A Generation in Prayer - Lord, Do it again
When God poured out his Holy Spirit on children and young people in the past it led to a generation crying out in prayer to Him. In this blog we look at some of these stories.
Bible – Acts 10:30
Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me.
Bible – Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Bible – Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit.
Lord, do it again.
The Silesian Revival[i]
In 1708, in Silesia (now part of Southern Poland) children began to pray.
It started with a few children meeting to pray three times a day. They would gather at 7 in the morning, midday and at 5pm. God was sovereignly stirring the hearts of the children that caused them to gather together.
No adults helped them, in fact many adults were actively working against these meetings. Ministers had forbidden prayer unless they were present to preside over it, authorities tried to stop it and some parents were against it. But God was on the move. When leaders and parents could no longer tolerate these times of prayer, the children left the towns and went into the open fields to continue their meetings.
It started with a few children in one place but spread rapidly, reaching 5 provinces in 5 days. In each place a few children started to meet, but before long more joined. Some groups had 3000-4000 children meeting to pray. These were boys and girls aged 5-15 meeting for orderly prayer meetings, worship and reading from the Bible.
Bystanders were moved to tears as they say these children fall on their knees to pray and repent. These children were labouring in prayer and some of the meetings lasted between 3-5 hours. The depth of devotion impacted all who saw it and the cry of the children could be heard from a quarter of mile away.
Adults who had documented the prayers of the children said that they asked:
For forgiveness
For better understanding of the Word of God
That God would send His Holy Spirit on the people
That God would send revival
That God would favour them
That they might become messengers for God.
The children were said to have such a love of prayer that they fogot about food and sleeping. When one meeting ended they could not wait for the next one to start. God was stirring his children to pray. Some of these children moved to Hernhut and joined with the adults who started a prayer meeting that was to continue without pause for over 100 years.
Many of the subsequent missionary movements were birthed as consequence of this work.
Lord, do it again.
In Indonesia[ii] The Indonesian flag
During 20th Century Indonesia, the Holy Spirit moved among the children. From about 4 to 6 every afternoon, Monday through Friday, these children, instead of playing like most little kids, would get together in prayer meetings. Children aged 6-10 would kneel and put their hands together and pray—not only for others right around them, but for the whole world. And they would be so concerned that they would weep. Then the Lord would give them perhaps a word of prophecy, or instructions, or reveal something special to them.
Lord, do it again.
UK – this century[iii]
During a meeting one girl prayed for her mother to come to church. The young girl lived with her grandmother, because her mother was addicted to drugs and led a chaotic life. The next Sunday her mum had agreed to come to church. Ten minutes into the service, there was still no sign of the mother and the girl knelt to cry out to God. Meanwhile, her mother had been driving to church but had changed her mind and started to return. At exactly the time when her daughter prayed she turned her car back towards the church and arrived in time to dedicate her life to the Lord. Twenty teenagers met in a small room to cry out for salvation for the children. They prayed for 90 minutes without stopping kneeling and weeping as they believed God to move. In answer to their prayers many children gave their hearts to Christ in an outreach that day. In one Sunday School session the leaders felt God was going to do something aside from their planned programme. They began by asking the children to bow their heads in prayer and listen to the Holy Spirit to hear what he wanted to say to them. Only one 5 year old heard anything and they came forward to boldly declare that ‘today we’ll be learning about hell.’ The leaders quickly reverted to their planned programme but part way through the children paused to pray and as they prayed they began to receive open visions of hell. Around 20 of the children in the room (1/3 of those present) saw open visions of hell. Each vision was unique and each vision matched descriptions from Scripture that most of the children had not yet heard of. This time of intercession for the lost was profoundly life changing for all involved as they laboured for souls in the spirit. Lord, do it again.
‘Lord send your Holy Spirit, for Jesus Christ’s sake.’ _________________________________ [i] Kinderbeten: The Origin, Unfolding, and Interpretations of the Silesian Children's Prayer Revival, by Eric Jonas Swensson [ii] Like a mighty rushing wind, by Mel Tari [iii] The Josiah Generation, by Olly Goldenberg
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