The Year 1744
Readers are, no doubt, aware that the 1749’s brought some of the most remarkable revivals the church has known since Pentecost. In our own homeland there was the famous out-pouring of the Spirit at Cambuslang.* Across the Atlantic, too, the Spirit of God was working so powerfully that Jonathan Edwards was able to publish in 1742 “Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival . . .” This book Edwards ended on a challenging note. He proposed that ministers should draw up a covenant on behalf of their congregations, confessing the particular sins to which their congregations had been most prone. Congregations should be asked to subscribe to this covenant, and to meet together on days of fasting and prayer in open avowal of its terms. We can be sure that, as Edwards’ many friends in Scotland turned over the pages of his latest book, they would have given serious consideration to the proposals he had made.
* For a full and interesting account of this revival, readers are recommended to procure for themselves “The Cambuslang Revival”, recently published by the Banner of Truth Trust. The last chapter of this book gives edifying details about concerts for prayer, and outlines some of the fruits that they bore.
We are not sure that Edwards’ suggestions bore any direct fruit in Scotland, but we do know that a group of Scottish ministers met in 1744 because they were burdened with the belief that “the state of the church and the world called loudly for united extraordinary prayer to God, that He would deliver the nations from their miseries and fill the earth with His glory.”
This meeting was not without fruit; the following specific proposals were agreed on:
- That some time each Saturday evening and Sabbath morning be devoted to prayer for revival.
- That persons spend the first Tuesday of each quarter year in prayer, whether in whole or in part, in public or in private.
- That those who joined this “Concert for Prayer” be considered bound to keep its terms for the two years following.
The Year 1746
I suppose that some who entered the agreement in 1744 were troubled by fears that formality might empty the exercise of meaning. This is why 1746 is so important.
In August, 1746, Scottish ministers again met together. (This was two months before the two-year agreement ran out.) Their meeting had two aims:
- To extend the original concert for prayer into a new agreement which would last for seven years.
- To encourage more Christians to enter this new concert for prayer.
The lesson from this 1746 agreement is very simple. Whatever fears had been entertained in 1744 had been disappointed by 1746. These ministers had heard the Lord’s challenge, “Prove me now” in 1744. They had proved Him, and they had not missed the blessing. Now they wished to prove Him still, that they might have His blessing more and more.
The year 1972
Of course, we are concerned with 1972. It is heart-warming to read of Jesus of Nazareth passing by the Braes of Cambuslang in 1741, and to read the testimonies of many who then touched the hem of His garment. But 1741 is no longer “now”, and the Lord says, “Prove Me NOW”. Again, we may like to push our heads up into the clouds, contemplating the future prospects of Christ’s church, turning grieved eyes from her present desolation. But the future will never come as the future; it will come as the present. Neither will it be those who are wrapped up in the future who will receive the blessing; it will be those who hear the still, small voice, “Prove Me NOW”.
That is why 1972 is so important for us; it is our NOW. We do not know exactly what the Lord might do in answer to the earnest, united, unceasing prayers of His people. All we know is that it is our duty to engage in such earnest, united, unceasing prayer.
1744, 1746, 1972. Is this the year for another Concert for Extraordinary Prayer?
J.T.
Grace cannot be magnified, unless nature be humbled. Jesus Christ cannot become more precious, unless self becomes more vile. As the believer sinks in his own eyes, Christ rises in his esteem. And this, in my opinion, is growing in grace. Romaine.