Revival Stories

The Start of the New England Revivals in 1798


In 1794, a Baptist preacher and man of prayer named Isaac Backus took notice of how God had used the idea of a “Concert of Prayer” in England to unify the British churches and bring about revival. Isaac sensed God urging him to do the same in America. He had witnessed during his ministry how dry and dead many churches had become on the east coast of the United States. Many congregations had grown stagnant and spiritually lifeless for well over a decade. In faith, Isaac reached out and coordinated with more than 20 other New England ministers and sent out a circular letter making an urgent plea to all pastors in the area to start praying for revival. Amazingly, many ministers and believers enthusiastically agreed to meet for a concert of prayer on the 1st Tuesday of each quarter of the year. They committed to keep asking the Lord for an outpouring year after year until He would answer.

Beginning in 1798, revival fire erupted in New England. Fervent prayers led to diligent study of the Word of God and deep conviction of personal sin. It became a regular daily occurrence in many churches to see lost men and women finally find salvation. As revival would take hold in one town, revivalists would travel to other towns to pass along the fire of God’s manifest presence. They would preach from the Word and challenge listeners to put aside their fascination with worldly distractions. They would tell stories of historic revivals and stories of present revival breaking out in nearby towns. Sometimes, a surge of God’s awakening power would come upon a church as they read out loud a story of revival. At other times, a group of believers would visit an ongoing site of revival, experience what God was doing, and then bring it back to their home church. Over the next 17 years, no less than 150 towns and churches across Massachusetts and Connecticut experienced a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit that energized and revitalized their townsfolk and saw a fresh surge of new believers putting their faith in Christ.

God multiplied revival rapidly and powerfully in the early 1800’s. Though many towns in New England during this period were small by today’s standards, God was pleased to pour out His Spirit through them in mighty ways during this early phase of the 2nd Great Awakening. It was also noted by many pastors that the majority of revivals began with the young people in their congregation and had their greatest impact upon that generation. May God do it again today in churches of all sizes and among every generation!


QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:

  1. What do you think is interesting or peculiar about the Concerts of Prayer that preceded the revivals in England and during the 2nd Great Awakening in America?
  2. What do you identify as some of the key practices that helped revival spread so quickly during the New England revivals?
  3. What aspects of revival do you think would capture the attention and heart of our young people today? Pray for this.


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