The Secret Place of John G. Lake

John Graham Lake was born on March 18, 1870 in St. Mary's, Ontario, Canada, the son of humble parents who later moved to the United States. His childhood was marked by sickness and sorrow. He watched several of his siblings die young, and his own body was frail. This atmosphere of sickness created in him an unusual hunger to know God's power. As a young man he moved to Michigan and worked in printing and business, eventually establishing himself in Chicago. Yet the weight of sickness still hung over his family.

It was in Chicago that he encountered the ministry of John Alexander Dowie, whose emphasis on divine healing left a deep impression on him. When his wife Jennie became seriously ill, he prayed earnestly for her healing. On April 28, 1898, she was miraculously restored in answer to prayer, a moment that permanently marked his conviction that Jesus Christ heals the sick today. From then on, Lake devoted himself to a life of faith, prayer, and the proclamation of Christ as Savior and Healer.

In 1908 he felt the call to Africa. With his wife Jennie and their seven children he sailed to Johannesburg, South Africa. They arrived with only a small sum of money but with burning faith that God had sent them. In the Transvaal and later in other parts of southern Africa, he preached the gospel with signs following. Thousands were healed, and churches sprang up across the region. Out of this movement the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa was born.

Lake's ministry in Africa was not merely evangelistic crusades but the establishment of "healing homes" and prayer centers. He believed that prayer and the laying on of hands were part of normal New Testament Christianity. His sermons and writings stressed union with Christ, the indwelling Spirit, and the authority of the believer. He often said, "The secret of spiritual power is union with God." In 1914 he returned to the United States after Jennie's death, carrying the same fire.

Settling in Spokane, Washington, he established what came to be called the "Healing Rooms." Between 1915 and 1920 it was reported that more than one hundred thousand healings took place under his ministry and those he trained. Physicians, ministers, and ordinary people came to Spokane seeking prayer. Lake and his team fasted, prayed, and ministered day after day, believing that prayer releases the life of Christ into broken bodies and souls. Spokane became known as "the healthiest city in America."

He later moved to Portland, Oregon, continuing the work of preaching, training, and healing. His life was full of trials his first wife Jennie died on the mission field, and he bore the weight of constant labor but his secret place was a continual communion with Christ. He married Florence Switzer in 1913, who supported him in his later ministry. On September 16, 1935, John G. Lake passed into the presence of the Lord.