Will You Not Revive Us Again? Series

I want you to personally experience a revival. I want our church family to experience a spiritual awakening. And most importantly, God Himself wants you to experience Him in all His fulness. A revival is a time when God hits the fast-forward button for you. It’s a time when you experience a personal spiritual explosion that leaves wanting more of God. It’s a time when you hunger for God and you long to speak to Him, to know Him intimately.

I invite you to find Psalm 85 with me, and I’ll be in Psalm 85 with you in a moment.

Would you give me your full attention as I tell you a story?

Go with me all the way back to just before our nation’s Civil War to a tremendous move of God in 1858. Our nation’s population jumped a third around this time to over 31 million people. For the first time, our nation’s population was greater than the United Kingdom. The Supreme Court handed down one of its worst decisions in the Dred Scott decision, where it ruled that American slaves and their descendants could not be citizens of the United States. Four million slaves' lives were hanging in the balance. Banks in Chicago and Philadelphia failed due to a stock market crash on October 10, 1857. Three days later, a bank run in New York City crippled the financial system. These were turbulent times, to say the least.

Right in the middle of all this, the North Dutch Reformed Church had a desire to reach the lower wards of New York City. Now, the church was located just a five-minute walk from Wall Street and one and a half blocks from Broadway. They did not want to move, even though members had been trickling away.1 So, the church employed a man history knows very little about, a man named Jeremiah Calvin Lanphier. This 40-year-old single businessman felt businessmen would appreciate a prayer meeting in the middle of the day.

“Going my rounds in the performance of my duty one day, as I was walking along the streets, the idea was suggested to my mind that an hour of prayer, from twelve to one o’clock, would be beneficial to business men, who usually in great numbers take that hour for rest and refreshment. The idea was to have singing, prayer, exhortation, relation of religious experience, as the case might be; that none should be required to stay the whole hour; that all should come and go as their engagements should allow or require, or their inclinations dictate.”

The placard outside read: “Prayer Meeting from 12 to 1 o’clock — Stop 5, 10, or 20 minutes, or the whole hour, as your time admits.” It was exactly 12 noon on September 23, 1857, when he entered an empty room, pulled out his pocket watch, and sat down to wait. At first, Lanphier prayed ALONE for nearly thirty minutes. It looked like no one had the time to pray. As the minutes ticked by, the young businessman wondered if had made a mistake.

Some people think that in the old days, everyone went to church in America. This is simply not the case. The city of Chicago had a mere 70 churches in the city but had 100 brothels to cater to the lusts of traveling businessmen.2

Back to New York City and Lanphier’s prayer meeting as he sat alone for thirty minutes. Finally, one joined him for prayer around 12:30, and by the end of the hour, there were six. Nothing extraordinary happened and they all went their separate ways to gather back again the following Wednesday.

But just three weeks later, over one hundred came to pray. Soon, three large rooms were filled, including men who did not know the Lord. Within six months, Lanphier’s little prayer meeting which saw only him praying for the first 30 minutes, had more than 50,000 praying in New York City. The revival spread throughout much of the nation and around the globe. Yes, around the globe.

The influences of this movement were felt everywhere in our country. This spiritual awakening not only captured the big cities but also spread through every town, village, and country hamlet. It also swamped schools and colleges, and it affected classes regardless of condition. A divine influence pervaded the country, the hearts of men were strangely warmed by a power outpoured in unusual ways.3 It was a tremendous movement of prayer.

But let me tell you one of the most fascinating parts of all this. Let me give you a slice of an account of what was happening during this great move of God.

“One of the most moving accounts out of the Prayer Revival came from the town of Kalamazoo, Michigan. At a prayer meeting there, a man in attendance related the following account: At our very first meeting someone put in such a request as this: ‘A praying wife requests the prayers of this meeting for her unconverted husband, that he may be converted and made a humble disciple of the Lord Jesus.’ All at once a stout burly man arose and said, ‘I am that man, I have a pious praying wife, and this request must be for me. I want you to pray for me.’ As soon as he sat down, in the midst of sobs and tears, another man arose and said, ‘I am that man, I have a praying wife. She prays for me. And now she asked you to pray for me. I am sure I am that man, and I want you to pray for me.’”4