Summary
Dr. J. Edwin Orr emphasizes that every great spiritual awakening throughout history has been preceded by fervent, united prayer. He recounts movements such as the 18th-century revival with Jonathan Edwards and the 1857-58 revival in New York, where laypeople gathered in humble, persistent intercession. These awakenings were not triggered by powerful preaching or organized campaigns, but by the people of God seeking His face with urgency. Orr draws attention to the critical link between believers humbling themselves before God and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that follows.
He also notes that revival is not something we can manufacture—it is God’s response to the conditions He Himself has set (see 2 Chronicles 7:14). When God’s people repent, pray, and turn from wicked ways, God promises to hear and heal. The role of prayer is not a side element but the core engine behind revival. Dr. Orr challenges listeners not to wait for better methods or leaders, but to begin praying now—believing that God still moves when His people cry out in unity and faith.
Transcript
Doctor A.T. Pierson once said, “There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer.” I would like to speak to you today about what God has done through concerted, united, sustained prayer.
Not many people realize that in the wake of the American Revolution there was a moral slump. Drunkenness was epidemic. Out of a population of five million, three hundred thousand were confirmed drunkards. They were burying fifteen thousand of them each year. Profanity was shocking. For the first time in American history, women were afraid to go out at night for fear of assault. Bank robberies were a daily occurrence.
What about the churches? The largest denomination at the time, the Methodists, were losing more members than they were gaining. The Baptists, the second largest, called it their most wintry season. Presbyterians met in General Assembly to deplore the ungodliness of the country. The Congregationalists were strongest in New England, but Reverend Samuel Shepherd of Lenox, Massachusetts, said that in sixteen years he had not taken in one young person into fellowship. The Lutherans were so languishing they discussed uniting with the Episcopalians, who were even worse off. Protestant Episcopal Bishop Samuel Provost of New York quit functioning because he had confirmed no one for so long, deciding he was out of work and taking up other employment.
The Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall, wrote to the Bishop of Virginia and said, “The church is too far gone ever to be redeemed.” Voltaire said Christianity would be forgotten in thirty years, and Tom Paine preached this all over America. Church historian Kenneth Scott Latourette said it seemed as if Christianity were about to be ushered out of the affairs of men.
How did God change that situation? Through the concert of prayer. A Scottish Presbyterian minister in Edinburgh named John Erskine wrote a memorial pleading with the people of Scotland and elsewhere to unite in prayer for a revival of religion. He sent a copy to Jonathan Edwards in New England. Edwards was so moved he wrote a response that grew into a book titled A Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of All God’s People in Extraordinary Prayer for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom.
That was the key: explicit agreement and visible union of God’s people in extraordinary prayer. This movement began in England through men like William Carey, Andrew Fuller, and John Sutcliffe. After John Wesley’s death, the Second Great Awakening began and swept Great Britain.
In New England, a Baptist pastor named Isaac Backus, a man of prayer, sent out a plea in 1794 when conditions were at their worst. At Harvard, they found not one believer in the entire student body. At Princeton, only two believers could be found. Students rioted, held mock communions, staged anti-Christian plays, burned Bibles, and forced resignations. Christians met in secret, keeping minutes in code to avoid persecution.
Isaac Backus addressed his plea for prayer to ministers of every Christian denomination. The Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists, Reformed, and Moravians all adopted it. America became interlaced with a network of prayer meetings. The first Monday of each month was set aside for prayer, and soon revival came. It broke out in Connecticut, then spread to Massachusetts and beyond.
When revival reached the Kentucky frontier, it met with a wild, lawless society. Religious Congress discovered Kentucky had not held more than one court of justice in five years. Peter Cartwright said Logan County was known as Rogues’ Harbor. But God raised up James McGready, a Presbyterian minister known for his unattractive appearance, but even more for his passionate prayer life. McGready and his people prayed at sunset Saturday evening and sunrise Sunday morning. In the summer of 1800, the Great Kentucky Revival came. Eleven thousand people gathered for a communion service. Baptists and Methodists joined together, and the great camp meeting revivals began.
Out of the Second Great Awakening came the missionary movement, the abolition of slavery, popular education, and more than 600 colleges founded by revivalists. Yet by the middle of the 19th century, conditions deteriorated again. America was divided over slavery, and many were caught up in wealth and prosperity. But God moved once more through a man named Jeremiah Lanphier, who started a prayer meeting in Manhattan with just six people. Week by week it grew. Soon every church and public building in downtown New York was filled.
By February 1858, revival had spread. Church bells rang for prayer at eight in the morning, noon, and six in the evening. Ten thousand people a week were being converted in New York City alone. Across the country, churches reported unprecedented growth. A young shoe salesman named Dwight Lyman Moody began his ministry in that revival, teaching street boys about the Bible.
More than a million people were converted to God out of a population of thirty million in one year. The revival jumped the Atlantic and broke out in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, South Africa, South India—anywhere there was an evangelical cause. Its effects were felt for forty years.
At the turn of the 20th century, there was again need for awakening. People gathered at Moody Bible Institute, Keswick Convention, Melbourne, Korea, and elsewhere praying for revival. The Welsh Revival of 1904 began as a movement of prayer. Evan Roberts, a coal miner turned preacher, was called by God to speak to young people in his hometown. At first, only seventeen stayed to listen. By the end of the evening, all seventeen responded.
The revival spread like a tidal wave over Wales. Judges were presented with white gloves because there were no cases to try. Police had no crime to prevent, so they formed singing quartets. Drunkenness was cut in half. Coal miners stopped cursing, confusing the horses. The illegitimate birthrate dropped dramatically. It swept Britain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Canada, the United States, and far beyond.
The key lesson is clear: “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB)
God expects us to pray. Jonathan Edwards said we must promote explicit agreement and visible union of all God’s people in extraordinary prayer. When people pray at six in the morning, when they fast, when they give up lunch to pray—that is extraordinary prayer. It does not mean losing our denominational distinctives. It means recognizing one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, prepared to pray together until God answers.
Matthew Henry said, “When God intends great mercy for His people, He first sets them a-praying.” God is sovereign, but He chooses to work through our cooperation. Whether your interpretation is Calvinistic or Arminian, one thing is simple: We must pray. Then God will work. May God help us so to pray. Amen.