it?" Finally I decided. "God will have to show me how to pray." After a while I felt God gave me this specific prayer: "Lord. give us leaders such that it will be for your glory to give us victory through them." From then on I prayed that prayer almost every day.
Only after the war ended did I learn the full story of what happened.
Shortly after I began praying, the British Government decided to remove the military commander in the Middle East and replace him with another commander. He choose a man who was serving out in the desert and flew him back to Cairo to take command. His plane crashed on landing, he was thrown out, broke his neck and was killed. So at this critical moment in the most active theatre or the war, the British forces were left without a commander.
At that point Winston Churchill, then Prime Minister of Britain chose a little-known commander in Britain and had him flown out to take command. His name was Bernard Montgomery. We did not know anything about him at the time, but I would say now on the basis of personal experience and knowledge that Montgomery was a keen, committed, witnessing Christian – a man of integrity and a very strong disciplinarian.
Montgomery arrived and turned those officers upside down! In two months he head totally changed the discipline and morale of the forces. Then was fought the battle of El Alamein, the first major Allied victory in the entire War; it changed the whole course of the war in Africa.
About two days after the battle, I was in the desert beside a truck on the tailboard of which was a little portable radio. The news commentator, describing the scene at Montgomery's headquarters the night before the battle of El Alamein was joined, told how Montgomery came out, called all his officers and men together, and said, "Let us ask the Lord, mighty in battle, to give us the victory."
When I hear these words, heaven’s electricity – if you know what that is! – went through me from the crown of my head to soles of my feet, and the Lord said to me quietly but clearly, "That is the answer to your prayer." In this way, right at the beginning of my Christian experience, I learned that you can change history by praying.
God gives you the objective, but it is your responsibility to stretch out the spear. Once you’ve done this, don’t draw it back. Keep it held out!

Derek Prince's full testimony on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vm2o4EGTNk