Revival Stories

The 1971 Saskatoon Revival (Part 1)


No genuine historic revival is ever born without a movement of focused prayer. And this truth was never more clearly seen than in the revival that was visited upon the believers in Saskatoon, Canada, in 1971. The story of this outpouring began in 1961 with a pastor named Bill McLeod stepping into the pastorate of the little Ebenezer Baptist Church, hidden away in Saskatoon, a city in the south-central area of Canada. Pastor Bill quickly realized, quite sadly, that Christians in his church were much more inclined to talk about evangelism than to actually do it. He then turned to laying a foundation of prayer among the people.

He knew the importance for their own leaders to be diligently praying, so he set up a weekly deacons prayer meeting every Saturday at 9PM. He stressed the need for honesty and confession of sins in God’s presence. And God began to move among the people. As Bill emphasized the crucial role of prayer, the congregation began meeting on Wednesday nights to call upon God, and it became one of the most exciting times of the week for the believers. God answered their petitions, and the church saw His favor upon them. The numbers would grow week after week, reaching more than 150 on some weeks (which is amazing, considering it was larger than the Sunday worship attendance).

In addition, the church began praying for revival specifically all-day every Wednesday. The adults would commit to pray at specific times of the day. Then the youth started making their own commitments. And then the children also joined in crying out to the Lord on that day. Soon, all 24 hours of every Wednesday was bathed in prayer by someone in the church, resolved to be on their knees asking for a great spiritual awakening. It is said that God gifted this church with the Zechariah 12:10 gift: a spirit of grace to pray with a burning intensity!

Pastor Bill would fervently exhort his listeners to take extra time to come together to pray after the Sunday services and also to make each meal of the day an opportunity to ask God for revival. He even encouraged his members to listen for God in the middle of the night and, if awakened by God, to heed His call and begin making intercession. In time, even those who previously had never prayed for more than 5 minutes at a time found themselves able to pray for more than 40 minutes at a time without growing tired. Many began calling out to God during long stretches of the night.

In 1969, God brought Duncan Campbell, the renowned revivalist of the Hebrides Revival, to speak at Ebenezer Baptist Church. While there, Duncan predicted a powerful awakening was coming to Canada soon, and that God would choose to use Ebenezer church on the frontlines of this great move of God. It was at this time, too, that many pastors in Saskatoon began connecting regularly to seek the Lord to bring historic revival to their region. Two years later, in October of 1971, God would send the twin ministers, Ralph and Lou Sutera, to lead a 10-day evangelistic campaign at Ebenezer church. That would be the season when God would gather up all the heart-wrenching passionate cries of His people over so many years, and He would finally give them their hearts’ desire by releasing fresh fire from Heaven!


QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:

  1. Why do you think prayer is so crucial to the normal Christian life? What is its importance for those who are seeking historic revival? What were the evidences of extraordinary prayer in Saskatoon before revival broke out? On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best), how would you rate your practice of prayer in your personal life? On the same scale, how do you think your local church is doing in prayer for the city and for revival?
  2. Why do you think God delays revival for a given place? What is possibly keeping revival from erupting in your hometown? What does the Spirit want you to do or commit to so that revival will take place where you are?
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