The spirit of prayer and the awakening (continued)

Finney, in his revival speeches, speaks of other remarkable revivals given in response to the prayers of the people of God. He says somewhere :

"A pastor told me about an awakening among the people, which began with a zealous and consecrated woman from her church. She was tormented about sinners and began to pray for them ; the more she prayed, the more her anguish increased. Finally she came to her pastor and asked her to organize a meeting for the troubled souls, because she felt it needed one. The pastor refused, because he felt nothing like it.

The following week she came back and begged him again; she knew there would be people to attend, because she felt that God was going to spread his Spirit. He refused again. Finally she said to him : "If you do not do this meeting, I will die, because there will certainly be an awakening." The following Sunday he announced a meeting and said that if there was anyone who wished to talk to him about the salvation of his soul, he would meet him that night. He was not aware of any case, but when he went to the agreed place, he found to his astonishment a large number of worried people come to question him.

Elsewhere he says : "The first ray of light that shone in the deep night that enveloped the churches of Oneida County at the end of 1825 came from a delicate woman who, I think, had not never found in a powerful alarm clock. His soul was anxious about sinners. She was in agony for the country. She did not know what was happening to her, but she continued to pray more and more, so much so that it seemed to her that her agony was going to destroy her body. Finally, she was filled with joy and exclaimed : 'God has come ! God has come ! One can not be mistaken, the work has begun and extends over the whole region'. And indeed the work began, almost all his family was converted and the awakening spread over all this part of the country.

Jeremy Sourdril