Revival Stories
The 1904 Welsh Revival: God’s Unlikely Servant (Pt 2)
In early 1904, revival fire had begun to burn again in the country of Wales, especially in the town of New Quay. People once again sensed God’s power and presence, were convicted of their own sins, and were energized to share their faith.But, there was more that God had in mind for this nation. Seth Joshua was a Presbyterian evangelist who preached at New Quay in September of that year. In those days, people were becoming so hungry for God’s Word and His Spirit that Mr. Joshua had to preach until midnight or 1AM each day, despite his attempts to wrap up earlier. For many years prior, this ardent intercessor had been praying that God would raise up someone that no one would expect, that the Lord would call forth an ordinary coal miner to bring revival to all the churches. He would soon see how God would answer.
Evan Roberts had been born in 1878 into a very devout Welsh family, the son of a coal miner. Evan would join his father to labor in the mines at the age of 11 years old, and he later became an apprentice to a blacksmith. But from a young age, he had been drawn to study God’s Word. And even after he started working in the mines, he felt God’s call to one day serve in the ministry. At the age of 13, he heard the old stories about revival, and for the next 13 years he prayed persistently every day for revival to revisit his homeland.
By the time Evan was 26 years old, in 1904, he had little material wealth, no training in public speech, and nothing in his personality that exuded drama or flair. But that spring, while in prayer before going to bed, Evan had a vision of God drawing near to meet with him. This took place at 1AM that night and lasted for several hours. For the next 3 months, Evan experienced this intimate fellowship with God every night around the same time. By this time, he had been recommended to attend seminary to prepare for ministry. In September of 1904, while at school, he asked permission for a week to attend the revival meetings nearby being conducted by the evangelist Seth Joshua. It was at one of these meetings where the preacher was closing up the service, fervently imploring his listeners to surrender to the Spirit’s will, and Seth Joshua cried out in great anguish, “Bend us, bend us, bend us, O Lord!” This prayer loosed the heavy rainwaters of revival upon Wales. Those in attendance were in anguish over sin, and some were overwhelmed to the point of collapsing upon the ground. Evan Roberts himself lay on the ground for hours, with the words, “Bend me, O God!” caught up in his heart.
When Evan finally got up from the ground, he was no longer the same man. His thoughts were singularly focused upon the coming outpouring of revival. In October, he pulled a close friend aside and asked him, “Do you think it is too much to ask God to save one hundred thousand souls in Wales?” Evan found himself unable to return to his studies, so with the blessing of the principal, he headed back that month to his hometown to begin his ministry. On October 31st, at his home church at Moriah Chapel, he preached to an audience of mostly young people. He simply called on his listeners to recognize sin in their lives, to surrender to the Holy Spirit, to obey what God was telling them. And the Holy Spirit fell upon the crowd. He started to teach every day, each meeting last up to 5 hours, and the chapel regularly filled to full capacity. God would soon take Evan Roberts from village to village, from one valley to another, all through Wales. The presence of God would transform the moral character of the townspeople and bring deep conviction as well as unbounded joy. Within the first 6 months, at least one hundred thousand folks would bend their hearts towards God, trust in the Lord, and surrender to the Spirit’s leading. The outpouring of the Welsh Revival was fully underway!
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:
- What would you say are the top 3 things that is needed for someone to be used as a revivalist by God? What things are NOT needed (even if they might be helpful)? What are 5 unusual things you see in Evan Roberts life that prepared him to be used by God in the Welsh revival?
- “Bend me, O God!” was the catchphrase of the Welsh revival. What do you think is the significance of Evan Robert’s prayer: “Bend me, O God!”?
- What longings burned in Evan Roberts’ heart? Do they burn in your heart today? Ask the Lord to give you an even greater heart for revival.