REVIVAL IS MORE THAN AN ISOLATED EXPERIENCE. More than a week of extra services. More than hype and manifestations. It is a flash of the glory of God that will one day cover the earth. It is a divine foretaste of His kingdom come. Three times throughout the history of America, God has allowed us to glimpse a flash of His glory.
Great Prayer Awakening 1857–1858 By 1857, the need for revival again defined the churches of the United States. Preoccupied by growing wealth, most people had redefined their priorities and left God out of the picture. Jeremiah Lanphier, a former businessman recently turned church outreach director, decided to pray that God would change the hearts of people.
kening 1810–1840
upon North America in the early 1800s, Christ. The five decades that separated about a generation “who knew not God.” at.
renewed their purpose and mission. repentance. Tent meetings filled with Society was revitalized—social reform societies were started to help the urban were founded to carry the gospel to the
00
On September 23, he held a prayer meeting in the Old Dutch Reformed Church in New York City. Only six people participated. But he persevered, and shortly thereafter, the stock market crashed. Suddenly, spiritual hunger was pervasive, and crowds began to flood the prayer meetings. Soon, over 10,000 were estimated to be meeting daily for prayer in New York City. In addition, prayer meetings sprang up all across the Eastern Seaboard, the frontier, and even west into California. God was on the move once again, and for the next year and a half, America witnessed another spiritual awakening, this time brought on entirely by prayer. It has been said that there are revivals without much preaching, but there are never revivals without much praying. The Great Prayer Revival of 1857–58 stands as eloquent testimony to that fact. God only needs a few brave souls who will step out in faith and believe Him to do mighty things.
War of 1812 1812–1815
Second Great Awakening
h tens of thousands of new d denominations
ion—thousands of volunteer societes, including slavery, temperance, on reform, and education
Civil War 1861–1865
Great Prayer Awakening
1900
IMPACT • Brought thousands together daily for prayer in cities such as Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York before spreading south and as far west as the Pacific coast • Led by laypeople much more than by pastors or church leaders
unt of money donated to benevobudget of the federal government!
• Used modern media (telegraph and newspapers) to spread the flame of the revival
ment in history, with the formation luding the American Bible Society, ners for Foreign Missions, the erican Home Missionary Society
• Saw 50,000 converts a week at its height—some estimates put the total number of conversions as high as 1,000,000 Key Figures Jeremiah Lanphier, local bands of unsung prayer organizers
y, Timothy Dwight, Peter Cartwright,
revive 17