Church History – Revival Studies

Although there are other contributing factors to revival (spiritual hunger, humility before God—II Chronicles 7:14, faithfulness, etc.), the key agents of revival are the Word, prayer, and unity. All these elements are found in every revival.

Subsequently, to illustrate how these agents contribute to the formation of a revival, case studies will be conducted on a few revivals in which specific elements stand out distinctly.

Perspectives of ‘the Word’

When considering the Word of God as a key component to revival, there are a three closely-linked but definite perspectives to it:

• The revelation of God’s Word that unlocks a move (II Kings ch. 22) – When an insight (a Spirit-led discovery) leads to reforms that translate to a revival. When this revelation comes, believers have the responsibility to earnestly seek God’s face to birth the revival.
• The prophecy of God’s Word that predicts a move (Ezekiel 37:1-14) – When God (through His Word or prophecy) reveals a future outpour of His Spirit (a revival).
• The declaration of God Word that produces a move (Nehemiah ch. 8) – When the declaration of God’s Word, backed up by the Spirit, convicts the hearts of people and causes a revival.

The Word of God plays a key part in heralding revival. It is through the Word that we uncover what God wishes to accomplish. As we align with God, He fulfils His promises of pouring out His Spirit. The word of God always precedes a move of God.

“Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret to his servants the prophets.”

—Amos 4:7

It is through the revealed Word that we know what to expect. Unless God says it, it cannot happen.

Protestant Reformation

• Through study of the Word the reformers understood that justification comes by faith alone: faith in Christ.
• The authority of the Scripture and passion for the truth contained in it became the driving force of the Reformation.
• Efforts of the reformers (Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli) in translating Scripture promoted the proliferation of God’s word.
• Emphasis on the Word of God as the ultimate authority led to major religious, social, and political transformations.

Bible’s Influence on the Reformation

The Bible played a central role in influencing the Protestant Reformation of 1517.

The reformers, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli, emphasized the authority and accessibility of Scripture as the Word of God. They sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church by challenging its doctrines and practices that they believed deviated from biblical teachings.

Through translating the Bible into the vernacular languages and promoting its widespread dissemination, the reformers encouraged individuals to directly engage with the Scriptures, enabling them to critically examine and interpret religious teachings for themselves.

This emphasis on the Bible as the ultimate authority in matters of faith and the rejection of certain Catholic practices led to significant religious, social, and political transformations throughout Europe, contributing to the birth of Protestantism and the subsequent fragmentation of Christianity.

Azusa Street Revival

• While prayer (coupled with fasting) was foundational to the Azusa Revival, it was all borne from the revelation from Scripture.
• Seymour came across Acts ch. 2 where the account of the Pentecostal Outpouring was recorded.
• Desiring a manifestation of the Spirit’s baptism, Seymour and a group of fellow believers decided to seek God in prayer and fasting.
• Thus, the movement was birthed as a result of the discovery in God’s Word.

Bible’s Influence on the Revival

The Azusa Street Revival was a significant event in the history of Pentecostalism, a Christian movement that emphasizes the experience of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible, such as speaking in tongues.

During the revival, participants believed that they were experiencing a restoration of the early Christian Church as described in the Bible, particularly the Book of Acts. They sought to recapture the spiritual fervor, manifestations, and unity of the early Church, which they believed had been lost over the centuries.

The Bible, particularly the New Testament, served as a foundational text and source of inspiration for the teachings and practices of the Azusa Street Revival, shaping its emphasis on the Holy Spirit’s work and the belief in the ongoing relevance of spiritual gifts.

Prayer is an essential component to every revival. A revival cannot be birthed or sustained without effectual, Spirit-guided prayer.

Before leaving Jesus prescribed prayer as the precursor to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

“And, behold, I send the promise of the Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

—Luke 24:49

After knowing God’s will through His Word, we have a foundation for whatever request we make of Him.

It is the Word that directs our prayer.

Moravian Revival

Prayer was a central and transformative force in the Moravian revival, characterized by a commitment to constant intercession, fervent gatherings, and a round-the-clock prayer vigil.

The Moravians believed in the power of corporate prayer, which fostered a deep sense of unity, love, and reconciliation within the community.

This emphasis on prayer fuelled their spiritual awakening, leading to a renewed devotion to God, the establishment of global missionary efforts, and a lasting impact on the spread of Christianity in the 18^th century.

Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf

Nikolaus was born on May 26, 1700, in Dresden Germany, and was raised in a devout Christian family. At a young age, he got converted and developed a deep faith.

During his years as a student at the University of Wittenburg, he encountered Pietists teachings which profoundly impacted him.

In his late twenties, Zinzendorf opened up his estate in Saxony to accommodate refugees (from Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia) who were fleeing Roman Catholic persecution. He welcomed the refugees and supported their establishment of their new village, Herrnhut (meaning, “the Lord’s watchful care”).

The Moravian refugees regarded themselves as the spiritual descendants of Bohemian reformer, John Hus.

From 1722 to 1727, the community grew to 220 people living in 30 different homes. Sadly, due to doctrinal differences brought on by various denomination that made up the community (Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Moravians), dissension, bitterness, and disunity threatened the stability of the new settlement.

Zinzendorf began working to address the conflicts and the disunity amongst the refugees. He visited homes for study of the Scriptures and prayer, and his efforts led to the spiritual growth and unity.

24-Hour Prayer in Herrnhut

After an all-night prayer meeting on August 12, 1727, the Moravians decided to start a 24-hour prayer vigil. A place of prayer was designated in the village where they prayed in groups of two or three for one-hour increments.

A week has 168 one-hour time slots, and the Moravians filled all the slots with prayer. For 110 years the Moravians had two or three people praying in the place of prayer per hour (24 hours a day, seven days a week).

From this endeavour, an incredible passion for God was birthed which resulted in sacrificial missionary work to parts of the world unreached by the gospel.

Seventy missionaries were sent out from this small community of about 300 believers to carry the light of Jesus Christ all over the world.

Layman’s Prayer Revival

Prayer played a pivotal role in the Prayer Revival of 1857, also known as the Third Great Awakening. During this period, prayer meetings became widespread and fervent, with individuals and communities gathering to seek God’s intervention and revival. The emphasis on prayer created a spiritual hunger and a deep sense of dependence on God.

As people fervently sought His presence and guidance through prayer, hearts were transformed, leading to widespread repentance, increased unity, and a renewed passion for evangelism.

The Prayer Revival of 1857 demonstrated the power of prayer to ignite spiritual awakening and bring about significant societal transformation.

Jeremiah Lanphier

During a time of financial boom, when Christianity and the church was receiving much criticism as a result of the misleading predictions (William Miller, a Baptist preacher, predicted that Jesus would return between 21^st March 1843 and 21^st March 1844), Jeremiah Lanphier saw that prayer would address the spiritual decline of the nation.

Jeremiah was a successful businessman but after perceiving a call to ministry from God, he becomes a missionary in downtown New York on the 1^st of July 1857. He organized weekly noonday prayer meetings (sharing flyers) and called the city to prayer.

The prayer meeting began on a Wednesday, the 23^rd of September 1857, with low attendance of 5 people. However, before long, a nation-wide revival kicked off.

Weekly Noonday Prayer Meeting

• Week 1 (23^rd September, 1857): Jeremiah began the prayer meeting alone… after 30 minutes some people started to arrive till a total of 6 individuals were in attendance.
• Week 2 (30^th September, 1857): A total of 20 people were at the meeting. At this time a period of financial crisis had begun and businesses were being crippled.
• Week 3 (7^th October, 1857): 40 people were in attendance and it was decided that the meetings become daily.
• By November 1857 three separate meetings were taking place in different rooms. There was no preaching, just prayer.
• In cities and towns all over USA prayer meetings were being conducted.
• At the beginning of 1858 religious press started covering the news of the revival (media attention). By February 1858 the secular press began to report and keep track of the revival.
• Other churches began to open their doors to accommodate the crowds that wanted to pray. In addition, the churches began conducting evening services.

Unity is one of the results of prayer. And the result of unity is the manifestation of God’s presence. Unity doesn’t mean a multitude. Many people can gather, and nothing will ever happen but if there is unity among few, God visits that union.

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

—Matthew 18:20

Unity is essential because it is amongst the fellowship of believers that God commands His blessing.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life forevermore.”

—Psalm 133:1, 3

Unity in the Azusa Street Revival

• Brotherly love and unity played a role in engineering the Azusa Street Revival.
• During his early years as a believer Seymour, the leader of the revival, was associated with the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana). It was a church known for its emphasis on Christian unity.
• After a setback in his ministry and with nowhere to go, Seymour was invited by Edward Lee to stay with him.
• Their bond of unity in daily prayer and fasting laid the foundation for the revival.

One of the notable aspects of the Azusa Street Revival was its emphasis on racial and ethnic unity.

At a time when racial segregation was pervasive in American society, the Azusa Street meetings attracted people from various races and backgrounds. African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, and people from different ethnicities and social classes came together to worship and seek God.

People were drawn to the Azusa Street meetings from across the country and even from other parts of the world, and many experienced spiritual transformation and revival in their own lives.

Unity in the Welsh Revival

• The revival drew people from different social classes. Denominational differences were abandoned.
• Attendants of the revival experienced a deep sense of unity and fellowship as they sought God together.
• The emphasis on unity during the Welsh Revival played a crucial role in its formation and success as it demonstrated the power of believers coming together in prayer and worship.
• There was a common goal of spiritual renewal.

The revival was led by Welsh preacher Evan Roberts, who emphasized the need for unity and repentance among Christians.

Roberts called for believers to come together, set aside denominational differences, and seek a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. His message resonated with people across Wales, and the revival quickly spread throughout the country.

One of the distinguishing features of the Welsh Revival was its emphasis on unity.

Believers from different denominations and churches set aside their differences and joined together in prayer and worship. The revival meetings attracted people from various backgrounds and social classes, and they experienced a deep sense of unity and fellowship as they sought God together.

A revival is characterized by many elements such as salvation experiences, spiritual conversions, healing and miracles, church growth, doctrinal debates and disputes, satanic opposition, etc. Although all these features are present in every revival and contribute to influence the impact of a revival, under this section, four (4) revivals are analyzed with respect to the selected features:

• Genuine Salvation
• Divine Healing
• Satanic Opposition

Heartfelt Repentance

Countless individuals underwent life-changing salvation experience. Preaching of the Gospel led multitudes to heartfelt repentance and a desire to surrender their lives to God. Many experienced deep encounters with the Holy Spirit.

Following Christ

Revival meetings became popular venues as people were drawn in by passionate sermons and worship. Individuals were convicted of their sins, leading to genuine repentance and a desire to follow Christ. This led to massive church growth.

Embracing Righteousness

The revival caused a remarkable change in behaviour among those who experienced its transformative power. There was a dramatic shift in moral values with people turning away from drinking, gambling, and such vices and embracing righteousness.

Spiritual Awakening

The revival resulted in a spiritual awakening throughout the US and beyond that impacted countless lives. People had profound encounters with God and experienced salvation. Thousands of people from various backgrounds attended the services.

Spirit’s Power

Although the revival focused on spiritual and moral renewal, there were reported testimonies of healings. Various accounts report people being healed of diseases, paralysis, disabilities, and injuries through prayer and the power of the Spirit.

Creative Miracles

The Azusa Revival was characterized by an outpouring of supernatural manifestations. There are records that those who had missing limbs had them grow back when they were prayed for. Healings were central feature of the revival.

Increased Faith

Nigeria witnessed a powerful move of God during the Benin City Revival. People received testimonies of miraculous healing: cripples walked, the blind regained sight, and the terminally ill recovered. All these served as a catalyst for increased faith.

Benson Idahosa

Benin City Revival. The desire for a powerful move of God, backed up with acts of faith was the catalyst for the revival in Benin. Idahosa heard his pastor preach about God’s power to raise the dead and sought to put the Word to test.

He got on his motorbike and drove around the town looking for a dead person to pray for. After spending hours searching, he finally got to a home where a young girl had just died. He gained access to the girl and asked her guardians if he could pray for her.

Idahosa prayed for the girl and, miraculously, she came back to life. This was the spark that lit the fire of the revival.

Spectacular Healings

The revival was not only marked by dramatic conversions, but spectacular healings also took place. Reports of healing from tumours, arthritis, and other illnesses. Many reported supernatural healings after the laying of hands by ministers and prayer.

Satanic opposition, in any form, is characteristic of every revival. A revival is a move of God and because it is against the interest of the enemy, he must oppose it.

A revival can encounter opposition from different sources (including established religious institutions, traditionalists, and those who are skeptical of or resistant to change), but the agenda of any opposition has its root in Satan.

Counter-Reformation

In response to the Reformation, the Catholic Church initiated a movement (the Counter-Reformation). This Satan-inspired initiative sought to suppress the truth, authority, and availability of God’s Word.

Religious Conservatives

The emotional preaching, ecstatic experiences, and thousands of people gathering for extended periods of worship was new to the religious conservatives. They strove to keep people from revival meetings which they regarded heretical in nature.

Harsh Critics

The Welsh Revival faced harsh criticism. The critics fervently criticized the preaching style, mass conversions, and spiritual experiences of the revival participants. The critics feared the disruptions the revival could cause within established religious structures.

Religious Traditionalists

To the traditional religious groups, the happenings of the Azusa Revival were unorthodox, disruptive, and inconsistent with their theology. As a result of this view, they raised a mountain of opposition to the revival, criticizing and denouncing it.

Satan is the biggest threat to any revival. It is his nature to oppose the move of God and he does so in different ways. He sponsors disunity, strife, and he actively promotes opposition against the move of the Spirit. During any move, the kingdom of darkness is exposed, and demonic operations are hindered, something that Satan cannot stand.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the enemy would seek to negatively influence a revival and cut it short.

The things that kill a revival manifest in the following:

• Satanic Influences
• Human Nature
• Destructive Criticism
• Strained Relations

• Like the sons of Sceva in Acts chapter 19, there were some who went about trying to stoke up the revival (Tennent family and James Davenport).
  • They tried to mimic the characteristics of the revival.
  • Like Uzzah (I Chronicles chapter 13), they think they can help God and taint the sacred move of God with unclean hands.
• This caused a division between the old lights (those opposing the revival) and the new lights (those in support of the revival).
• Satanic influence against the revival manifested in the vehement opposition of the message of the revival preachers.
• They stood against what Whitefield preached and how he preached and shut the doors of their church to him.
• Furthermore, the dissenters of the revival discouraged their congregation from listening to Whitefield.

• The ministry of Evan Roberts was viciously and publicly attacked by a congregational minister who called the revival into question.
• During the latter part of 1905, Evan Roberts had a nervous exhaustion.
• Roberts was greatly affected and as exhausted as he was, it brought about depression, and he needed time to recover.
• Because he was the leading figure of the revival, Roberts’ absence quenched the fire of the revival.
• In his weakness, Roberts fell into the wrong hands (Jessie Penn-Lewis, who wanted to exploit his popularity).
• Evan Roberts began to recover. Noticing that he was deceived, he shook off the ‘Penn-Lewis paranoia’ and went back to preaching, healing and saving souls. Unfortunately, the damage to the revival had already been done.

• The Azusa Street revival received lots of criticism because of their policy of acceptance.
• There was no segregation at Azusa Missions and this policy was not popular or widely accepted during this time of intense racial segregation.
• The revival was also criticized because of unorthodox practices. Services were characterized by ecstatic worship and other charismatic manifestations; something that traditional religious leaders regarded as being overly emotional and lacking theological foundation.
• Critics of the revival also condemned the lack of order and structure and claimed that the revival reports were exaggerations.

• Strained relations between the leaders of the church degenerated till there was a falling out.
• It is reported that carnal attitudes (pride, greed, selfish religious agendas, and broken relationships) influenced the decline of the revival.
  • Michael Brown, the leader of Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, was eventually fired in 2000; he left and started his own training center.
  • John Kilpatrick, the head pastor, resigned and later left to start his own church.
• Also, speculations have been made that the leaders of the movement mishandled the anointing of God’s presence.

Apostle Ayo Babalola

The main figure of the revival was Apostle Joseph Ayodele Babalola. Born in April 1904, he was raised in a Christian home. Babalola was a major figure in the Nigerian Pentecostal movement, and his ministry had a huge impact in the development of Christianity in Nigeria.

Preaching & Ministry

Initially, Babalola struggled to accept God’s call to ministry after his conversion at the age of 19. However, he eventually began his ministry of preaching and healing of the sick. His popularity quickly grew as a result of the miracles that accompanied his ministry.

Revival Features

The revival emphasized the Spirit’s power to heal the sick, cast out evil spirits, and bring about spectacular miracles. The move of God garnered much popularity, and many denominations suffered a loss in membership leading to denominational conflicts.

Note: Some churches that experienced loss in membership include the Anglican and the Wesleyan Churches in Ilesa.

Societal Impact

Nonetheless, Babalola’s ministry had a great impact on Christianity in Nigeria as many lives were touched by the revival. Pentecostalism spread throughout the country and the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), one of the largest denominations in Nigeria, was established.