Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, part of a growing repentance remnant globally,
My dear friend Jane posted this key reminder that repentance precedes revival:
WHEN REVIVAL RAN EPIDEMIC
Sometimes it is during the days of hopelessness and despair that revival comes to a people! So it was in the middle of the nineteenth century. In the United States, it was a spiritual, political, and economic low point. Many people had become disillusioned with spiritual things because of preachers who had repeatedly and falsely predicted the end of the world in the 1840's.
Agitation over the slavery issue had bred much political unrest, and civil war seemed imminent. A financial panic hit in 1857. Banks failed, railroads were bankrupt, factories closed, unemployment increased. Many Christians realized the need for prayer in such dire situations, and prayer-meetings began to spread around the country.
In the lower Manhattan section of New York, a Dutch Reformed church had been steadily losing members; they hired missionary Jeremiah Lamphier to reverse the trend with an active visitation program. However, he had little success in awakening church members by his visits, so in September, 1857, he rented a hall on Fulton street in New York City and advertised its availability for prayer meetings. Six men assembled for that first prayer meeting on September 23.
Two days later the Bank of Philadelphia failed. In October the men began praying together daily; on October 10 the stock market crashed. The financial panic triggered a religious awakening, and people flocked to the prayer meetings. Within six months 10,000 people were gathering daily for prayer in New York City alone.
The movement explodes:
Other cities also were experiencing a renewed interest in prayer. In Chicago, the Metropolitan Theater was filled every day with 2000 people assembling for prayer. In Louisville, several thousand came to the Masonic Temple for prayer each morning. Two thousand assembled for daily prayer in Cleveland, and the St. Louis churches were filled for months at a time. The newly formed YMCA also played an important role in holding prayer meetings and spreading the revival throughout the country.
When media actually helped.
In February 1858, Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald gave extensive coverage to the prayer meeting revival. Not to be outdone, the New York Tribune devoted an entire issue in April, 1858 to news of the revival. News of the revival quickly traveled westward by telegraph. This was the first revival in which the media played an important role in spreading the revival.
Prayer Everywhere
The prayer meetings were organized in the cities by lay people and were interdenominational. Unlike earlier awakenings, prayer rather than preaching was the main instrument of revival. Tents were often set up as places where people could gather for prayer, introducing a custom followed by later revivalists.
The meetings themselves were very informal -- any person might pray, exhort, lead in a song, or give a word of testimony, with a five minute limit placed on each speaker. In spite of the less structured nature of the prayer meetings, they lacked the extreme emotionalism which some had criticized in earlier revivals.
A World-wide Impact
This was the first revival beginning in America with a worldwide impact. From the United States the revival spread to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Europe, South Africa, India, Australia, and the Pacific islands. In geographical and proportionate numerical extent, the prayer revival of 1857-1860 has not been equaled.
Even ships coming into British ports told of the revival in America. Ireland soon began to experience a prayer meeting revival as well, with crowds becoming so large they had to meet in the open air.
When John Cairns preached in Belfast in May, 1859, he had never before seen such eagerness to hear the gospel or lives which had been so transformed by the revival. He said: "Nature does not contain any epidemic so like to Christian conversion."
When Andrew Bonar heard of the work in Ireland, he increased his prayer for a revival in Scotland. In his diary of July 3, 1859, he wrote, "Again this night in sorrow of heart over the terrible carelessness, indifference, deadness of this 'valley of dry bones.' O my God, come over to Scotland and help us!"
Within two months Andrew Bonar found himself in the midst of revival in Scotland. On September 10th he wrote in his diary, "This has been a remarkable week: every day I have heard of some soul saved among us..." All classes became interested in salvation, backsliders returned, conversions increased, and Christians desired a deeper instruction in spiritual truths.
Families established daily devotions, and entire communities underwent a noticeable change in morals. Not celebrities but ordinary people praying. Similar changes were noted as the revival spread to Wales, England, and beyond.
There was an absence of great names connected with the revival; lay people in prayer were the prime instruments used by God in awakening the people. The preaching, which in many areas had become too intellectual and lifeless, now concentrated on the truths of the gospel of Christ and His cross. The results of the revival of 1859 in the areas of evangelism, missions, and social action continued for decades.
Many who became Christian leaders during the second half of the nineteenth century were greatly affected by the revival-- such as D.L. Moody, William Booth, C.H. Spurgeon, and A.B. Simpson. As James Buchanan of Scotland summarized, it was a time when "new spiritual life was imparted to the dead, and new spiritual health imparted to the living."
Getting a people spiritually ready to face tragedy?
The revival of 1859 had similar effects in the North and the South, and may have prepared many Americans spiritually to survive the horrors of the civil war that broke out a few years later. The awakening continued into the Civil War period, a great revival occurring in the Southern armies in 1863-64.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jane:
With this posting i have hope that God will plant again a welling up of prayer meetings all over the world. If you carry such a burden, please write to me about it.
How to start:
I want to share with you a repentance organization that focuses on sins needing repentance. I am a member of this organization and can vouch for it's pointed convictions brought personally, and for the nation. God has raised up this ministry for us as our next step (in 2022 and not 1857).
Even before our prayer can be heard, we must repent.
Before we can repent we must be convicted by God.
Please contact Pastor Jeff and ask to be put on the Repentance Network list.
Pastor Jeffrey Daly
National Day of Repentance
****************
God willing, a two hour zoom call will be held on June 1 to confess sins and repent in private, thereby making POWERFUL the prayers of intercession, and the declarations of a Godly restoration by you and other saints, both in and outside of Rhode Island. Our hope is that for the month of June churches in Rhode Island will use repentance resources on our website to hold what our ancestors called "sacred assemblies," a basic repentance service based on scripture, giving participants times of privacy in silence to remove old sin strongholds. Afterwards some may wish to share. The joy and fellowship that follows such a repentance service is always amazing! Share this Truth with your pastor wherever you're located!
Here is the zoom information:
Topic: Restoring Godly Roots in the 13 Colonies
Time: 12:00 Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Every month on the 1st of the month, 13 occurrence(s)
- Feb 1, 2022 12:00
- Mar 1, 2022 12:00
- Apr 1, 2022 12:00
- May 1, 2022 12:00
- Jun 1, 2022 12:00
- Jul 1, 2022 12:00
- Aug 1, 2022 12:00
- Sep 1, 2022 12:00
- Oct 1, 2022 12:00
- Nov 1, 2022 12:00
- Dec 1, 2022 12:00
- Jan 1, 2023 12:00
- Feb 1, 2023 12:00
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 820 8956 6503
Passcode: 026991
One tap mobile
+27214268191,,82089566503#,,,,*026991# South Africa
+27875503946,,82089566503#,,,,*026991# South Africa
Dial by your location
+27 21 426 8191 South Africa
+27 87 550 3946 South Africa
+27 87 551 7702 South Africa
+27 21 426 8190 South Africa
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 820 8956 6503
Passcode: 026991
************
Do you see God's Gift of repentance as vital in our personal lives? In our nations? If so, you're part of the repentance remnant, purifying to be ready for the soon-coming Bridegroom. Encouraging repentance is NDR's sole purpose for ministry. No church or foundation supports us; only saints like you. Would you please pray to see if the Lord would have you place us on your daily prayer list, and then seed into this one- of- a- kind ministry? In appreciation for your support---whatever the amount--- I'll send you our latest repentance book with our prayer that it will be a blessing to you.
Thank you ! He will bless you!
God bless you,
Pastor Jeff Daly
National Day of Repentance
Password 1221
**************************
Is it in your heart to share repentance with others? This eleven minute video on our NDR You Tube channel is one way to do that: https://youtu.be/0z4gf4TQejQ
