In his book Revival, Baptist historian Michael Haykin traces some of the contours of the Great Awakening in the early 18th century and the British and Irish revival of the late 18th century.
One London pastor gave this exciting report in 1754, “more of our meeting houses have been [expanded] within the last five years, and built within the last fifteen, than had been built and enlarged for thirty years before.”
Another pastor described the divine phenomena this way: “Meeting-houses which had been deserted were crowded. Meeting houses which had been more than large enough for their congregations for two or three generations had to be made larger. New meeting-houses in great numbers were erected. Cottages were rented in villages; farm-house kitchens were lent; old barns were turned into chapels; and young men who had been hard at work all through the week at the smithy, at the carpenter’s bench, or behind the counter in drapers’ shops, went out in companies from the towns on Sunday mornings to conduct the services” (p. 143).
Imagine that! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see God do this again? Revival is a work of the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to predict or manufacture — just like the wind — and yet we can see its powerful effects (John 3:8).
You cannot predict when revival will break out. But certain conditions have characterized every revival throughout history. There has been an increased hunger for the Word, and there has been a renewed commitment to prayer. Anytime you see a revival in history, you see a return to these two things – the Word of God and prayer. If there is any hope of seeing a revival in our day, we must return to these things as well.
In Colossians 1, Paul models for us what it looks like to be a people of prayer. He prays that we will have both steadfastness and gratitude. I preached on this message a few months ago, and you can now listen online:
Other links:
Calvary Church Youtube channel
Calvary Church sermon podcast
Calvary Church website
Feed My Sheep podcast
Pinch Of Clay 