Revival Stories

The 2nd Great Awakening, 1790-1840’s: Overview


Over a period of about 50 years, from 1790 - 1840, God released in America a series of revivals led by an assortment of diverse leaders. It would bring about far-reaching spiritual renewal and social reform. In the years preceding this awakening, the nation had fallen into a dark downward spiral. Though the nation only had a population of 5 million people, hundreds of thousands struggled with alcohol abuse. The crime rate was extremely high, and many folks were afraid to go out at night because of the threat of violence. Books were written to ridicule and strip away the authority of God’s Word, and many of the colleges originally founded to honor God now had barely any true Christians among their student body. The churches in almost all denominations were losing vast numbers each year, and it was declared that “the church was too far gone to ever be redeemed.” Voltaire, a philosopher of that time, said that Christianity surely would be forgotten within 30 years.

In 1791, church leaders in England, seeing a spiritual drought in their own country, called for a “Concert of Prayer” among all church members to ask for a fresh pouring out of the Holy Spirit. The people responded by unifying in prayer. The results? In a short time, revivals ignited and spread out in that part of Europe. Meanwhile, back in America, leaders like Isaac Backus observed what God was doing in England and similarly issued a call to prayer to the American Christians. And as they prayed, God would answer with a slew of revivals throughout New England, out to the frontier states, across small towns and villages, and into the big cities.

As a result of this time of awakening, each year hundreds of churches would find new life and Spirit-empowerment, and tens of thousands of new believers would join these churches. Many college graduates would enter into full-time ministry, and thousands of new churches would be birthed. Americans would participate in and generously give towards new efforts for social reform and also worldwide missions work. There were advances in women’s rights, prison reform, and anti-slavery issues. As the Holy Spirit revived individual hearts in this country, the churches and society itself would undergo radical transformation for God’s glory.


QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:

  1. Have you ever been in a situation so dark where you wondered what God was doing? Why do you think God allows such darkness to develop in cities and nations?
  2. Why do you think prayer matters so much to God before He brings a revival? What kind of prayer do you imagine took place in those pre-revival Concerts of Prayer, both in England and in America? How might prayers today look different from the character and content of the prayers of those early revivalists?
  3. Can true reformation of a nation or society occur without revival? Why or why not?
blog comments powered by Disqus