Revive Us Again

Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?

Psalm 85:6

Only a revival of biblical proportions can restore America to moral decency and spiritual strength. Don’t think that such a revival is impossible; it has happened before, and it can happen again. God often sends revival when times are at their worst.

The mood of America was grim during the mid-1850s. In New York City, a layman named Jeremiah C. Lanphier announced a series of noontime prayer meetings to begin September 23, 1857, at the Old Dutch Church on Fulton Street. When the hour came, Lanphier found himself alone. Finally, one man showed up, then a few others.

The next week, twenty came. The third week, forty. Other churches opened their doors. The revival spread to other cities. Offices and stores closed for prayer at noon. Newspapers spread the story, and even telegraph companies set aside certain hours during which businessmen could wire one another with news of the revival. The revival, sometimes called the Third Great Awakening, lasted nearly two years, and between five hundred thousand and one million people were said to have been converted.

Ask God to revive us again, and let it begin with you.