An uncouth and unlettered servant girl from the village of Ballamacally, in the county of Armagh, Ireland, Ann Preston became one of the heroines of faith whose exploits have been told in many parts of the world. Her biography has been translated into several languages, including Chinese, and from almost every foreign field have come testimonies of blessing received from the story of Ann Preston.
Seemingly incredible--but true--Ann Preston never learned the alphabet and was unable to read a newspaper. Yet God himself taught her to read the Bible.
All her life she remained a lowly servant, yet, when she died at the age of ninety-six, one of the largest churches in Toronto, Canada, was packed to the doors with people from various denominations who came to pay tribute to this remarkable saint.
The Mayor of Toronto declared, "I have had two honors this week. It has been my privilege to have an interview with the President of the United States. This is a great honor. Then I have been pallbearer to Ann Preston. Of the two honors I prize the latter most."
Among the miracles wrought by Ann Preston through simple faith in God, there stands out the story of the well. Helen Bingham tells how she "was most careful to get the full circumstances taken down as Ann narrated it" to her.
Ann was acting as general housekeeper to the family of Dr. Reid, in a farming community in Thornhill, Canada. A long and scorching summer had completely dried up the well in the farmyard. For many weeks the Reid boys were compelled to haul water from another well about half a mile away. This was exhausting work for the boys, who had to carry water to supply the needs of both the household and the farm stock.
One evening, as Ann was telling the boys some of the remarkable things God had done for her in answer to prayer, one of them, named Henry, asked, "Ann, why don't you ask your Father to send water in that well, and not have us boys work so hard? I was down in the well looking at it today, and it is just as dry as the floor."
This half-serious, half-joking request came as a definite challenge to Ann.
That night, in childlike faith, she prayed a prayer something like this: "Father, you have heard what Henry said to me tonight. If I get up in the class meeting and say that 'my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus,' the boys will not believe I am telling the truth if you don't send water into that dry well." Ann was led to prevail with God that He would send water to the well by the following morning. The assurance came that her prayer was answered.
Next morning Henry saw, to his great surprise and amusement, that Ann was on her way to the well with two empty pails in her hands. Hooking one of the pails to the windlass, she lowered it into what had been a bone-dry well not many hours before.
Now, instead of the thud of a pail striking the hard bottom, there was a splash as the pail hit what was quite a depth of water! Soon the two pails were filled to the brim, and Ann returned in joyful triumph to the house.
It is reliably reported that never again was that well known to be dry either summer or winter.
Ann Preston's remarkable life of power, joy, and blessing had a secret which must be told. It is of special value to those Christians whose experiences are barren and frustrating.
Ann was soundly converted to Christ when in the employ of a Christian mistress, named Mrs. McKay, in Ireland. She had attended a house meeting conducted by Armstrong Halliday, a Methodist minister. The Word of God pierced Ann's heart, and she came under deep conviction of sin. That same night, in her little bedroom, she cried out again and again for mercy. About midnight there came glad assurance that all her sins were forgiven and that she was a child of God. Next day the young convert went to her own home to tell her parents of her new-found joy in Christ. They gave her a very chilly reception and did nothing to encourage their own daughter in the paths of righteousness.
But Ann had become a Christian: The new life had really commenced.
Like many other converts, Ann made an unpleasant discovery when the first flush of holy joy subsided. She was sorely tried by an ungovernable temper which flared up in times of provocation. "She wept over it, confessed it, fought with it, but all too frequently the whole process had to be repeated in the face of some great outbreak under specially trying circumstances." Although Ann attended the local Methodist church and had dropped into Methodist phraseology, she knew very little of John Wesley's teaching on entire sanctification as a second work of grace subsequent to conversion.
One night, however, through a sanctified young man who stayed overnight in the home, the words of Psalm 34:16 were strongly applied to her heart. They were, "The face of the LORD is against them to do evil." Taking her Bible with her to her room, she asked the Lord to show her the meaning of the word "evil." Back came the answer from heaven: "Anger, wrath, malice," etc. She how saw, as never before, her indwelling corruption, and she wept and prayed right through the night. She longed for deliverance, but was unable to "get through" to victory. Toward morning she cried out in desperation, "O Lord, how will I know when I get deliverance?" At once the Lord reminded her of Jacob, who wrestled on until he prevailed and obtained the blessing.
In her simplicity Ann then asked the Lord what the blessing would do for her when she obtained it. The reply came clear: "It will enable you to rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks. You will live above the sins of this world and the things which now upset you." Satan tried his utmost to persuade Ann that when certain circumstances would again assail her, she would give way to evil temper as she had done so many times in the past. But the conviction grew upon her that those outbursts of the carnal mind were displeasing to God and that there was deliverance from them.
Like Charles Wesley in his great "Wrestling Jacob," Ann could say,
"What tho' my shrinking flesh complain,
And murmur to contend so long!
I rise superior to my pain---
When I am weak, then am I strong
And when all of my strength shall fail,
I shall with the God-man prevail."
And prevail she did. When she went downstairs next morning, she met the young man who had read Psalm 34. When he asked her why she had been crying aloud all night, she replied, "I want to be sanctified throughout--body, soul, and spirit."
His simple reply was, "Well, Ann, how were you justified?"
She answered, "Why, just by believing what God said."
"Well," said the young man, "complete victory comes in the same way."
Going back to prayer, Ann pleaded the promise, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
Ann said to the Lord, "Lord, I have been knocking all night. Open unto me! Open unto me!"
Then the heavens opened, and the fire of Pentecost came down upon the consecrated heart of that humble Irish servant. For tow hours it seemed that Ann had ascended into glory, and her shouts of praise to God aroused the whole household. That Ann was mightily filled with the Holy Ghost is beyond all dispute. The frustrated, defeated Christian was transformed into a radiant, victorious saint. She became a princess in prayer, and the fame of her intercession spread far and wide.
The ministry of the miraculous was now the heritage of Ann Preston. Given to her in derision by some young boys, the title "Holy Ann" gradually clung to her; even friends began to call her by that name.
Her own reaction to such a title was this: "Oh, Father, they are calling me Holy Ann. Make me holy so that the children will not be telling lies."
Her first visit after this new experience was to her old class leader. This was perhaps two weeks afterward. He rejoiced with her in her new-found joy. "Now, Ann," said he, "in order to retain this experience of holiness, you must rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks."
Then her first shade of temptation came. She thought of manifold duties that were hers, of the hundreds of commonplace tasks she had to perform, and how was she to pray without ceasing? She lifted her heart and said in her peculiar manner, "What about it, Father?"
Instantly came His words applied to her consciousness, "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord."
"Thank you, Father," she said. And she was quite satisfied.
These wonderful days were full of peace, full of happiness, full of glory. The commonplace duties were performed with delight, "as unto the Lord."
Oh, yes; the children with their muddy boots tracked right over the freshly scrubbed floors just the same, but it was not the same Ann who met these and many other trying things that came her way. Rejoicing in hope, patient in all that was calculated to try her patience, continuing instant in prayer, she was treading the earth as a conqueror.
"But, Ann," the children would say, "why do you just laugh and shout and pray all the time?" When Ann would exhaust her own vocabulary trying to explain her feelings, she would invariably fall back on the lines of the old hymn:
"The opening heavens 'round me shine
With beams of sacred bliss,
While Jesus shows His presence mine,
And whispers I am His!"
Then her laughter would ripple out like the trilling of a bird, and she would skip around at her work as would a mere child, demonstrating the truth of the sermon wrapped up in the lines of Faber, that
If our love were but more simple,
We should take Him at His word,
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord.
Even when over ninety years old, this Irish saint retained her spiritual power and radiant joy. Her intimacy with here Lord was a thing of wonder and glory.
At sunset on June 21, 1906, Ann Preston's spirit quietly passed into the presence of the Lord she had so faithfully served and ardently loved. She being dead yet speaketh.
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