Day 22: Evan Roberts - “The Secret to a Revival”
“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.””
Introduction
Say you heard that churches in New York had to open every day because endless crowds wanted to attend service. Many of them had lines stretching around the block as people waited to get inside. And one worship service wasn’t enough— churches needed multiple services every day to accommodate everyone. There were also reports of thousands repenting and coming to Christ every week. You might assume that this was a made-up story. Yet this is what happened in the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival.
What started as a prayer meeting of about 20 people rapidly grew into a nationwide experience of repentance and surrender to God. People were pouring into churches, confessing, praising, and committing to a new life led by the Holy Spirit. About 100,000 gave their lives to Christ. This sort of revival doesn’t occur out of the blue, however. Surveying the life of Evan Roberts, the lead figure of the Welsh Revival, we can learn the secret to a revival.
The Secret to a Revival
Even years before the revival took over Wales, people around Evan Roberts noticed that prayer dominated his life. One observer said, “Prayer was the breath of his soul.” Roberts loved communion with God. After becoming convinced that God desired to bring a revival to Wales, Roberts started praying earnestly for it. Later in his life, Roberts testified that he prayed for a revival for over a decade. He prayed for years before anything happened publicly.
There’s obviously much more to say about his life that led to the revival, but prayer was the key. It laid down the foundation for God to convict thousands and draw them to Christ.
Reflection
One of Evan Roberts’ prayers was “Bend me!” He completely surrendered to God and His will, which meant interceding for the nation. People rarely come to Christ by accident. Rather, God uses the persistent prayers of His children to bring lost souls to Himself. May we also pray, “Bend me,” and faithfully intercede for our city and nation. We may not know exactly how God will use our prayers, but we can trust that He will use them to open up hearts to the gospel.