Revival Stories

The 1905 Mukti Revival



This revival started in central India, near the town of Kedagaon, at a missions institution called Mukti, which means “salvation”. The Mutki mission was initiated by Pandita Ramabai, a Hindu woman who was highly educated and had followed the Hindu gods for many years. She had been given opportunity in 1883 to teach in England, and during this time she put her trust in Christ. She eventually returned to India to work with orphans, widows, and victims of famine and converted a family farm into a refuge for women that she named Mukti.

By 1901 Ramabai was caring for over 2000 women and children at Mukti. As she sought the Lord in fasting and prayer and shared the Good News, many gave their lives to follow Jesus. In 1903 she started to take notice of a prayer movement that was touching many countries. Upon hearing about revival in Australia that year, she sent her daughter and an American missionary to investigate. They returned from their journey with the clear conviction that persistent and extraordinary prayer paves the way for revival.

In January 1905, after hearing about the recent Welsh revival, Ramabai very purposefully began a new prayer group at Mukti consisting of 70 intercessors who labored in prayer early each morning for the salvation of the lost in India and for a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit throughout the earth. Within a few months this group grew to over 550, and they would gather for prayer twice each day. Dozens of students would go into the villages daily to share the Gospel to everyone within hearing.

On June 29th of that year, at 3:30AM, the American missionary Miss Abrams was stirred from her sleep by the report that one of the girls at Mukti had awakened “with fire coming down upon her”. Upon arriving at the girls’ dorm, Miss Abrams found the youth on their knees, praying and weeping and repenting of their sins. The very next evening, as Ramabai was sharing from the Bible, the Holy Spirit was poured out with power upon the entire gathering. Young girls, elementary-aged children, and adolescent women were overwhelmed with God’s presence and praying with tears and acute awareness of their brokenness. People would pray for hours on end. In the many meetings that followed, prayer was described as “like the rolling thunder” with hundreds praying audibly together. Sometimes after 10 or 20 minutes it would die away and only a few voices would be heard, then it would rise again and increase in intensity. On other occasions it would go on for hours. Some saw visions. Others grieved loudly from the conviction of their sins. And others radiated joy in the assurance of God’s forgiveness and love for them.

Fourteen days after the initial wave of revival, Mukti began sending out teams of Christians to various schools and assemblies to help ignite revival there. The Mukti mission became a center for revival in their country, with visitors from nearby towns and also from around the world. For years afterwards, the revival would spread throughout India and beyond its borders, drawing people to experience God’s presence and deep lasting heart change.


QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:

1. What do you consider to be extraordinary prayer? What do you imagine extraordinary prayer would look like for your generation to ignite the next great revival?

2. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being cold and 10 being absolutely on fire for God, how would you rate the prayer life of the church in Charlotte? What could you do help tilt the rating in the city to move 1 point higher in the next 30 days?

3. Would you be willing to put your personal goals and dreams on hold in order to take the gift of God’s manifest presence to new towns and cities near you? What fears or thoughts are holding you back? What verses are the Holy Spirit speaking to you right now?

blog comments powered by Disqus