Although J. Hudson Taylor was raised in a Christian home, he remained ignorant of what it really meant to become a Christian. He even tried to "make himself a Christian" and, after failing in his attempt, became skeptical of the things of God. However, at the age of seventeen, Taylor read a gospel tract which opened his eyes to see the finished work of Christ, and that day he found Christ. He was soon burdened for the gospel to reach the almost closed empire of China.
"Brought up in such a circle and saved under such circumstances, it was perhaps natural that from the commencement of my Christian life I was led to feel that the promises were very real, and that prayer was in sober matter of fact transacting business with God, whether on one`s own behalf or on behalf of those for whom one sought His blessing."