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The Callused Knees
by George Brubaker Kulp (1845-1939)
"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." John 1:6
CONTENTS
Foreward
While but a boy less than ten years old I heard my father speak of a book that he prized
highly, and quoted frequently, because it told of one who was much gifted in prayer, and who
through prayer achieved mighty results for God. I long tried to secure a copy of that book, but
found it had gone out of print. I regretted this very much; more especially so, as the book
would be an inspiration and blessing to any child of God. Within the last two years, having
providentially discovered a copy in the home of an old English saint, I have been impressed that
I should put at least a portion of this book before the public such excerpts as would portray
this man of God on his knees. "The gift of the knees" comes through practice; Heaven's choicest
blessings await the man who waits on God. My earliest recollections are a blessing to me, as I
recall the stalwart men who would pray until the heavens would bend, tears start, and shouts
ascend to the God who heard and answered.
This work is sent forth in humble faith and prayer that it may prove an inspiration to men
and women to "pray without ceasing," knowing by experience "they that that wait upon the Lord do
renew their strength, they mount up with wings as eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk
and are not faint." "And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart
to pray, and He was there alone." Who will go with him?
Battle Creek, Mich.,
March 19, 1909
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Chapter 1
A Man Sent From God, Whose Name was John
"I would that men should pray always."
"Pray without ceasing."
Author Geo. H. Hubbard, in his book "Spiritual Power at Work." evidently has given much
thought and prayer to the subject says: "No religion can be dynamic without prayer. A prayerless
religion is a mere philosophy, and philosophy at best is static, not dynamic. Prayer is the
channel through which the divine power of the Holy Spirit is brought to bear upon our human
machinery to make it effective in accomplishing desired results. Religion without prayer is like
a trolley line with tracks all laid, cars in good condition, but no wires connecting with the
power house."
We must keep in touch with God, heed the exhortations of His Word, use the means therein
indicated, if we would prove every promise true. Our fathers were men of prayer. Apostles,
martyrs, reformers, men who were pioneers for God, and blazed the way we should follow, were
eminently men of prayer. The promises that encouraged them are still on record, and we may prove
them and know experimentally their power. God has had witnesses in all ages, the path that leads
to eternal triumph is marked by the footprints of men who took His way, followed His precepts,
and won many souls who shall shine in the diadem of Jesus "while light and life and being last,
or immortality endures." The need of the church militant today is men and women who pray; not
"say prayers," but pray wait on God. The divinest element in prayer is perseverance. "Wait, I
say, on the Lord."
John Smith not Rev. John Smith, D. D., LL. D., but plain John Smith, sent of God, and
by godly parents named John, was a living example and exemplar of the power that energizes the
soul, body, thoughts, words and labors of the man who minds God and prays unceasingly. He was
known among his brethren, and wherever he labored, as "John Smith." It is quite refreshing in
these days when men are angling for titles, pulling wires for "honorary degrees," having petitions
sent in to Boards of Trustees begging for a title, putting names on door plates and hotel
registers with "D. D." attached, to find a strong character known, loved, revered, and sought
after as, John Smith. A perusal of these pages will reveal the secret of his power. He was a man
pursuing Bible methods, minding the Holy Spirit, and living for the glory of God. He had a
passion for souls, an intense longing to get people saved, that impelled him to vehemently urge
them to forsake sin and yield themselves unto God. Nothing that men could add by way of "honors"
would have increased his power; he looked unto God, kept yoked to Omnipotence by faith, and
almost lived in the "power house."
Victor Hugo says: "If you would civilize a man, you must begin with his grandmother."
Godliness in parents is profitable unto their children. The subject of these pages was born of
godly parents at Cudworth, England, January 12th, 1794. His father for many years was a
class-leader and local preacher in the Methodist Church, while his mother adorned her profession
and exerted a holy influence in her own home, neighborhood, and church that told for God. From
his earliest infancy he was placed under the direction and loving restraints of a model
Christian home, where he was carefully instructed in the verities of God's Word and the truths
of Christianity. The Spirit wrought with him at a very early age, and when but nine years old he
was powerfully affected by a concern for his soul under a sermon by a local preacher from Psalm
144:15, "Happy is the people ... whose God is the Lord." His serious impressions wore off and he
manifested an ardent and headstrong spirit. At times he was mischievous, and the result at one
time would have been of the most serious kind had it not been for a merciful Providence. His
sports were of a bold, boisterous and wicked kind. He would even attend the prayer-meetings held
in his native village to collect material for the mirth of his ungodly companions, and being
endowed with extraordinary powers of mimicry, he would amuse them by striking and ridiculous
imitations of the peculiarities which he had observed in the pious persons who conducted these
means of grace. During the time that he remained at home, he was, of course, prevented from the
full indulgence of his depraved propensities; but when about fourteen years of age, being placed
as an apprentice with a grocer at Sheffield, and of consequence more free from control, he
became decidedly wicked. He conducted himself generally in so irregular a manner, that, after
two years, his employer, unable any longer to endure his bad conduct, sent him back to his
parents. He then obtained a situation at Barnsley, in the same line of business. Here he even
gave up attendance at a place of worship, and thus broke the last link which seemed to connect
him with the principles and example of his pious parents. He associated himself, without
restraint, with other ungodly young men, and had his natural corruption increased, and his
habits of evil confirmed, by their example and counsels. He imitated their profane language, and
learned to blaspheme the God of his father. As far as his means permitted, he became a gambler,
and contracted a strong passion for wrestling, and other athletic exercises, especially for
pugilistic contests. He often traveled considerable distances to attend prize fights, and
actually put himself under the training of scientific boxers. These pursuits led him into
debasing society, which was congenial to his corrupt affections. He became an adept, and an
enthusiast in vice, and gloried in the awful distinction which an athletic body and a desperate
mind enabled him to maintain among his sinful associates.
But even in this course of sin, there could easily be discerned indications of the same
natural character which afterwards, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, rendered him so
distinguished a Christian and minister. Here was the energy which in good or evil allowed him to
be satisfied with nothing like a medium of feeling or exertion. Here was the strong, concentrated
passion urging him on by its hurricane power, to the utter abandonment of religion, which, in a
brighter era of his life, became the impulse of generous sacrifice, self-devotion and labor. If
he now spurned reproof, rejected all care of reputations, and hardened himself against every
suggestion of peril on account of sin, he was equally daring and independent when "the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus" became the object of his emulation. The popularity
which, by his highly social qualities, he acquired among the vain and worldly persons by whom
he was at this time surrounded, was succeeded, in a more honorable period of his history, by the
warm Christian attachment of all who had the privilege of his intimacy. It is a melancholy fact,
also, that he was a sinner of influence; and there were some of his companions in vanity who,
according to human probability, were prevented from the choice of a religious life, only by the
fascinations of his society. How fully, as a Christian and a Christian minister, he exerted a
similar power over those with whom he associated, the succeeding pages will tend to show.
The extreme profligacy of some who have had a religious education is no evidence of their
having forgotten the pious instructions of their childhood. In fact, paradoxical as it may
appear, their resolute abandonment of themselves to vicious practices is, in not a few cases, a
proof of the depth and permanence of their previous impressions. Next to making him virtuous,
the best effect of admonition on a sinner is to make him unhappy. Dissipation is an indication
of a mind ill at ease. The natural posture of happiness is calmness and repose, and where men
are not fully stupefied by the influence of sin, the love of reputation, and many similar
principles of counteraction, will frequently lead them to moderation in pursuit of forbidden
pleasures. On the other hand, where there still remains a considerable degree of moral
sensibility, the spirit seeks, in the perpetual hurry of business or vice, to still the voice of
conscience, and to overcome the striving of the Spirit. This, of course, will be more apparent
in persons of such great power of feeling as was possessed by the subject of these pages.
Continued
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Andrew Murray