Chapter 12 - When You Search For Me With All Your Heart
Series: Our Fathers Saw His Mighty Works
According to written accounts of many who have lived
during times of revival, one of the chief characteristics of such times has
been the tremendous spirit of prayer preceding and accompanying them. Thus, older Christians who have observed
revival firsthand have often exhorted future generations that to see a fresh
outpouring of the Holy Spirit in their own day they must pray to God fervently
and unceasingly for it. Perhaps no
example of this is more noteworthy than Jonathan Edwards’ book inspired by the First
Great Awakening - An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and
Visible Union of God’s People in Extraordinary Prayer for the Revival of
Religion and the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth - which gave rise
to the “Concerts of Prayer” preceding and surrounding the Second Great
Awakening more than 50 years later.1
More importantly, this prayer principle is borne up by Scripture. In Jeremiah 29, for example, God proclaimed
to His people who were captives in Babylon, “I will visit you and perform My
good word toward you . . . you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I
will listen to you. And you will seek Me
and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I
will bring you back from your captivity.” (Jeremiah 29:10b-14a NKJV) God’s deliverance of His people in reviving
power is predicated upon His people searching for Him with all their heart.
Since diligent prayer closely accompanies revival, one
would expect to find it woven into the Lutheran Evangelistic Movement’s
history. And that is precisely the
case. Although the leaders of the LEM
had been praying for revival since the organization’s inception, the marked
beginning of a more widespread and concerted prayer movement within the LEM
took place at the 1946 Deeper Life Conference.2 Bearing as its theme, “Not by might, nor by
power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah (Zechariah 4:6),” the whole conference
was characterized by “a burden of prayer for revival which seemed to fall on
the entire camp from the very beginning.”
Prayer meetings were held after lunch and before and after the evening
services; but even before those regular meetings were announced, other prayer
groups had begun meeting spontaneously at all times of day.
As
demonstrated by the following excerpts, the urgent spirit of prayer was further
fueled by the daily sessions which emphasized the great need for personal and
corporate revival.
“A study from the Bible about the
Holy Spirit will open our eyes to see what God wants. Why should our churches be dry and cold? Why should we not have an outpouring of the
Spirit in revival power from place to place?”
“Revival always comes in a hard
place. Sometimes we think revival is
impossible in our hard situation. It is
when we are reduced to absolute helplessness that God can bring revival. It may be that we ourselves are the hardest
problem in bringing revival.”
“God’s system of evangelism is
pivoted not around the evangelist but around the church on fire. In Acts when the preachers were in prison,
the revival went on. We should recognize
that revival is normal Christianity.”
(Rev. Armin Gesswein)
“The last days are prophesied to be
exceedingly sinful. Shall we then say it
is impossible to have revival in such a day?
No, we dare not limit God. I
believe that we are living in the days of the Laodicean Church. There is a severe warning to that church:
repent, or be spewed out of the mouth of God.
We have one last chance - to repent and have revival. Will the church take that chance?” (Rev. J.O. Gisselquist)
“The [lost] coin [in Luke 15]
represents the soul that is lost. The
woman still wanted the coin, still considered it worth possessing. So is Christ’s attitude to the lost soul. To find the lost coin, the woman lit a candle
and swept the house. That’s a good
recipe for a revival - a candle and broom.
Revival comes when God has set someone aflame, and it is followed by a
house cleaning.” (Rev. Joseph L. Stump)
The conference itself was a foretaste of revival. Among the 769 registrants and the hundreds of
daily commuters from the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, area, “Souls were
saved and lives were transformed. Many
Christians made important far-reaching decisions.” The zenith of the conference was the morning
of the final Sunday when Rev. Armin Gesswein delivered a stirring message
illustrated from his personal experience of a recent revival in Stavanger,
Norway. He related how a burden of
prayer had fallen on one Christian after another in Stavanger until a group had
been formed which had agreed to pray daily in secret and weekly in a united
meeting until revival would come. In
spite of hindrances, they had continued praying faithfully until several of them
on the same day had received assurance from the Lord that the revival would
come. Then they had spent the next
several weeks thanking the Lord for answered prayer until the revival had
actually arrived. When it had,
conviction of sin and hunger to hear God’s Word had abounded everywhere - on
the streets, in homes, and at businesses.
Hundreds from the city and surrounding territory had come to repentance
and faith in Christ. At the conclusion
of Gesswein’s inspiring message, many conference attendees dedicated themselves
to continue in daily, earnest, and importunate prayer, both private and public,
until God would send revival to the United States also. As Rev. J.O. Gisselquist declared, “Men’s
methods and efforts have failed. It is
time for God to work.”
The spirit of prayer first experienced so strongly during
that 1946 Deeper Life Conference seemed to spread throughout the LEM’s regions
of influence over the next several years.
For example, during LEM conferences in the fall of 1946, “a real burden
of prayer for revival” was observed in Newark, Illinois,3 and “many
earnest Christians . . . praying for a revival” could be found in Chicago.4 Two years later, such reports were still
forthcoming. Regular “prayer [was]
offered for revival in the churches” at prayer fellowship meetings held by
friends of the LEM on Minnesota’s Iron Range;5 while “much prayer
for an awakening among the lost” and God’s people searching themselves and
“sensing the need for a revival in their own hearts” were features of the
Clearbrook, Minnesota, Bible Conference.6 At the Hendrum, Minnesota, Bible Conference
that same year, Christians “band[ed] themselves together for prayer fellowship
. . . for the year to come” and “young people [went] before God declaring that
they were willing to receive a revival regardless of the cost.”7
This strong inclination towards prayer not only was being
felt within the LEM but also was occurring simultaneously in many other places
and organizations around the country, especially among Christian leaders. Quite clearly, the Holy Spirit was
orchestrating a national movement.
Within the Lutheran Free Church, for example, a letter was sent to all
pastors urging them to promote prayer at family devotions and midweek prayer
meetings with the special focus of prayer for an awakening within that synod.8 Even more significantly, the prayer movement
among church leaders was also becoming interdenominational. This was particularly true in Minneapolis-St.
Paul where the resulting events that were to unfold would soon place the LEM’s
leaders in the middle of the beginnings of a national revival.
One of the earliest signs of this Twin Cities prayer
movement occurred in January 1947 when about 60 pastors and Christian workers,
many of them Lutherans connected with the LEM, met each morning one week under
the auspices of the Greater Twin Cities Pastoral Association “to pray and
fellowship about the burden for a spiritual revival.”9 The meetings were led in part by the LEM’s
friend Rev. Armin Gesswein. Gesswein’s
words were especially encouraging to the gathering as he emphasized that
revival might begin with even the smallest group of Christians who lamented the
church’s current ineffectiveness, who hungered for cleansing and power from
God, and who would wait upon Him in prayer for those things. The hunger for revival lay so heavily on the
hearts of the pastors that, after the week of meetings, they decided to
continue gathering for prayer each Tuesday morning.
Nearly two years later in October 1948, about 55 Twin
Cities churches and 80 pastors of all denominations, many of them undoubtedly
from that original prayer group, joined forces to hold a week of simultaneous
evangelistic meetings under the title of “United Spiritual Advance.”10 Among the participating Lutherans, the LEM
sponsored a Bible Conference in Minneapolis as part of the effort. Even more significant than the united
evangelistic efforts, however, were the special two-hour prayer meetings
attended by the pastors each morning that week.
Once again, Rev. Armin Gesswein had been asked to lead them. As of late, the Lord had been directing
Gesswein into a full-time ministry of exhorting Christian leaders to pray for
revival. Just the previous month, he had
led an interdenominational pastors’ conference near Los Angeles at which
evening meetings had lasted until 1:00 in the morning while many had remained
in prayer, confessing need and failure and seeking God’s power afresh in their
lives and ministries. Some of them later
testified how the revival had spread to their churches the following Sunday as
“folks [had] streamed forward to put things right.” Sharing ministry with Gesswein during the
week of Twin Cities prayer meetings was Dr. J. Edwin Orr, an internationally
renowned revival preacher and historian.
By midweek, Orr, who had either studied or personally been part of many
revivals himself, had become convinced that something unusual was going to
happen in this gathering. Indeed it did
- on Friday, following a historical lecture which Orr gave on the 1858-59
awakenings in America and Britain. He
reported,
“Under
the wise leadership of Armin Gesswein, the heartfelt hunger of the pastors for
another great reviving was channeled into a prayer meeting. Prayers were broken with tears and sobs. Confessions of failure were made. Reconciliations between pastors were
effected. It was the beginning of real
revival in many a heart.”
When the revived pastors
returned to their churches, they began seeing increased attendance at both
congregational prayer meetings and Sunday services as well as a number of solid
conversions. But months after their
original joint evangelistic venture, they were still meeting weekly to pray for
a definite outbreak of revival.
In January 1949, United Spiritual Advance (which
evidently had outlived its original purpose) sponsored a two-day retreat near
Minneapolis for over 40 pastors and evangelists, including eleven Lutherans and
LEM men.11 “There was a
breath of Pentecost upon the gathering” as mornings, afternoons, and evenings
were given to the discussion of various revival topics, heart searching by the
Holy Spirit, and corporate and private prayer.
But the most far-reaching outcome of the whole gathering was brought about
by a simple question posed to Dr. J. Edwin Orr, once again a retreat
co-leader. One of the pastors asked Orr
how long, based on his studies of past movements, he estimated it would be
until the coming of a sweeping revival.
And Orr replied,
“I
believe that the revival for which we pray has begun, but that it is developing
by stages. The explanation of the
current movement among ministers is that the Lord seems to be reviving the
present leadership of the churches, without whose co-operation an awakening of
real strength would be difficult. To my
mind, the next step will be the reviving of Christian students . . . It is a
conviction with me that we shall see a series of revivals in Christian colleges
before very long.”
By Orr’s own account, it
seems that this thought began gaining particular strength in his mind at the
very time he spoke those words.
Two months later, Orr shared ministry at a pastors’
prayer conference near Los Angeles during which several hundred pastors and
their wives “continued in penitence and prayer until the early hours of the
mornings.”12 While it is more
than noteworthy that the spirit of revival from that conference spread across
southern California and that similar pastors’ prayer conferences and prayer
meetings began springing up all over the country, it is even more remarkable to
consider what Orr told the Los Angeles gathering. Under a growing conviction that what he had
spoken to the pastors in Minneapolis had been a direct insight from the Lord,
Orr prophesied that revival would soon break out in Minnesota.13
With this belief, Orr returned to Minnesota’s Twin Cities
the next month to hold a series of student meetings supported by 100 pastors
and United Spiritual Advance.14
He began by preaching at the invitation of Bethel College, a Christian
liberal arts college in St. Paul.
Immediately, revival broke out.
Orr reported, “There was much prayer in the dormitories . . . followed
by intense conviction of sin among the students in chapel and in
classroom. The conviction was relieved
only by outright confession, restitution, restoration or conversion to
God.” One of the students later
estimated that the revival had touched 95 percent of the 600 students, bringing
them their “life’s greatest blessing after [their] conversion[s].” Similar meetings were held at nearby
institutions. This included Northwestern
College where chapel services were broadcast over their radio station KTIS
until conviction of sin grew so great among students that it became imprudent
to air the services any longer. The
campus dean reported having to stay in his office until late each day dealing
with confessions of sin and restitutions.
By the time summer vacation arrived, 80 Twin Cities meetings had drawn
an aggregate of 40,000 students while local Christians of all denominations
were proclaiming the work “an outpouring of the Spirit from start to
finish.” Revival had begun in Minnesota,
and it had happened within mere miles of LEM headquarters.
Meanwhile, the events connected with United Spiritual
Advance were far from the only unusual happenings which the LEM’s leaders were
seeing or hearing about. And the fact
that Orr’s prophecy about the reviving of young people was truly from the Holy
Spirit seemed only to be further validated by some of these happenings. From Los Angeles, LEM National Board member
Rev. Leonard Masted reported that when one of the meetings at their district
youth winter Bible camp was opened for testimonies, one after another stood to
confess their need for salvation and to receive Jesus as Savior right there.15 On the last evening, the youth protested the
suggestion that the meeting be ended after three continuous hours because they
wanted everyone to have a chance to become a Christian. Masted himself knelt and prayed afterwards
with many who wanted to be saved. In his
estimation, “It seemed that nearly every one of the [161] campers who was not
converted when he came to camp had a meeting with God there.” Simultaneously, nearly 2,000 miles away at a
Minneapolis church’s winter youth Bible camp where Rev. J.O. Gisselquist was
speaking, an unusual testimony meeting took place around the campfire.16 When one girl stood to quote a Bible verse,
she broke into tears and confessed that she desired to experience a real walk
with Jesus. Immediately another girl
stood and cried, “How can the Lord ever save me?” Then a third girl asked for prayer because
she longed to be saved but did not know how.
By the time the campfire concluded, nearly every youth had
participated. Afterwards, at least nine
troubled youths received Jesus as Savior with the help of other
Christians. One week later, testimonies
from those campers during a regular evening service of their church resulted in
several more youth being converted as well as many rededicating their lives to
Christ.
Youth were certainly not the only ones being touched by
God’s Spirit in such ways. Late in 1948
came the report of a revival affecting all ages in a small Lutheran church in
Rowe, Illinois.17 Beginning
on the third evening of a week and a half of special meetings, the power of the
Holy Spirit brought such a strong conviction of sin and thirst after
righteousness that many began staying after the services for help to find
forgiveness in Christ. Others came to the
parsonage by day for the same purpose.
Of the 29 converts, “a large percentage in [that] small congregation,”
many testified of a new-found release from their burdens. Some of these new Christians experienced such
intense joy that they could hardly sleep at night. Early in 1949, the Seattle church of LEM
National Board member Rev. B.T. Gabrielsen experienced “a heaven-born revival”
during special meetings in which Christians were abundantly blessed and many
others found salvation.18
Even after the meetings had concluded, Gabrielsen said, “People are
continually coming into the office with spiritual problems, and souls are being
saved.” Apparently, the revival
continued there for some time. When Rev.
Leonard Masted preached a week of special meetings at Gabrielsen’s church later
that May, he rejoiced that seeking souls were waiting to be dealt with after
every single service both afternoons and evenings.19 Joy, peace, and overwhelming love for Jesus
and for others was good evidence to Masted of people having truly been
transformed by Christ. Eighty miles
north of Seattle, a Lutheran church in Anacortes was visited by God during
special meetings preached by Evangelist Clarence Haaland, also an LEM National
Board member. One scheduled week of
meetings turned into three, Christians united to win the lost for Christ, and
many of all ages were born again.20
Entire families became Christians and joined the church, and attendance
at weekly prayer meetings and Sunday evening services doubled. Back in the Midwest, special meetings during
May 1949 in Kintyre, North Dakota, preached in part by LEM Executive Committee
member Rev. Charles Crouch, yielded a fascinating result.21 Though none professed conversion during the
meetings, one of the church trustees came under such conviction of sin the night
after the last meeting that he could not sleep.
The next morning he sought out spiritual help and received Christ as his
Savior. During the rest of that day, he
went to his brother to ask forgiveness for a wrong, helped lead his own son to
salvation, and shared his testimony at the church building committee
meeting. This small spark quickly burst
into flame in the small congregation; and within a month, eighteen people came
to faith in Christ.
With the arrival of the summer of 1949, the revival scene
seemed to shift mostly to Bible camps.
Once again it was young people who were especially affected. A pastor present at the Lutheran Free
Church’s Junior Bible Camp in Amery, Wisconsin, excitedly reported about 100
boys and girls having given their lives to Jesus and 40 to 50 having eagerly
participated in midday prayer meetings.22 And from an Illinois Lutheran district youth
Bible camp came another most fascinating account.23 At the campfire on Tuesday evening, a leader
exhorted those present to deal with all unconfessed sin in their lives. After one youth finally got up to do so, one
after another followed in succession to repent of sins like unbelief, neglect,
and backsliding. On Wednesday evening
during a testimony meeting, several youth shared about having come to salvation
earlier that week. A number of youth
stayed after that meeting to be led to Christ, and Thursday morning and
afternoon saw others seeking private counsel from pastors and leaders. At Thursday evening‘s campfire, “before the leader
could [even] ask for testimonies, young people were standing up five to ten at
a time telling how they [had given] their hearts to the Lord.” Others requested prayer that they too might
be saved. When the group was finally
dismissed, many stayed behind to receive spiritual help. On Friday evening, many again stood
simultaneously to testify of what Jesus had done for them. Several youth who had been stubbornly
resisting the Holy Spirit all week finally gave in. By the camp’s conclusion, leaders estimated
that 75 to 100 of the 150 youth had made decisions for Christ.
The LEM’s Deeper Life Conference that summer, bearing the
theme “Ye Are the Temple of God,” brought more of that same revival spirit.24 Due to the annually increasing demand, this
year’s camp ran for two full weeks, each week with different speakers, and was
thus able to accommodate the 1208 registrants as well as the equal or greater
number who commuted from the Twin Cities vicinity. During the two weeks, Twin Cities’ Christian
radio station KTIS broadcast from camp 22 special half-hour programs (speakers,
testimonies, special music, and conference echoes) and seven full
services. Remarkable Christian unity and
fellowship in the Spirit were hallmarks of the gathering. And although “there was not any one time what
would be called a definite ‘break’ when many souls were converted,” “many found
blessed peace with God. Souls were dealt
with daily in personal counseling and by Christian friends. Towards the end of the conference, one of the
speakers estimated that he had heard of at least 50 new converts. It seemed that every day some fresh testimony
was heard.” In addition to adult
converts, there were a number in the children’s conference who “came out
definitely for Jesus”; and at least 30 of the 137 in the two weeks of the high
school conference testified either of having become Christians or of having
been revived from backsliding. Young
people seeking spiritual help were counseled not only during the day but also
after campfires, after evening “fellowship sings,” and even after “lights out.”
The reader may be wondering what kind of preaching could
have yielded results such as those described in this chapter. To help in answering that question, excerpts
from some of the 1949 Deeper Life Conference messages are given here. They are prefaced with the observation that,
although the messages were wonderfully deep and spiritually refreshing, their
power cannot have been entirely in the spoken word. Messages with similar content have since been
given many times in various settings but without similar results. The ultimate explanation for the
effectiveness of these messages can only have been the power of the Holy Spirit
undergirding both Word and speaker.
From morning Bible studies on Hebrews chapters 5-7 given
by LEM National Board member Rev. Theodore Hax come the following nuggets.
“Moses was the apostle of the Old
Testament and Aaron was the high priest.
In the New Testament Jesus is both Apostle and High Priest. Man’s heart yearns for a mediator between
himself and God. We have no need of a
mediatorial priesthood on earth today because we have Christ the great High
Priest. Our worship is not earthly but
heavenly.”
“Jesus prayed to be saved out of
death, and God heard Him for His godly fear.
God hears us for Jesus’ sake when we keep our consciences clear. As a Man, Jesus learned obedience to His
Father through the things that he suffered.
We too learn obedience through suffering. Let us not keep on laying and relaying the
foundation, but let us go on unto maturity.”
“There is such a thing as so
rejecting the grace of God as to put oneself outside the reach of God’s
grace. This is told in connection with
the warning of falling away from grace and is told for our warning, not for our
despair. Our home is Christ. We have not yet entered the harbor, but
Christ our Forerunner has cast our anchor within the veil.”
During the first week of Deeper Life, Rev. J.O.
Gisselquist preached the evening evangelistic services. Most of these, as well as most of the evening
messages delivered the second week by Rev. Evald Conrad, had a distinctly “end
times” theme, a frequently sounded note within the LEM. Here then is Gisselquist.
“Jesus reproved the people because
they could not discern the signs of the times.
Like the disciples of old we should expect the coming of the Lord at any
moment. Every prophecy of His first
coming was literally and minutely fulfilled.
We have as many signs prophesied of His second coming and we can expect
each one to be literally fulfilled.”
“Before the ages began, God was
working out the blueprint of His eternal purpose. Before the worlds were ever made, God knew
you and all of your troubles and worked out their solution. How is God working out His eternal
purpose? The purpose of God is worked
out and carried to completion by one Man - Jesus.”
“The book of Revelation is the
unveiling of Jesus Christ Himself in connection with the things that are coming
upon the world. God has given the revelation
to the Son of how He is to get the kingdom.
God has given over to Jesus the redemption of the whole world, and
Christ today is saving the world. He is
sitting at the right hand of God. Christ
is able to save to the uttermost because He ever lives to make intercession for
us.”
And from Rev. Conrad come the
following.
“Instead of pointing to the outward
stones of the temple, the disciples should have been able to point to living
stones inside the temple. Many times it
is true today that we point to large church buildings as a sign of success
instead of to signs of spiritual life.
Let us look away from the temple and sins of the church to our own
temple tonight. Are we outwardly
beautiful but inwardly corrupt? Our
temple should be an inward house of prayer.”
“True success is being found worthy
to escape all of these things that are coming on the earth and to stand in His
presence. We must take heed to ourselves
lest we be overpowered by self indulgence, drunkenness, and the cares of this
life so that we become too busy for God.
The coming of the King is near at hand.
To the world He will come as a thief because He takes away everything
they have been working for, but to us He comes as the Bridegroom.”
“The coming of the Lord will be
visible, manifest, sudden, and illuminating.
Signs of his coming will be indifference, a minority of Christians,
immorality, and people so taken up with ordinary things that they don’t have
time for God. Remember Lot’s wife. She was a compromiser. She never got her mind and heart out of
Sodom, out of the world. Remember her
eternal destiny. If Jesus came tonight,
would you be taken or would you be left?”
“If you are not now living in a
repentant state, you are not ready for the coming of the Lord. The message of the second coming should be a
call to soul-winning. Our joy and glory
when Jesus comes again is that we may have souls with us. If you’re going to be properly prepared for
His coming, you must have love in your heart toward all men. Christ is able to keep us from stumbling and
to set us before His presence without blemish in exceeding joy.”
A month after the LEM’s 1949 Deeper Life Conference, a
gathering that was soon to prove most significant to the national revival scene
took place in southern California. At
that year’s Forest Home College Briefing Conference, over 500 students listened
in rapt attention each evening as Dr. J. Edwin Orr lectured on such topics as
“Revival, the Work of God; How God Forgives Sins; the Searchlight of God; [and]
. . . the Filling of the Spirit”25 while outlining his points on a
blackboard. After each lecture had
concluded with silent prayer, “sophisticated collegians stood one after the
other to repent of evil deeds and thoughts and to confess Christ as Lord. Dozens of young men decided for the ministry
or the foreign field.”26 One
such meeting lasted until midnight.27 Believers rejoiced at the cleansing from sin
and the grace to live a Spirit-filled life, and scores of onlooking unsaved
students were converted daily.28
Perhaps no one was more impacted by the evening messages than the
conference’s morning speaker,29 a relatively unknown Youth For
Christ evangelist who was searching with all his heart for the filling of the
Spirit as he anticipated an upcoming campaign.
Late one night, he came to tell Dr. Orr that God had indeed filled him
with His Spirit and had assured him that he would see revival in his Los
Angeles campaign.30
That same summer, Evangelize published an
editorial entitled “Is the Tide Turning?” which observed that “the film
industry in general [was] retrenching heavily because of a lessening interest
in movies,” “liquor sales [were] down 26% since the war,” and the number of
pulps and westerns loaned by libraries had dropped from 14% of all books loaned
to half of 1% during the last five years.31 According to one major publisher, “There has
been a great change in the material offered at newsstands throughout the
country.” That change had been towards
spiritually-natured reading material such as Fulton Oursler’s The Greatest
Story Ever Told, a retelling of the four Gospels. These, of course, were not signs of revival
but only of spiritual hunger. Yet the
question still begged to be asked, Was the tide truly turning? Indeed it was, and the events which were
about to transpire before 1949 had ended would make that fact the focal point
of the whole nation.
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