Author: John Page 35 of 160

I Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Matthew 22:37-38 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment”

In the midst of wildly successful revival meetings, there were strong pressures to make the 1857 Prayer Meeting Revival into something more, diverting them from their primary mission. Yet, Jeremiah Lanphier and the other leaders kept the focus on where it needed to be – a time for prayer, renewal, and evangelization. Specifically, they committed themselves to the following:

“The glory of Christ, the progress of his kingdom, the wants of perishing souls, the need of the Holy Spirit, the desirableness of greater consecration to the Master – these and kindred themes furnished sufficient occupation to mind and heart.”

This past week, we rightfully celebrated Veteran’s Day, honoring those who have sacrificially served our great nation. Yet, this day provided a chance to celebrate another set of veterans: those who braved the 66-day journey across the rugged northern Atlantic ocean in 1620 to come to the new world. On November 11th, these pilgrims found themselves within the safety of Cape Cod. Before setting foot on dry ground, realizing that there would come strong pressures that could divert them from their primary mission, they codified their mission statement in our nation’s first constitution – the Mayflower Compact. Similar to Lanphier’s mission, it started with the following reminder of the purpose of their voyage: “for the Glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country.”

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD REFOCUS OURSELVES BACK TO OUR PRIMARY MISSION FOR CHRIST. We are placed here in this land and this time to bring glory to Christ, progress His kingdom, meet the wants of perishing souls and the needs of the Holy Spirit, and to be molded for greater consecration to the Master. We are here for the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith. Any other focus prompted by the strong pressures around us is a diversion from our primary mission!

ADMIN NOTE: The quote about the 1857 Prayer Revival above is from the Talbot Chambers book “The New York City Noon Prayer Meeting: A Simple Gathering That Changed the World.”

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Acts 6:7 “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

Jeremiah Lanphier’s prayer movement faced challenges even apart from the economic downturn.  Just as the meetings were blossoming, they faced a substantial setback in the form of an unexpected death.  John Knox, a beloved and faithful pastor that was a key part of the prayer meetings, was found dead after a tragic fall.  It was a sorrowful event that threatened to halt the momentum of the prayer meetings while casting a shadow over the blessings seen up to that point. 

Yet, God was not through with the Prayer Revival.  Knox’s death provided a solemn reminder about the fragility of human life to the entire prayer community, and his funeral brought together believers to celebrate a life that had been respectfully dedicated to the cause of Christ.  Afterwards, the prayer movement exploded in New York City.  Pastor Chambers described it this way: “It was not uncommon at that time for all the rooms, with the halls and stairways leading to them, to be filled to repletion.”  The Spirit of God transformed their challenges into victory.

There are plenty of reasons to see societal setbacks in Twenty-First Century America as roadblocks to revival.  Yet, the Spirit of God can transform these challenges into victory if we bring them to Him in prayer.  He seeks to work things together for good, to reveal His glory in us, and to multiply His disciples. 

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO TRUST IN GOD’S POWER TO TRANSFORM OUR SITUATION FOR HIS GLORY.  In order to see God’s full power in our land today, our prayer closets must be filled to repletion.

ADMIN:  The Talbot Chambers quote comes from his book “The New York City Noon Prayer Meeting: A Simple Gathering That Changed The World”.

ADMIN 2: I will not be posting a PLUS devotion next Saturday, but will do so in the week to follow. Please do keep praying for our nation and our leaders!

Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Acts 2:46-47 “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.  Praising God, and having favour with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

Acts 6:7 “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

Jeremiah Lanphier was joined by five others during his first lunchtime prayer meeting on September 23, 1857.  The following week, there were a total of twenty prayer warriors and the week after that the number doubled to forty.  As a result, Lanphier transitioned the prayer meetings to be a daily event.  The numbers kept growing and the spreading results were described in the following way:

“Seeing the intense spiritual hunger and the need for more space, many pastors began opening their churches for morning and evening prayer and were astounded when their sanctuaries were filled with hungry seekers desiring to call on the name of the Lord.

A spirit of prayer seemed to be unleashed from the Fulton Street meeting to the nation.  Prayer meetings began springing up in Philadelphia, Boston, Washington D.C., Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago and in a multitude of smaller cities and rural areas.”

A small step of faith and a simple act of prayer ignited a huge movement of God that far exceeded the expectations of the participants while perfectly meeting the desperate needs of the day.  God’s power was not confined to a single weekly meeting in lower Manhattan.  Unleashed by the spirit of prayer among His people that was prompted by an intense spiritual hunger, it spread throughout the land.  The results were astonishing!

That same power is available to us today.  Our small steps of faith and simple acts of prayer may ignite a huge movement of God that far exceeds our expectations while perfectly meeting the desperate needs of the day.  Unleashed by a spirit of prayer among His people prompted by an intense spiritual hunger, God’s power could spread through the land.  The results would be astonishing!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO DEMONSTRATE A SPIRIT OF PRAYER PROMPTED BY AN INTENSE SPIRITUAL HUNGER.  These Christian characteristics could unleash God’s power to meet the desperate needs of the day.

ADMIN:  The quote above comes from “The Great Prayer Awakening of 1857-58” by Eddie Hyatt.

Genesis 26:18-19 “And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.  And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.”

Acts 2:5 “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.”

Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Talbot Chambers, one of the pastors of the church that hosted Lanphier’s prayer meetings, described the 1857 movement as “redigging the wells of revival.”  It was all about reconnecting with our faith-filled past in order to properly connect with our faith-fueled future.

Chambers also described these meetings as uniquely powerful because of the perfect combination of demographics and geography.  New York City in 1857 brought the world to one place at one time in a way that enabled outreach to flourish.  Chambers described it this way: “Instead of the staid, settled families of fixed principles and ordinary habits who once filled the churches there to their utmost capacity, there was now a mixed multitude which might well be compared to the heterogeneous crowd which thronged the streets of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.”  Lanphier’s meetings, therefore, reached a broad audience that was seeking truth, purpose, and meaning, thus magnifying the opportunities for impact for the cause of Christ.

In America in 2021, we don’t live in a staid, settled world of fixed principles and ordinary habits that fill our churches to their utmost capacity.  Instead, we are surrounded by a vibrant, mixed multitude that provides us our own heterogeneous crowd.  Our communities reflect many of the characteristics of first century Jerusalem and nineteenth century New York City.  As a result, God may have provided today’s American Christian a perfect combination of demographics and geography that can enable our outreach to flourish.  Our faithfulness has an unmatched opportunity to reach a broad audience seeking truth, purpose, and meaning that can magnify our impact for the cause of Christ.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO RECONNECT WITH OUR FAITH-FILLED PAST IN ORDER TO PROPERLY CONNECT WITH A FAITH-FUELED FUTURE.  May we redig the wells of revival by faithfully reaching out to the heterogeneous crowd that swirls around us and provides an unmatched opportunity to reach a broad audience for the cause of Christ.

ADMIN:  The Talbot Chambers quotes come from his book “The New York City Noon Prayer Meeting: A Simple Gathering That Changed The World”.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Psalm 37:5 “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

I Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

God had miraculously set and nurtured the conditions for revival in Lower Manhattan in 1857, even when the conditions seemed bleak.  To begin with, Jeremiah Lanphier was called into his ministry because of the demographic change in the area that brought in immigrant families who were short on Biblical knowledge and who needed a source of Christ-centered truth.  Then, shortly after the beginning of the prayer meetings, the economy faced a sharp downturn known as The Panic of 1857, a financial crisis that began in New York City and quickly spread throughout the country.  Banks and businesses closed, and people faced severe unemployment.  While the conditions in those days seemed dire, these unique challenges created an urgent neediness for the truths of God, the prayers of the people, and the hope of the gospel.  The economic downturn even gave people time to regularly attend the prayer meetings when a prosperous time would have otherwise deprived them of an opportunity to do so.  God had orchestrated things perfectly for revival in their day, working all things together for good in accordance with His purposes.

In our lives, and in our times, conditions sometimes seem bleak.  Changes in our communities may unsettle some, and economic and health challenges in our land may concern and even impact others.  While the conditions in our day may seem dire, these unique challenges may have created an urgent neediness for the truths of God, the prayers of the people, and the hope of the gospel.  We may even have the time to pray when normal times would otherwise deprive us of an opportunity to do so.  God may have orchestrated things perfectly for this day, working all things together for good in accordance with His purposes.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITIES AROUND US TO SERVE THE LORD FAITHFULLY.  Our labour will not be in vain in the Lord; He will bring it to pass!