The Welsh revival

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. – Hosea 10:12, ESV

In the early 19th century the little country of Wales was shaken by a revival, a spiritual awakening that brought more than 100,000 people into the Kingdom of God. The awakening began when a teenage girl stood to her feet in a youth meeting and said, “I do love Jesus...” and then began to sob, sitting down and burying her head in prayer, something followed by the rest of the young people. But if you can credit any one person with that spiritual awakening, it was a timid young man, very introverted and shy, by the name of Evan Roberts. If there was ever an unlikely candidate for someone to start a revival, it was Evan.

I shall always remember making the acquaintance of a Salvation Army pastor, a Welsh man who was a contemporary of Evan Roberts. Often I would take him to lunch and ask him about those days, and he would relate times he and the young men who worked in the mines, at the close of the day, would go to the hills and pray. He said that when they were ready to come down the mountain, almost always Evan Roberts could be found farther up the mountain still praying.

People confessed their sins, sought God and repented of wrongdoing. This, in turn, was followed by restitution, payment of bad debts and changes in their lifestyles and habits.

For a period of time pandemonium broke out in the coal mines when the mules used to haul coal ore, accustomed to profanity, didn’t know what to do when the expletives were missing. What took place in that little country changed the direction of the lives of people for well more than a generation. Ask God to do the same thing, starting with you, today.

Used with permission from Guidelines International Ministries. To learn more about Guidelines and the ministry, send an e-mail to [email protected]. You may also visit www.guidelines.org.