The Fulton Street Prayer Meeting

The Fulton Street Prayer Meeting

What do you do if you announce a prayer meeting but no one comes?

THE SUMMER of 1857 was a frustrating time to be a Christian in New York City. In the commercial district wealthy bankers and real estate speculators conspicuously thanked God for their profitable deals. Yet in the vast slums poverty was inescapable. The revival fires of the Second Great Awakening had been dampened twenty years earlier by the financial panic of 1837.

Jeremiah Lanphier was a man who wanted to make a difference. Born south of Albany, he had come to New York City to enter the mercantile business. Then at the age of thirty-three he unexpectedly discovered that Jesus Christ was real and that he had paid the penalty for his sins. Lanphier gave his life to Jesus and joined the Brick Presbyterian Church, spending much of his spare time as a street evangelist. Then in the summer of 1857 the North Dutch (Reformed) Church on Fulton Street decided to hire a full-time lay evangelist to reach the immigrants living around their church. They chose the energetic fellow from Brick Presbyterian, Jeremiah Lanphier.

Lanphier immediately started passing out invitations to the church to all who lived within walking distance, but found few takers. He began praying, Lord, what do you want me to do? The answer he received was that God wanted people to pray. As he mulled this over in his mind, an idea started to take form. He would have a prayer meeting for businessmen from noon to 1:00 P.M. It would be simple and flexible. Businessmen could come for a few minutes or for the whole hour. It would include singing, prayer, and exhortation, and a bell would ring if anyone spoke over five minutes.

Lanphier printed up a handbill inviting the public to a weekly prayer meeting at noon on Wednesdays in the third-floor meeting room of the North Dutch Church on Fulton Street. The first prayer meeting would be held September 23, 1857.

The appointed day arrived and at noon Lanphier went to the room and knelt to pray. Ten minutes passed, and no one came. Twenty minutes passed, and still he was all alone. Finally at 12:30 he heard the door open from the street and the sound of footsteps coming up the stairway. One man entered the room and without saying a word knelt down next to Lanphier. Then another man came, followed by another until by one o’clock there were six.

But the following week there were twenty. Then in the first week of October the meetings were held daily, and the number gathered increased to forty. The fourth week attendance averaged over one hundred with many under conviction and inquiring how they might be saved.

New York City was to see a great need for God when on October 18 a financial panic seized the city, collapsing the economy into a brief but steep recession. “The Fulton Street Meetings,” as they became known, soon filled all the rooms at the North Dutch Church and spilled over into the nearby John Street Methodist Church. Soon many other churches were opening their doors both at noon and before work in the morning. Even police stations and firehouses opened their doors to meet the need for places to pray. Within six months, ten thousand businessmen were gathering for prayer daily.

Although the revival was the most spectacular in New York City, businessmen’s prayer meetings sprang up in many cities around the country. Within the next two years approximately one million converts were added to the churches of America.

Reflection

Have you ever felt prompted by God to plan an event only to have very few attend? It would have been easy for Jeremiah Lanphier to feel discouraged even after the five others finally showed up at his first prayer meeting, but he persevered. In similar situations we must remember that our responsibility is to be faithful to what God directs us to do and the results are up to him.

The master was full of praise. “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!”

Matthew 25:21