Excerpt from The Intercession of Rees Howells
by Doris Ruscoe

All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head… All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. –Numbers 6:5, 8

When I returned from London the Lord said, "If I should let you go free now there are places of intercession you have not yet gained." If Joseph had been set free after he had interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker, he would probably have returned home to his father but because the Lord kept him in prison for two more years he came to the throne of Egypt: The Lord said, "If you will allow me to keep you alone with myself for another two years, the difference will be between Joseph going home and Joseph ruling Egypt."

I was no longer to go to the Mission but I was to read the Word every night on my’ knees, from 6p.m. until 9 p.m. and I was to obey him no matter what position of the prophets he called me to come up to. I came’ to Numbers 6:2-9.I was to be a Nazirite! He said, "I have separated you for two Years; you are not to touch the world for two years, neither is it to influence you." It was not just a matter of a man not shaving, but I was to be holy, separated unto G. When he told me this 1 knew my parents would be tested but I was not to tell them why I was doing this. People would look after me on the street, and talk about me but I was not to open my mouth to a single person. I was not to touch the world in thought or mind, let alone action. The only picture that came to my mind was that of the first person I had helped, the man in the tin mill, the one it had cost me so much to walk with. I said to the Lord, "The tramps were bad enough, but to be like a tramp myself, that would be the end of my parents." He said, "Put your parents on the Cross and tell me the real reason why you are not willing to be a Nazirite." I said, "The influence of the world will overcome me," and he said, That is why I have called you to it, and you will be a Nazirite until you are dead to every thought of the world, and no person can exert any influence over you."

People thought that something had gone wrong in London and that I had come back a disappointed man. I no longer went to the Mission in the evening; I did not go out at all on Sundays; I had only one suit of clothes and I was not shaving. It was evident that I had gone too far this time and that my mind was affected! Everything in me was to be tested and especially my relationship with my people. Daily I walked what my father was going through–the thoughts that would come to hint–but I was to die to every thought of that. It was one of the worst deaths I ever walked, to become dead to father’s feelings and only alive to the feelings of the Saviour. Do you tell me that the Saviour never walked this, that his mother and his brothers would suffer? But during this time I was entering into the sufferings of the Saviour and I had a fellowship with him I never had before.

It took me two weeks to get the victory and become dead to the influence of the world, but before the end of six months, instead of the world influencing me it was I who was influencing the world. People sensed the presence of God with me and I brought them face to face with eternity. Some even took off their hats as they passed me on the street and one old man used to say, "There goes a modern John the Baptist." At the end of six months I came free and had the assurance that the intercession had been gained. I remember the night I came free and went to tell my mother. I can hear her now saying, ‘Thank God you are through."

It was some time after that Mr. Gossett’s son left the army and went to Canada where he had a farm, and both he and his wife were converted in a meeting held by an evangelist. [Ed note The purpose of this intercession was for the salvation of Mr. Gossett’s son.]

–From The Intercession of Rees Howells