The WELSH REVIVALS - Millions Transformed
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
by PrayInTongues
Wales has had two great Revivals--1858-60, and 1904-5
--interspersed with many local revivals.
Both began with a massive amount of in-depth prayer.
Both Revivals saw approximately 100,000 converts out of the world
--about a tenth of the population. Dr Edwin Orr, however, puts the
1904 Revival figure at approximately 225,000. A quarter of the
population of Wales became truly born-again Christians.
He arrived at this figure by estimating the number of nominal
Christians who attended dead churches but became truly born-
again during the Revival.
Imagine a quarter of a whole country becoming genuine Christians
in the space of a few months!
The whole character of a nation was vastly changed. In some
areas crime simply ceased. Judges had no cases to try. Pubs
went bankrupt. Drinkers were back home with their families.
Strikes were settled. Families were healed. Income was spent
on food and necessities, not beer, which was what Wales was
formerly notorious for: a nation of beer-drinkers. Bookshops ran
out of Bibles to sell. Homes ran prayer meetings and Bible
studies. If ever there was a truly Christian nation, Wales was,
in 1905. On Sundays, just about everybody was in church, and
the churches were full of life.
How did it begin? In one word, PRAYER. Of the 1904 Revival,
Jonathan Goforth in his classic "By My Spirit" wrote:
"In the South of Wales, shortly before the great outpouring of the
Spirit there in the early years of this century [1904] 300 extra
prayer groups were formed. Wales, in fact, became like one
great prayer meeting" ("By My Spirit," p.134.)
If you want your country to be healed, pray that it will be turned
into "one great prayer meeting."
America, it has happened before in your nation--in 1857. Jeremiah
Lanphier's tiny prayer meeting became the fuse to "The Prayer
Revival" that saw a million genuinely born-again Christians added
to the Church in America then jumped the Atlantic to see another
million added to the churches of Britain between 1857-60.
It can happen again! God still answers prayer!