The Beginning of Revival

The headline and sub-heads of The Denver Post, dated January 20, 1905, read as follows:

Entire city pauses for prayer at the high tide of business as the soul rises above sordid thoughts: remarkable outbursts of gospel sentiment provoked by revival. Evangelist Chapman and his associates cause a hush to spread over the populace While the noonday meetings draw congregations unprecedented in numbers.

The opening paragraphs of the lead article describe the situation in the city:

For two hours at midday, all Denver was held in a spell. The marts of trade were deserted between noon and two o’clock this afternoon and all worldly affairs were forgotten and the entire city was given over to meditation of higher things. The Spirit of Almighty pervaded every nook. Going to and coming from the great meetings, the thousands of men and women radiated this spirit which filled them, and the clear Colorado sunshine was made brighter by the reflected glow of the light of God shining from happy faces. Seldom has such a remarkable sight been witnessed: an entire city in the middle of a busy week bowing before the throne of heaven and asking and receiving the blessing of the King of the universe.

That actually happened in our country in 1905 in the city of Denver, Colorado. There was a true biblical revival in Denver that year. Though it was not on the same scale as the revival that occurred in Nineveh under Jonah’s preaching, it was every bit as genuine. When true revival comes, it impacts everything and everyone. I have been in the ministry for 30 years and I have never witnessed a revival. To be sure, I have been in church events called “Revival Meetings,” but never in a true revival. Revival doesn’t come because we schedule two weeks for it. Revival comes when certain things happen in the hearts of people.

When Jonah went to Nineveh, a real revival took place: “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5).

Taken from The Runaway Prophet, by David Jeremiah.