Give me Scotland, or I Die!

John Knox prayed, “Give me Scotland, or I die.”

I first came to Fred Jordan Mission’s school of evangelism as a 15-year old teenager, and my life was changed. Every day I learned to share my faith on the streets, and from door-to-door. I also received practical, hands-on training in outreach to the poor, through preparing and serving food, and other ministries of compassion and mercy.

While I was here at the evangelism school, I read a quote that made a deep impression on me, and helped shape the path my life would take. It was the daily prayer from the heart of John Knox, the Scottish clergyman who was imprisoned and enslaved for his faith, and though he was often sick, and under constant threat of persecution, he brought reformation to the church in Scotland, and changed the course of history for that nation.

John Knox prayed, “Lord, give me Scotland or I die.” Knox’s ministry of preaching and prayer were so well known that Mary, Queen of Scots, whose government had persecuted Knox, is reported to have said, “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Europe.”

John Knox’s commitment to the pure preaching of the gospel reinvigorated pastors, which in turn reformed the church, and revived Scotland. It is said of Knox that he did not fear men, because he feared God – he was willing to offend men, because he was unwilling to offend God.

I am still challenged by this prayer of John Knox that I read as a teenager more than 65 years ago. I don’t know about you, but I want the prayer of John Knox to be my daily prayer: “Give me Skid Row, or I die. Give me souls in America, give me souls around the world, or I die.”

Blessings,

Willie Jordan