Early in her marriage to a wealthy Frenchman, Jeanne Guyon experienced spiritual persecution. Since childhood, a great devotion to God had seized her heart. As people came to her seeking spiritual guidance, she spoke to them of a personal prayer life that was available to all. Eventually, the local priest ordered Madame Guyon not to pray and instructed her husband and mother-in-law (who lived with them) to watch her 24 hours a day to see that his orders were obeyed. As she yielded this adversity to God, He began to teach her deep things about prayer. She learned how to pray “with her eyes open.” She learned how to walk in unbroken communion with Him regardless of circumstances. Her book, “A Short and Easy Method of Prayer,” was the result. One hundred thousand copies circulated in France, and it is credited with changing the spiritual landscape of the entire nation. Eventually, she was imprisoned under Louis XIV. Church leaders accused Guyon of heresy and used this book as their main evidence. She spent seven years in prison as a result of her writings and teachings, four of them in the Bastille. Today, the book is called “Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ.” Outside of the Bible, this little book has probably had more far-reaching impact that any other book in Christian literature. It became a strong, energizing influence in the Quaker movement. John Wesley was profoundly influenced by this and other of her writings. A young Christian in China read the book and was so impacted by it that he had it translated into Chinese and distributed to all his converts. It became a driving force in the great Christian movement in China spearheaded by Watchman Nee.
