“To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.” Brandi Snyde

“What is uttered from your heart alone, will win the hearts of others to your own.” Goethe

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.” Unknown

“The Son of Man … is… a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”  Jesus Luke 7:34

Whenever we make a decision that significantly affects our lives, such decisions always bring with them unintended consequences. You marry the girl of your dreams and certain things follow that you expected: a lifelong companion, a soul mate, someone with whom you share intimacy like no other, etc. But unexpected consequences abound as well: personality differences, habits, and preferences (which can be a source of humor or annoyance depending on how you handle them).

I recently became more active in our local church than I have in many, many years. While I still travel some, I am far more devoted to our community than in the past. One of the unintended (and beautiful) consequences of this shift has been the ability to make new friends, especially those outside my normal traffic patterns.

I have always been a pretty friendly fellow, so making friends with fellow ministers, with colleagues, and with my students, has been both a joy and an easy thing to do. But I have this deep, insatiable passion for the gospel that is far more than academic. I believe not only that the gospel is true, although I certainly believe that. I also believe it to be the best way to live, and I believe we were created to love God and love others with all the affection we can muster.  I have no advice for others, no wisdom, or no insight, apart from the starting point of following Christ.

So, while like most Western Christians I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with people like me — believers who grew up in the church and have a natural proclivity toward one another — my conviction about the gospel keeps pushing me.  A question has been gnawing at me, and while I have all my life tried to answer it with my words and my life, recently I have been convinced at my failure to take the question seriously. Here it is:

If Jesus is God, and following Him is the best way to live, and if I was in fact created to worship Him with all the passion of my life…

why do I spend almost all of my time with people who already get that?  In other words, why does my calendar demonstrate an anecdotal rather than instrumental devotion to people who have yet to know this great reality, to find this remarkable way to live, and to help them to give their life and passion to worshiping Him?

I have recently been making some really cool friends. Friends, I say. Not developing projects for the gospel. Not simply going on “church visitation” (I still believe in that!) to meet people I hardly know. I have been making friends because I love making friends. But my friends nowadays do not tend to share my background. More than a few at this point do not share my beliefs, though some have in recent days. Some are my students now, men studying for ministry but who grew up totally outside the church, who come to seminary and observe how many students assume so much about people who are unchurched and how so many of these assumptions are honestly quite wrong.  Some are new believers, some just have a lot of questions. Some currently deal with a tremendous amount of pain.

My friends demonstrate a great love for people, a hunger for truth, and enjoy thoroughly times of meaningful conversation over a cup of coffee. More than a few do not quite understand the church or my faith because what they have seen in some cases is profound legalism almost devoid of grace.  But when my friends meet someone who has been genuinely changed by the gospel to the point that they love others regardless of their convictions or lifestyle, these friends find such a believer to be more than compelling.

I am discovering that there are far more people all around us who genuinely want to talk about things that matter, like the gospel, than there are Christians willing to engage in these conversations in a context where friendships can thrive.

Over the past month I have had more conversations than I can count with new friends who have actually asked me to meet with them. I never have to figure out how to find people to talk about spiritual things. I currently do not spend a lot of time with strangers, because I have been blessed with so many wonderful new friends. I am totally rearranging my schedule. I do not have as much time to sit around and chat with my students (sorry gang).  I am encouraging them to chat with people they work with, their neighbors, and so on.

I have also discovered that this is a fatherless generation, that so many young adults just need someone older (I qualify) to help unpack life.  It seems the more I simply help people see how the gospel affects all of life, how it is a better way to live, how Christianity is less a moral code for external behavior and more a way to live all of life, conversations abound.

Sometimes I think we have too much Christian B.O.: our theology is right, but we stink about how we talk to others about our convictions.  Sometimes we are Odd for God: we do care about people, our heart’s are in the right place, but we have been so immersed in the wilderness of the Christian subculture we cannot navigate through the highways of culture. I think it is in part because in our own lives we have turned our faith into a minimalistic lifestyle obsessed with externals, with impressing the convinced, and enjoying the benefits of eternal life without displaying the broken heart for others so clearly seen in the life of Christ.

Read the encounters Jesus had with people in the Gospels (note: there are more than 40). Notice how RARELY Jesus challenged people to change their external behavior and how OFTEN He called them to follow Him. Yes, He spoke to the Rich Young Ruler about his keeping of the commandments, but even in that instance He did so to point out a heart flaw in the young man.  He called Matthew, Peter, Andrew, James, John, and others to follow Him. In the gospel we see the order is to follow Jesus, and then watch Him change our behavior. Yes, if we follow Christ we will see a behavior modification, but that comes from following Christ, not vice versa.

This is why some speak today of a new paradigm (“new” is a relative term here) in which many belong before believing, rather than believing then belonging. So many people, especially younger adults, live in a parallel universe to our churched culture.  They know few to no one who love Jesus who also understands their world or even care to try and understand it. But when someone does, a door is opened to real, lasting, deep friendships. And out of these friendships conversations flourish about things that matter.

The end result for me  is that I have less time to sit around and discuss my take on Calvinism or eschatology or other theological matters with people very similar to me. But I am making more time to hang out with people who very definitely want to talk about theology, about Scripture, and about life. They just need a friend to talk about these matters.

Something very real happens when we step out of our Christian subculture and its almost antiseptic atmosphere to grow closer to people whose backgrounds differ from ours. Do you want to grow spiritually? Do you want to understand how the gospel affects all of life, not just church life? Do you want to see and feel and know the greatness of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in you?  Don’t sign up for the next class at your church on one of these subjects. Instead, make some friends.

I have been praying God would allow me the honor, and I do mean honor, of making friends who share my passion for living life even if they do not currently share my passion for Jesus. God is remarkably answering that prayer. The result? I have some really awesome friends.

I love having friends.

NOTE: I have asked students to do in some classes to spend an extended time of prayer and spiritual focus, a personal retreat if you will. What I have discovered is that many students have never spent one full hour in prayer, let alone 3 or more. So, the following guide offers suggestions for spending 3-8 hours with Jesus. I highly recommend every believer do this periodically.  I hope you will find this useful.

•  Charles Spurgeon: “Of course the preacher is above all distinguished as a man of prayer. He prays as an ordinary Christian, else he were a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians, else he were disqualified for the office he has undertaken.”

•  William Carey: “Prayer—secret, fervent, believing prayer—lies at the root of all personal godliness.”

•  Martin Luther: “I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” “He that has prayed well has studied well.”[i]

•  William Penn, describing George Fox: “Above all he excelled in prayer. . . . The most awful, living, reverent frame I ever felt or beheld, I must say was in his prayer.”

A personal retreat means just what it says: a personal, alone time to get away with your Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. We live in a hectic world that sometimes makes us think being busy is a mark of being godly. But Jesus often went away to spend time alone (Mark 1:35). We too need times to get off the Ferris wheel of life and have a season with our Lord. Think about where you like to go when you simply want to have a refreshing time with God: most envision either the mountains or the beach or some form of outdoor location, away from civilization.  Sometimes we just need to get away. In fact, I once had a class of church planters take a retreat like this. One wrote me later to tell me that day saved his ministry as he had become so discouraged he wanted to walk away. Regardless of where you are, we all need a time to get away.

Read the following before you go on your retreat. You may want to use all this material. Or none of it. Or some. It is YOUR time with God, but I have learned many need to have some sort of guideline for a time like this. The following is an attempt to help you, but it is not a formula to follow slavishly.

Before you embark on your retreat, establish the time and place you want to be. Make sure it is a secure place, but also a place where you can have solitude.

Determine how long you want to be on this retreat. I suggest a minimum of three hours. Take a bottle of water, a notebook (if you keep a personal, spiritual journal take that), your Bible (on this one, not an electronic version, but a paper copy), and a couple of pens. Unless you have health issues (diabetes, etc) and/or you are going on a much longer time, don’t bring anything else. You can have your cell for emergencies but please for the 3 hours at least, turn the thing off.

This is not a time to prepare a lesson on the Bible, though some ideas may pop into your head and you may certainly jot those down. This is a time to draw close to God.

But if you have never done this, three hours can seem like an eternity, and you may find yourself praying for everything you can imagine and discovering only 30 minutes has passed! We hurry through so much of life. This is not a time to do that. This is a time to rest, to reflect, to give thanks to God.

I. Beginning: A time of spiritual preparation and cleansing. Begin your time by considering the following questions. But first, a few points:

1. Rest in the gospel. Your time with God today does not earn favor with God. Rejoice in the fact that you have already been accepted by God through Christ’s work on your behalf. Spend this day reflecting on the great love of God, and in response to His great love seek to know Him more intimately, serve Him more faithfully, and hate sin more completely.
2. Pray the prayer of the psalmist: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23,24).
3. Be totally honest as you answer each question.
4. Agree with God about each need He reveals in your life. Confess each sin, with the willingness to make it right.
5. Repent from sin! Turn from every sin the Lord reveals in your heart and forsake it.
6. Praise God for His cleansing and forgiveness.

Now, as you begin your time formally of “retreating,” ask yourself these questions:

1. Genuine Salvation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
   1. Was there ever a time in my life that I placed all my trust in Jesus Christ alone to save me?
   2. Do I thank God regularly for His great salvation?
2. God’s Word (Psalm 119:97; 119:140)
   1. Do I live to read and meditate on the Word of God?
   2. Are my personal devotions consistent and meaningful?
   3. Do I practically apply God’s Word to my everyday life?

3.     Humility (Isaiah 57:15)

1. 1. Am I quick to recognize and agree with God in confession when I have sinned?
   2. Am I quick to admit to others when I am wrong?
   3. Do I rejoice when others are praised and recognized, and my accomplishments go unnoticed by men? (Romans 12:15)
   4. Do I esteem all others better than myself? (Phil. 2:3-4)

1. Obedience (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Samuel 15:22)
   1. Do I consistently obey what I know God wants me to do? (James 1:21-25)
   2. Do I consistently obey the human authorities God has placed over my life?
2. Pure Heart (1 John 1:9)
   1. Do I confess my sins by name?
   2. Do I keep “short sin accounts” with God (confess and forsake as He convicts)?
   3. Am I willing to give up all sin for God?
3. Clear Conscience (Acts 24:16)
   1. Do I consistently seek forgiveness from those I wrong or offend?
   2. Is my conscience clear with every man? (Can I honestly say, “There is no one I have wronged or offended in any way and not gone back to them and sought their forgiveness and made it right”)
4. Priorities (Matthew 6:33)
   1. Does my schedule reveal that God is first in my life?
   2. Does my checkbook reveal that God is first in my life?
   3. Next to my relationship with God, is my relationship with my family my highest priority?
5. Values (Colossians 3:12)
   1. Do I love what God loves and hate what God hates?
   2. Do I value highly the things that please God (e.g., giving, witnessing to lost souls, studying his Word and prayer)?
   3. Are my affections and goals fixed on eternal values?
6. Sacrifice (Philippians 3:7,8)
   1. Am I willing to sacrifice whatever is necessary to see God move in my life and church (time, convenience, comfort, reputation, pleasure, ect.)?
   2. Is my life characterized by genuine sacrifice for the cause of Christ?
7. Spirit Control (Galatians 5:22-25; Ephesians 5:18-21)
   1. Am I allowing Jesus to be Lord of every area of my life?
   2. Am I allowing the Holy Spirit to fill (control) my life each day?
   3. Is there consistent evidence of the “fruit of the Sprit” being produced in my life?
8. “First Love”  (Philippians 1:21,23)
   1. Am I as much in love with Jesus as I have ever been?
   2. Am I thrilled with Jesus, filled with His joy and peace, and making Him the continual object of my love?
9. Motives (Acts 5:29; Matthew 10:28)
   1. Am I more concerned about what God thinks about my life than about what others think?
   2. Would I pray, read my Bible, give, and serve as much if nobody but God ever noticed?
   3. Am I more concerned about pleasing God than I am about being accepted and appreciated by men?
10. Moral Purity (Ephesians 5:3,4)
    1. Do I keep my mind free from books, magazines, movies or other entertainment that could stimulate fantasizing or thoughts that are not morally pure?
    2. Are my conversation and behavior pure and above reproach?
11. Forgiveness (Colossians 3:12,13)
    1. Do I seek to resolve conflicts in relationships as soon as possible?
    2. Am I quick to forgive those who wrong me or hurt me?
12. Sensitivity (Matthew 5:23,24)
    1. Am I sensitive to the conviction and promptings of God’s Spirit?
    2. Am I quick to respond in humility and obedience to the conviction and promptings of God’s Spirit?
13. Evangelism (Romans 9:3; Luke 24:46,48)
    1. Do I have a burden for lost souls?
    2. Do I consistently witness for Christ?
14. Prayer (1Timothy 2:1)
    1. Am I faithful in praying for the needs of others?
    2. Do I pray specifically, fervently, and faithfully for revival in my life, my church, our nation, and the world.

II. Scripture:

Spend some extended time reading Scripture. Suggestions: Read Psalm 119. Read the entire books of Ephesians, Philippians, or I Thessalonians. Or read them all. Spend lengths of time in the Word. Write down what you see: insights, reminders, promises, questions. It may be that the bulk of your time is spend here.

You may want to take time to write out Scripture—a chapter like Romans 8 for instance, written out word for word to focus on the truths you read.  Or, you may set aside time for Scripture memory. We Evangelicals are better at being activists than at being contemplative, but here is a great time to sit back and reflect on the passages you read.

III. Season of Prayer:

Here is a suggestion for a lengthy season of prayer. Take time to go through each of the following:

1. Praise–This is our response to the person of God. We praise him for who he is. Take time to rehearse the greatness of God, His character, His sttributes.

2. Thanksgiving–This is our response to the goodness of God. Thank him for what he has done. “Enter His gates with thanksgiving” (Ps 100:4). “In everything give thanks” (1 Thess 5:18). An attitude of gratitude should permeate our lives.

3. Confession–Confession is our response to the holiness of God. Our sins will hinder our praying (see Ps 66:18). As we pray, we can ask the Holy Spirit to reveal each sin in our lives. Then we can confess the sin (see 1 John 1:9). When broken relationships are involved, we should seek to make them right as well.  Ask this question: what is the ONE THING that keeps me from following Christ with everything in my being?

4. Intercession–This is our response to the love of God. When we ask of God, Foster reminds us, we are not “trying to manipulate God and tell Him what to do. Quite the opposite. We are asking God to tell us what to do. God is the ground of our beseeching . . . Our prayer is to be like a reflex action to God’s prior initiative on the heart.”

Take time to pray for family, friends, coworkers, your church’s leaders, political leaders, the lost for whom you are burdened. Pray for the spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational aspects of their lives.

5. Petition–Petition is our response to the love of God for us. It is appropriate and necessary for us to ask God to meet our needs. However, in our consumer-driven culture, we can learn from this prayer of petition from an anonymous soldier:

I asked God for strength that I might achieve;

I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health that I might do greater things;

I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy;

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;

I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for—

but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am among all men most richly blessed.

6. Listening–There is another aspect about prayer that must not be missed: listening to God. You may not be aware of it, but wherever you are as you take time for this retreat, noises are all around you. Rock-and-roll music is all around you. Rap tunes are playing. People are discussing various topics from sports to finance. The only thing you need to hear these voices is the proper receiver. A radio will suddenly usher into your presence a bevy of sounds.

Prayer operates the same way. God is constantly speaking to us, teaching us, leading us. The question is not whether God is speaking but if we are listening. God consistently speaks to us through his Word, but do we hear him? He occasionally speaks to us through circumstances and other people. He also speaks at times through the still, small voice of his Spirit. Are we listening?

7. Consecration–Consecration is a prayer of commitment to God. Often in Scripture believers made specific, fresh acts of consecration: Jonah in the whale’s stomach (Jonah 2:1–10); David, following his sin with Bathsheba (Ps 51); Paul, our Lord, and others. In our times of prayer, we are often confronted with the need to make a fresh, new commitment to God.

(NOTE: The section on prayer is adapted from Alvin Reid, Evangelism Handbook: Biblical, Spiritual, Intentional, Missional, B&H, 2009)

IV. Journal:

Take time to write in your notebook/journal. Write at any time along the way, but especially near the end write: lessons from Scripture, prayer requests, things you should do you believe the Lord is telling you, hopes and dreams, people to talk with, etc.

CONCLUSION: Regardless of how much or how little of the above information you use, do this simple exercise at the end of your time to make this more than a one time event, but part of your ongoing sanctification:  ask God to show you ONE THING you should do differently because of your time. Remember: salvation costs you nothing, but discipleship costs you everything.

“What a man is on his knees, that he is, and nothing more.” John Ow

---

The flattened world afforded by the internet, social media, and other new technologies has created enormous opportunities for theological education to be more portable while maintaining a sense of integrity in the content. At SEBTS we embrace this new world, offering online and hybrid courses allowing a student to earn the MDiv from anywhere in the country and, conceivably, anywhere on the globe (find out more here).  We also value the local church and realize the need to involve local churches and their leadership increasingly in the teaching of students for effective ministry that includes theological precision and practical training. In fact, Dr. Akin recently laid down the challenge of finding over 100 SBC churches who would partner with SEBTS to provide more effective training.

Enter the Great Commission Equipping Network (GCEN).  Our conviction of the vital place of the local church has led us to partner with others, like many churches in North Carolina as well as churches across the nation such as Summit Church in RDU, Calvary Baptist in Winston Salem, Crosspoint in Clemson, SC, and Long Hollow Baptist in the Nashville, TN area, not to mention a young church plant not far from campus. to mention only a few.

Here is a summary of the GCEN:

GCEN Purpose

To partner with local churches and para-church organizations to provide practical theological training through internships.

GCEN Goals

SEBTS seeks to identify local churches and para-church organizations that have internship programs which reflect a commitment to our mission to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping students to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission. Our goals are:

• To provide the highest level of theological training in conjunction with local churches and para-church organizations;
• To provide opportunities for churches and organizations to help students who are called to the ministry begin, continue or complete their theological education while firmly tied to local ministry;
• To develop healthy, working relationships between SEBTS and church/para-church organizations;
• To develop the GCEN as a network of mutually edifying relationships in which all participants communicate, encourage, teach, and challenge one another.

GCEN Information

The Great Commission Equipping Network has three levels of participation. The majority of participants are Partners who provide mentoring and training for our students in their field ministry experience. Some participants are Members. These are typically churches that have leaders who are qualified to co-teach classes relative to pastoral and/or church planting training with SEBTS professors. A few participants have SEBTS faculty members in their organization who assist or lead the internship program. These Centers have additional opportunities to offer various occasional classes through their internship program.

There are three levels at which a church can participate:

1. GCEN Partner

A training site where a student can participate in an internship and gain significant ministry experience and mentorship from a qualified supervisor. Depending on the requirements and length of the internship, a student can earn up to 9 credit hours by participating in an internship with one of SEBTS’ GCEN Partners.

2. GCEN Members

A church or organization that has a leader with both the qualifications and a strong desire to co-teach a limited number of practical ministry courses along with a SEBTS professor. Depending on the requirements, length of internship, and qualifications of the leader, a student can earn up to 18 credit hours by participating in an internship with one of SEBTS’ GCEN Members.

3. GCEN Centers

A church or organization that has a SEBTS faculty member participating in the Center. In addition to other credit hours, these Centers have the option to offer occasional courses relative to the field of the faculty member.

I am thrilled to spread the word about this initiative; however, if you want to know more about it, contact the people who know it best by emailing gcen@sebts.edu. I hope your church will consider joining this movement!

“One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.”  Euripides

“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” Helen Keller

“No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;”  John Donne

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe unto him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”  Ecclesiastes 4:9

Moses had Aaron.

David had Jonathan.

Elisha had Elijah.

Paul had Silas.

Moody had Sankey.

Graham has Bev Shea.

God uses individuals, no doubt about it. But our individualistic American culture too often promotes the individual and misses the vital place of two or more. This week I traveled to South Carolina to speak at several events, all as it happened on college campuses. I took a student with me as I often do, in this case Ryan Edwards, a young man who has come to be a great blessing over the past couple of years.

But this time I did something else. I took a colleague. I do this far too rarely. Mark Liederbach, our dean of students and a disciplemaker I greatly admire, joined me in ministry. He and I have written a book together. In fact, Monday night at Furman University we led a student forum on that book. We currently teach a class together. We have spent a lot of time talking about students, discipling, and making SEBTS more a culture of mentoring and spiritual growth.

I love this man. He has the hand of God on his life. He is a man of God. So off to SC we went. I spoke in chapel at NGU, a place I love like few others on earth. Mark led a class of collegians and shared his passion for worship and discipleship. We led the forum that night. We have both spoken individually on scores and scores of college campuses. But doing this together provided a special joy.

I spoke the next morning at Anderson University, but we particularly enjoyed conversations in between these events, sharing struggles, affirming strengths, pushing one another to be more like Christ.

I can say that over the past 2-3 years no single man other than my son Josh has caused me to think more about my walk with God, my role as a teacher-mentor-leader, my efforts as a husband and father, and the gospel’s place in my life than has Mark Liederbach. God used a message Mark preached in chapel a while back to start a new trajectory in my life focusing more on the local church. This led me to the place that I now serve my local church and love being there week after week.

We will be spending more time together. I need men of God in my life. We are talking about more writing to come, perhaps an ebook, maybe more.

If you are a man, who is the man or who are the men in your life who just by being in their presence cause you to want to know Jesus more? Mark is not the only colleague who has that impact in my life. But he plays a key role, and this week I was reminded of that.

Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one my sharpens another.” Be iron. Find more iron. And sharpen one another.

“Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”

This earnest prayer, uttered by Jeremiah Lanphier out of his passion for the salvation of the residents of New York City in 1857, led to what historians call the Layman’s Prayer Revival or the Revival of 1858-59.  On September 23 of that year he knelt in prayer alone, shortly after the noon hour.

Lanphier’s intercession ascended from the upper lecture room of the Old North Dutch Reformed Church, his heart broken for the purposeless, despondent masses of New York.  A single man, he was wed to his ministry of personal evangelism, street preaching, and door to door witnessing.  His burden for the throngs of people forced him to his knees.  Could he have ever imagined what would soon come about?  That within a matter of months, over 50,000 people would gather daily for prayer in the city he loved?

New York City then as now sat in dire need of spiritual life.  The old North Dutch Reformed Church in downtown employed Jeremiah as a lay missionary to influence their area for the gospel. Converted in the year 1842, Lanphier was a forty-year old businessman filled with enthusiasm.

Lanphier began his assignment on July 1, 1857.  He put together a folder describing the church which he gave to everyone he met.  He passed out Bibles and tracts.  While he found some success, he was overwhelmed at the enormity of the task.  His prayer, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” led him to a novel approach.

Jeremiah had found prayer to be a great source of comfort.  He noticed how the businessmen were “hurrying along their way, often with care worn faces, and anxious, restless gaze.” He presented the idea of a prayer meeting for businessmen to the church board.  Their response was less than enthusiastic, but they agreed to allow Lanphier to proceed.  Determining that the noon hour was the most feasible time for a prayer meeting, he printed and distributed a handbill publicizing the meeting.  He promoted the meeting with great zeal.

HANDBILL LANPHIER GAVE OUT:

HOW OFTEN SHALL I PRAY?

(FRONT)

As often as the language of prayer is on my heart; as often as I see my need of help; as often as I feel the power of temptation; as often as I am made sensible of my spiritual declension or feel the aggression of a worldly spirit.  In prayer we leave the business of time for that of eternity and intercourse with men for intercourse with God.

(BACK)

A day-prayer meeting is held every Wednesday from 12 to 1 o’clock in the Consistory building in the rear of the North Dutch Church, corner of Fulton and Williams streets.  This meeting is intended to give merchants, mechanics, clerks, strangers and businessmen generally an opportunity to stop and call on God amid the perplexities incident to their respective avocations.  It will continue for one hour; but it is also designed for those who find it inconvenient to remain more than 5 or 10 minutes, as well as for those who can spare a whole hour.  Necessary interruption will be slight, because anticipated.  Those in haste often expedite their business engagements by halting to lift their voices to the throne of grace in humble, grateful prayer.

Pretty simple, right? But God has a way of honoring the simplicity of His children when coupled with faith. Lanphier’s own description of the birth of the noonday meetings beginning on September 23, 1857 is moving:

Going my rounds in the performance of my duty one day, as I was walking along the streets, the idea was suggested to my mind that an hour of prayer, from twelve to one o’clock, would be beneficial to businessmen, who usually in great numbers take that hour for rest and refreshment.  The idea was to have singing, prayer, exhortation, relation of religious experience, as the case might be; that none should be required to stay the whole hour; that all should come and go as their engagements should allow or require, or their inclinations dictate.  Arrangements were made, and at twelve o’clock noon, on the 23rd day of September, 1857, the door of the third story lecture-room was thrown open.

At first, Lanphier prayed alone.  Then, one joined him, and by the end of the hour there were six.  Prayer meetings had been held before, but this was different.  Former meetings tended toward formalism and routine.  These were free and spontaneous.

The following Wednesday there were twenty in attendance, and on the third thirty to forty.  Those present determined to meet daily rather than weekly.  On October 14 over one hundred came.  At this point many in attendance were not Christ followers, many of whom were under great conviction of sin.  By the end of the second month three large rooms were filled.  Almost simultaneously prayer meetings began across the city.  Many churches sponsored such meetings without knowledge of other activity similar to their own.  Within six months fifty thousand were meeting daily in New York, while thousands more prayed in other cities.  On March 17, 1858, Burton’s Theater near the North Dutch Church opened for noon prayer.  The theater was filled by 11:30 A.M.  Henry Ward Beecher spoke to three thousand gathered there on the third day.  Evening preaching services soon companioned the daily prayer meetings.  Lanphier and the church set up seven rules for the meetings: 1) Open with a brief hymn; 2) Opening prayer; 3) Read a passage of Scripture; 4) A time for requests, exhortations, and prayers; 5) Prayer would follow each request or at most two requests, while individuals were limited to five minutes of prayer/comments; 6) no controversial subjects were to be mentioned; 7) At five minutes before 1:00 a hymn was sung so the meeting could end at 1:00 promptly.

Amazing answers to prayer were recorded across the nation.  One man spoke of his burden for an unconverted son.  This son, who had travelled across the world, was converted soon after the request was made at Fulton Street.  One young man came to the meeting seeking salvation.  He was converted after hearing a request by a mother for her son.  “It struck me that that was from my mother,” the youth reported.  “After meeting I got sight of that request.  And sure enough, it was from my mother, in her own handwriting.”

The prayer movement spread nationally.   One of the most moving accounts out of the Prayer Revival came in the town of Kalamazoo, Michigan.  At a prayer meeting there a man in attendance related the following account:

At our very first meeting someone put in such a request as this: “A praying wife requests the prayers of this meeting for her unconverted husband, that he may be converted and made a humble disciple of the Lord Jesus.”  All at once a stout burly man arose and said, “I am that man, I have a pious praying wife, and this request must be for me.  I want you to pray for me.”  As soon as he sat down, in the midst of sobs and tears, another man arose and said, “I am that man, I have a praying wife.  She prays for me.  And now she asked you to pray for me.  I am sure I am that man, and I want you to pray for me.”

Five other men made similar statements.  The power of God fell upon that meeting.  In a brief period almost five hundred conversions came to the town.

The Prayer Revival made perhaps its most notable impact on an individual in Chicago.  As early as January 1857 revival fires burned in parts of the Windy City.  The YMCA held prayer meetings like those in New York.  A 20 year-old  named Dwight Lyman Moody attended the meetings. During the Prayer Revival Moody’s heart was stirred.  Biographer John Pollock said: “The revival of early 1857 tossed Moody out of his complacent view of religion as primarily an aid to fortune.”  He wrote to his mother about his attendance at the prayer meetings: “I go every night to meeting — Oh, how I do enjoy it!  It seems as if God were here Himself.”

For what do you pray today that would take God Himself to answer? What do you seek Him for in the name of the gospel? I have been praying much in recent days about these things, and it has led to a total rearrangement of my schedule and a refocusing of ministry. And God is beginning to honor this with lives being changed by the beautiful gospel. I want to spend my life trusting Him, not seeking comfort.

Let us pray for a movement today, shall we?

NOTE: the above is excerpted from my book co-authored with Malcolm McDow entitled Firefall.