Billy Graham’s Hour of Decision

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on January 24, 2009

The world-famous evangelist Billy Graham came to Jesus himself at the age of 16 thanks to the fiery preaching of another evangelist, Mordecai Ham. But the message didn’t sink into the teenage Graham right away. The conviction tugged at his heart until he could ignore it no longer:

“What was slowly dawning on me during those weeks was the miserable realization that I did not know Jesus Christ for myself. I could not depend on my parents’ faith. Christian influence in the home could have a lasting impact on a child’s life, but faith could not be passed on as an inheritance, like the family silver. It had to be exercised by each individual.

“I could not depend on my church membership either. Saying ‘I believe’ in the Apostles’ Creed every Sunday, or taking the bread and wine of Communion, could so easily become nothing but rote and ritual, without power in themselves to make me any different.

“Nor could I depend on my own resolution to do better. I constantly failed in my efforts at self-improvement. Nobody needed to tell me that.

“As a teenager, what I needed to know for certain was that I was right with God. I could not help but admit to myself that I was purposeless and empty-hearted. … And then it happened.” (Just as I Am)

During the last verse of the last song, a 16-year-old Billy Graham came forward at the call of a finger-wagging evangelist to accept Jesus Christ.

“I didn’t have any tears, I didn’t have any emotion, I didn’t hear any thunder, there was no lightning,” Graham told TIME magazine. “But right there, I made my decision for Christ. It was as simple as that, and as conclusive.”