If you don’t know much about the move of God that took place in this nation during the 1800’s, I urge you to get some books and read about it. I promise you, your spiritual appetite will be increased.
When you see what God did here just 150 years ago, your heart will cry out for Him to do it again.
One book that has really blessed us here at Living Word Christian Center (Brooklyn Park, MN) is a book named “Revival Fire” by Wesley Duewel. “Revival Fire” reveals many things about the revivals that took place during the ministry of Charles Finney. It says that “Finney laid great stress upon prayer as an indispensable condition of promoting the revival.”
One place that experienced revival during Finney’s ministry was Oneida County in central New York. There, Brother Finney met Mrs. Harris, a pray-er who had wrestled in prayer day and night asking God to do a work of grace there. Her face had an unearthly, heavenly glow and Finney said that she had won revival through prayer.
Ushering in God’s Presence
Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the revivals that took place in one city after another during Finney’s ministry was the overwhelming sense of God’s presence that would invade entire regions. That presence could be felt not just in the churches and homes but on street corners, in places of business, in shops and hotels. Everywhere!
Mr. Duewel writes that “a divine influence seemed to pervade…during these revivals and turned the area into a zone of holiness. The same phenomenon was occurring along the whole eastern cost of the United states during the 1858 revival.”
Speaking again of the move of God along the eastern coast, the book tells of a “canopy of holy and awesome revival influence – in reality the presence of the Holy Spirit” that hung over the entire area. It even extended out to sea!
“Revival began aboard one ship before it reached the coast. People on board began to feel the presence of God and a sense of their own sinfulness. The Holy Spirit convicted them, and they began to pray. As the ship neared the harbor, the captain signaled, ‘Send a minister.’
“Another small commercial ship arrived in port with the captain, and every member of the crew converted in the last 150 miles. Ship after ship arrived with the same story: both passengers and crew were suddenly convicted of sin and turned to Christ before they reached the American coast.”
Wouldn’t it be thrilling to see God move again in that way in our day? Well, bless God, He will if we will pray!
Excerpt permission granted by Mac Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”