Wesley & Whitefield:They were men of prayer-Part 5

John Wesley is believed to have woken up at 4 A.M. to pray. Those who heard him sensed immediately that he was a man who had been with God and who now came to them with His message. It was only the preaching of that supernatural caliber that could have produced the results which Wesley saw.  Here is a paragraph from an unknown author’s words on John Wesley the servant of God:

He seemed to live many lives in one, and each life was of an amazing fullness. He preached more sermons, traveled more miles, published more books, wrote more letters (without a secretary), built more Churches, waged more controversies, and influenced more lives than any other man in English history. And through it all, as he himself in a humorous paradox puts it, he had not time to be in a hurry.

In writing to a friend at one time, John Wesley helps, urges, and prays, as we will see from his own pen:

Have you received a glean of light from above, a spark of faith? If you have, let it not go! Hold fast by his grace that earnest of your inheritance. Come just as you are, and come boldly to the throne of grace. You need not delay. Even now the bowels of Jesus yearn over you. What have you to do tomorrow? I love you today. And how much more does He love you?” He pities still His wandering sheep. And longs to bring you to His fold. Today hear His voice, the voice of Him that speaks as never man spoke.

Whitfield the companion of John Wesley once thus prayed.

“O Lord, give me souls or take my soul.” After much closer pleading, “he once went to the devil’s fair and took more than a thousand souls out of the paw of the lion in a single day.”

Conclusion

The awakening inspired many modern philanthropic and social movements which included Dr. Barnado’s Homes, the Shaftesbury Society, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Salvation Army, and the London City Mission and many others.

What is to be noted is that all these organizations were brought into being by people who were possessed by an abiding love and compassion of Jesus Christ after the revival.

All of them were now motivated to do good deeds in rescuing and taking care of the less privileged and this glorified Jesus Christ. The entire industrial system was drastically improved and this caused the England industrial slaves to be set free.

This vigorous campaign in favor of all these causes was mainly led by two notable men William Wilberforce and Ashley Cooper known as lord Shaftesbury, both of these men were described as evangelical of evangelicals. They were the direct products of the eighteenth century Great Awakening and where either directly or indirectly influenced by Whitefield and Wesley’s revivals.

There is no doubt at all that when God sent revival in Britain in the eighteenth century, He saved Britain from the bloodshed that had happened in France during the time of the French Revolution. The impact which the Evangelical Revival of both Whitefield and Wesley had on this country and its people was unfathomable; it had far reaching effects and lasted well over 100 years.

The Western world especially the British and Americans need to be reminded that many of the blessings that are being enjoyed today and which have been taken from granted, were the result of this God given revival led by Wesley, George Whitefield and others.

It was a return to the Bible, the Word of God that transformed England from a moral wasteland into one of the most respected nations in the entire world. But men have forgotten God. Please Lord revive us again! Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? (Psalm 85:6)