Shared…
The following excerpt is taken from The Revival Study Bible:
George Whitefield: Plowing Through for Revival
At John Wesley’s request, George Whitefield went to Georgia for about a year to help with the Savannah Orphan House set up for children of the colonists. Whitefield pushed through the matted forests to reach the Indians. From tribe to tribe he went and from wigwam to wigwam. To get to the encampments of the Delawares, he shot the angry rapids in a frail bark canoe. He ferreted out the backwoodsmen. “Men must hear the message; they must have the life of God in their souls.”
On Whitefield’s return to England most of the Anglican clergy were no longer favorable toward him, scandalized by his preaching regeneration, or the “new birth,” as a thing many baptized persons greatly needed. Many began to denounce him openly and deny him pulpits. J.C. Ryle says, “The plain truth is that the Church of England of that day was not ready for a man like Whitefield…too much asleep to understand him and vexed at a man who would not keep still and leave the devil alone.” The door to the Church of England ministry began to close. Whitefield, seeing thousands out of church, resolved in a “spirit of holy aggression” to go out into the highways and byways and “compel them to come in.” His first attempt was among the Kingswood colliers near Bristol in February, 1739. He began on a hill to speak to one or two hundred of these coal miners on regeneration:
Having no righteousness of their own to renounce, they were glad to hear of Jesus who was a friend to publicans and came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. The first discovery of their being affected was the sight of the white gutters made by their tears which fell plentifully down their black cheeks as they came out of the coal-pits…
Sometimes when twenty thousand people were before me, I had not, in my own apprehension, a word to say either to God or them. But I was never totally deserted…The open heavens above me, the prospect of the adjacent fields with the sight of thousands, some in coaches, some on horseback, and some in the trees and at all times affected and in tears was almost too much for me, and quite overcame me.
The word spread; the next audience was two thousand; the third meeting four to five thousand and then audiences multiplied and expanded… to twenty thousand! Shortly, he would preach to up to thirty thousand people at one time. Thousands came to hear him preach; whole cities turned out to hear the young man with the golden voice and a supernatural authority from heaven.
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Prayed…
Thank You, Jesus
We draw nearer to You today, Lord
Calling for churches to be awakened in these last days
Declaring for the fire from heaven to fall afresh on us
Stir us up with a refreshing fire from heaven
We will continue to press out further than we have ever been before
Father, we will be Your hands and feet on this earth
Thank You for the ministry of Your precious Holy Spirit
We yield to You, and we give You our lives and our future, Lord
Trusting in You for every step that we need to take
The call is going out, and the alarms are going off!
Open our ears, Father, to hear that which You have called us to do
Dusting off the old and calling the new to come forth!
This is a new day, and we have been called up and out!
Lifting up the name that is above every other name—Jesus!
Declaring for those things to be straightened out
We put all of our hope and trust in You, Lord
Continually moving ahead to the greater things You have called us to
No, we will not let go, but we will contend all the way through to the end
Every limitation be removed in Jesus’ name!
Yielding to Your ways and plans, we bow down at Your feet, Father
Calling for those low places to be made high and those high places to be made low
Lord, we ask You to strengthen the body of Christ today!
No, we will not stop, but we will continue to march ahead in the plan You have set before us
Thank You for unlimited strength and unlimited power to fulfill Your call and plan
Declaring the blood of the Lamb to be over each and every step we take, Lord
Touch their mouths, lips, and their feet, Father
Light them up with the fire of God, today!
Looking for a showing up and a showing off of the power of Your Gospel
Words from heaven are being spoken that pierce and penetrate
Divinely spoken utterance in the Holy Ghost!
The sounds of heaven are calling!
It is the time and the hour for the rising up of Your Church
Chains are being broken, we will not be held back any longer!
No limitations, no boundaries in the name of Jesus
The word will have free course in the highways and in the by ways
We shake free from those things of this world, and we will press ahead
Pressing ahead to the higher calling in Christ Jesus
Calling for strength to believe it and strength to carry it out
Father, we cover Your land of Israel with the blood of Jesus today
Pleading the blood over every city and every village in Israel
Reveal Your plan and purpose to them, Lord
Expose those lies of the enemy!
Clear it up and out, and make a way, Lord
Holy, holy, holy is Your name, Jesus!
