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When one researches the subject of revival, one

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quickly learns that most revivals were preceded by

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prayer.

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I am reminded of an old painting which

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hangs in a Spanish gallery.

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It depicts the following.

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In the foreground is a peasant farmer who

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is kneeling in the attitude of prayer.

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He has removed his straw hat and it

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lies beside him.

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Up behind him is his team of mules

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and plow, which he also has laid aside

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for a time of prayer.

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In the background of the painting is a

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town village with a church in its steeple

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and a bell tower.

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Apparently, the bell has rung, calling the village

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to a time of corporate prayer.

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But if one looks closely at the painting,

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in the far right-hand corner is the

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form of an angel.

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The angel has picked up the plow and

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it seems to be moving the team of

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mule as if to make a fresh furrow

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in the field while the man kneels in

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prayer.

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And there is a caption at the bottom

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of the painting on a brass frame with

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three words written there.

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And those three words are NO TIME LOST

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Do you get it?

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When we pray, it's as if all of

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heaven's resources are enlisted on our behalf.

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We get more done in prayer than we

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do out of prayer.

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It's a vital relationship between prayer and revival.

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And when one studies historical accounts of revivals,

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one soon learns that God has visited a

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church with revival because of the burdened, desperate

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prayers of someone praying intercessoring for revival.

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This was the case in the Scottish Hebrides

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in 1949, where two old women, the Smith

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sisters, had been praying to God to send

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revival to their village of Lewis.

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They saw a vision of a man, a

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stranger, standing at a pulpit.

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And when Duncan Campbell finally was sent to

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the island in answer to their prayer, they

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recognized the face of that man as the

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one in their vision.

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One only has to study the revivals under

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Charles Finney to find a praying Daniel Nash

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and an Abel Clary hidden in the wings.

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And this was the case, friends, when D

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.L. Moody visited England and the church he

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was preaching in soon saw a powerful revival.

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The work of God was so startling it

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shocked Moody and gave him a desire to

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locate the reason behind the revival.

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In speaking with the church's pastor, he learned

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of a church member who was absent from

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the church during those meetings.

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She was a bedridden invalid, a young girl

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who had seen a picture of Moody in

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an American newspaper, and she began to pray

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to God to send this man to her

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church for God to use this American preacher

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in revival.

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Upon discovering who this invalid girl was, Moody

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went to visit Marianne Adlord in her bedchamber.

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And 29 years later, G.

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Campbell Morgan became the pastor of that church

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and he paid a visit to Marianne Adlord.

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This is his account of that meeting.

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When in 1901 I was leaving England for

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America, I went to see her.

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She said to me, I want you to

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reach that birthday book.

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I did so.

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In turning to February 5th, I saw in

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the handwriting I knew so well, D.L.

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Moody, Psalm 91.

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Then, Marianne Adlord said, He wrote that for

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me in 1872, and I prayed for him

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every day till he went home to God.

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Continuing, she said, Now, will you write your

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name on your birthday page, and let me

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pray for you until either you or I

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go home.

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Well, I shall never forget writing my name

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in that book.

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To me, the room was full of the

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presence.

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Listen, friends.

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There were heroes and heroines out of sight

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who labor in prayer to make it possible

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for those who are in sight to do

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God's work.

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The force of a life of ministry and

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prayer can never be measured.

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Well, friends, like that story, don't you?

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Revival goes hand in hand like biscuits and

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gravy with prayer.

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Every great revival, if researched, will prove the

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importance of prayer connected to that revival.

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When Charles Finney would get into a town,

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the first thing he'd do was to inquire

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of the townspeople if there were any praying

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women in the town.

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He would then go see them to get

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them to pray for the meetings he was

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conducting there.

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And I know full well from personal experience

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the importance of prayer.

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Years ago, I was conducting an evening school

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of preaching on the subject of revival at

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the Stephen Oldford Institute in Memphis, Tennessee.

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I knew I'd be addressing a room full

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of pastors, so I brought two men with

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me.

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These two men were men I was discipling

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at the time, and I knew they were

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praying men.

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And I told them to sit at the

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back of the room while I preached, and

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their main objective was not to listen to

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me, but to be engaged with God and

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prayer that entire evening.

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Well, I was preaching out of John chapter

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15, and I was describing the divine pruning

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knife that God uses on his servants.

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And about halfway through my message, the faces

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of the pastors were suddenly altered with looks

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of concern, as if they were peering into

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eternity.

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It was obvious that God was doing a

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work among them, and they told me so

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afterwards.

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One man in particular, an elderly black pastor,

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threw his arms around me and he hugged

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me, and he said, I want you to

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know that after this night, things will be

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different with me.

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I'm going to go home, and when I

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get there, I'm going to kneel by my

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bed, and I'm going to ask the Lord

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to get his pruning knife out on me

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and my ministry.

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Well, that's revival, friend.

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And it came not because of me or

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my preaching, but because of those two praying

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men who labored in prayer while I was

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preaching.

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The same thing happened one time in a

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church where I was invited to preach the

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Sunday morning sermon.

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The pastor was a godly man of prayer,

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and he told me he'd have to miss

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my sermon altogether because he'd rather shut himself

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up in his study for that entire time

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praying for me while I was preaching to

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his people while he was on his knees

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with God in prayer.

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And I was preaching that morning on the

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Last Judgment, and toward the end of my

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sermon, God showed up.

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And it was like the Last Judgment.

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It looked as if a cannonball had just

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been shot down the center aisle of that

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church because the looks on the faces of

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the congregation were looks of alarm.

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And it was as if for one brief

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extended moment, we were all standing on the

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very verge of eternity gazing out into the

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darkness.

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One young man jumped out of his chair,

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came bounding down the aisle, hopping up and

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down and hollering that he just got saved.

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And one of the deacons afterwards shared with

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me that they felt they were frozen in

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their seats by an unseen force.

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And the music minister had a grin on

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his face, ear to ear, as he excitedly

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told me that he looked up and he

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saw a glimpse of Jesus sitting on His

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throne.

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Well, that's revival, friends.

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And when God comes in His manifest presence

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in the midst of His people, it's an

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unusual, accelerated, exciting activity.

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Well, once you experience the power of God

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in a meeting, you know the difference and

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you know the supernatural from the natural.

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But the prayer that God hears is the

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desperate prayer of a burdened heart crying out

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to God to come in revival, no matter

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the cost.

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One of the deepest and lasting revivals under

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the preaching ministry of John Song in China

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occurred in 1931 in Nanchang because of an

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American Methodist missionary by the name of William

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Schubert who prayed and fasted for 50 days

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for God to send revival.

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That's when John Song showed up and the

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power of heaven came down on the people

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in revival as they confessed their sins and

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weeped before the Lord.

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But it was all due to the cost

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and sacrifice of this praying saint, William Schubert,

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and the obedience of John Song.

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John Song recorded in his journal how he

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overheard Reverend Schubert pray when he stayed as

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a visitor in his home.

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Song wrote, Reverend William Schubert often went to

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fasting prayer and cries of worship could often

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be heard from upstairs.

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Oh God, isn't it time to revive the

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church at Nanchang?

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If not now, when?

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There's no point for me to stay here.

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If you don't show any mercy, I might

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as well go back to my country.

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John Song said, his earnest prayers touched the

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very depth of my heart indeed.

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Make it a practice, brother pastor, to pray

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on a regular basis for revival.

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You'd be amazed at what God can do

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in answer to this kind of prayer.

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Let me close with the following true story

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that was related to me by a pastor

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friend from Glasgow, Scotland.

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He said that his city of Glasgow had

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a city banner and a slogan that stood

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for over a hundred years.

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And all over the city, you could find

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a banner that read, Let Glasgow Flourish in

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the name of the Lord and the power

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of His Spirit.

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Then, some liberal civic leaders voted to do

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away with the old banner and replaced it

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with a new one that simply read, Let

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Glasgow Flourish.

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Well, these godless politicians did away with the

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rest of the slogan in the name of

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the Lord and power of His Spirit.

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They got rid of God in the new

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slogan by only saying, Let Glasgow Flourish.

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And my pastor friend told me that when

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this occurred, the crime within his community went

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up noticeably.

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There were more unwed teenage pregnancies, more drug

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arrests, more public drunkenness, more vice and crime.

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It seemed that wickedness and evil were now

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taking the field.

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And this pastor said it disturbed him so

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deeply that his city was changing for the

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worse that he called a group of other

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pastors in his community to make a covenant,

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one with another, that they would meet on

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a weekly basis to pray for their city

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of Glasgow.

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They would band together and pray with the

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sole purpose of pushing back the darkness within

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their community.

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And my pastor friend said that after gathering

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in prayer for some long months, he saw

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a decrease in crime.

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Drug arrests went down.

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The number of unwed pregnancies decreased.

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The occurrences of public drunkenness decreased.

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Vice and crime went down.

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Their faithful supplications began to push back the

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darkness in their community and fill it with

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light.

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Like I said, friend, we can do more

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in prayer than out of prayer.

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The engine of the church used to be

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the weekly prayer meeting.

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But when churches quit that, they quickly ran

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out of gas.

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Are you praying for revival in our day?

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Well, let us pray right now.

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Oh, Ancient of Days, dear Heavenly Father, I

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come to you now by the name and

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blood of your Son, Jesus.

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Turn us, oh God, into praying individuals who

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have power with you, power with you in

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answered prayer.

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Our nation lies in the very grip of

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the devil.

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It's as if the Antichrist is already in

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the land and society is just spinning out

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of control into moral chaos.

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We need revival, Lord.

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We need it now.

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I pray, great God, that you look down

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and hear our prayer.

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Bend your ear and hear our heart cries.

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Come in your power and your majesty and

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your authority.

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In our midst, once again we pray.

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And I ask these things in the strong

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name of Jesus.

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Amen.