Have you ever been to Cat Island, Arkansas? Have you ever heard of Cat Island, Arkansas? Well, neither had I until today. I was doing research and ran across it.
In 1884 something happened there that the church world should know about.
A young man by the name of Charles Price Jones lived there. When he was 19 he was saved by God’s grace. In 1885 he felt that God wanted him to preach the gospel. He began preaching wherever God opened a door for him to share what God did for him.
In 1888 he attended an Arkansas Baptist college and to help support himself, he became pastor and a school teacher.
He felt like he wanted more of God in his life so he began asking God for a deeper experience of grace. After fasting and praying for three days, Jones experienced a closeness with God that he had never had before. He experienced the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. He began preaching the doctrine of holiness to his people.
In 1899 he began writing songs for his church. Most of his songs were based on scripture. Here is one of those songs:
Deeper Deeper
Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
C. P. Jones
Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.
Deeper, deeper! blessed Holy Spirit,
Take me deeper still,
Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus
And His perfect will.
Deeper, deeper! tho’ it cost hard trials,
Deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
Let me fruitful grow.
Deeper, higher, ev’ry day in Jesus,
Till all conflict past
Finds me conqu’ror and in His own image
Perfected at last.
Oh, deeper yet, I pray,
And higher ev’ry day,
And wiser, blessed Lord,
In Thy precious, holy Word.
He based this song on I Corinthians 2:9-10:
“That is what the scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.”
I wonder how many of us can pray and fast for three days to get closer to God? Just something to think about.