Workplace Revival

by MichaelTummillo

Many are saying that the American Workplace is experiencing a revival as we speak. Has there been a revival in the workplaces of America ever before?

In the 1850's, America was prosperous and feeling little need for God.The embers of previous Great Awakenings were starting to fade. We were no longer calling upon God. We were too busy. Too affluent. Thousands of Americans were disillusioned with Christianity.

William Miller, a New England farmer, had captured nationwide attention with his prediction that Christ would return on October 22nd, 1844. When nothing happened, many abandoned their faith.

Then things began to change.

Secular and religious conditions combined to bring about a crash. A crash seems to come about whenever we struggle with whether to worship God or mammon. Thousands of merchants were forced to the wall as banks failed and railroads went into bankruptcy. Factories were closed and vast numbers faced unemployment. New York City alone had 30,000 idle men. In October 1857, the hearts of people were thoroughly weaned from speculation and uncertain gain, while hunger and despair stared them in the face.

On July 1, 1857, a quiet business man named Jeremiah Lanphier took up the daunting appointment by the North Church of the Dutch Reformed denomination as a City Missionary to downtown New York. The church was suffering from depleting membership due to the exodus of the population from downtown to the better neighborhoods. The new City Missionary was charged with visiting those in the immediate neighborhood.

Burdened by the assignment, Jeremiah Lanphier decided to invite others to join him in a noonday prayer meeting to be held on Wednesdays, once a week. He stood on the streets distributing a flyer entitled:

HOW OFTEN SHALL I PRAY?

So, at twelve noon, September 23, 1857, Lanphier took his seat to await the public's response to his invitation. Five minutes went by... ten minutes. Still no one came. Fifteen minutes passed and Lanphier was still alone. Twenty-five...thirty... and then at 12.30, he heard a step on the staircase. Finally, the first person appeared. Then another, and another, and another, until six people were present and the prayer meeting began.

The following Wednesday, October 7th, there were forty intercessors.

In the first week of October 1857, it was decided to hold a meeting daily instead of weekly.

Within six months, ten thousand business men were gathering daily for prayer in New York, and within two years, a MILLION converts were added to America's churches.

Undoubtedly the greatest revival in New York's history was sweeping the city, and it was of such an order as to make the whole nation curious. There was no fanaticism, no hysteria, simply an incredible movement of the people to pray.

GOD WAS WORKING IN AMERICAN BUSINESS

This so-called "Layman's Prayer Revival" was sweeping America and turning some hardcore sinners to God. It was called by this name because there were businessmen - rather than ministers - who were leading.

America's moral recovery was under way.

In 1858, in cities and small towns all over the nation, people were assembling every night for prayer. In fact, you could travel by horse and buggy from Omaha, Nebraska to Washington, D.C. and expect to find churches packed for prayer wherever you might stop for the night.

In March 1858, a religious journal reported that "The large cities and towns from Maine to California are sharing in this great and glorious work. There is hardly a village or town to be found where 'a special divine power' does not appear displayed."

In Chicago, 2,000 men met at noon for prayer in Metropolitan Hall. In Jayne's Hall in Philadelphia, 4,000 were meeting.

In December of 1858, in Utica, New York attendance at a weekly union prayer meeting increased so rapidly that, by the third meeting, the main floor and the balcony of the First Presbyterian Church were filled. It was decided that daily prayer meetings should take place every morning.

One night, when Dr. John L. Giradeaux dismissed the prayer meeting at Anson Street Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina, no one went home. The congregation stayed until midnight. Eight weeks of nightly meetings followed reaching crowds numbering from 1,500 to 2,000. Many turned to the Lord.

The New York Observer published a report from Waco, Texas of a mighty move of God. "Day and night the church has been crowded during the meeting... Never before in Texas have we seen a whole community so effectually under a religious influence ... thoroughly regenerated."

The power of prayer touched every aspect of business. The Bible became the standard. Any business that injured the community was regarded as wrong. People in every kind of business began to be more honest, truthful and conscientious. Many business leaders agreed to close their shops for one hour for prayer.

At least three thousand came to Christ in Newark, New Jersey. In many smaller towns scarcely any unconverted people remained. In Haverhill, Mass., the Spirit deeply moved the crowded daily prayer meeting. Sometimes half of the assembly silently wept. One pastor found at least one person in every home in his congregation deeply concerned about their relationship with God.

In March of 1858, the voices of prayer and praise to God was heard beginning at 8:30 every morning in the halls of the New York state capitol. Six people began a prayer meeting for the Legislature. By the fifth day, two rooms were filled and interest was growing.

In 1858 in Louisville, Kentucky 1,000 attended the daily union prayer. One writer exclaimed, "The Spirit of God seems to be brooding over our city, and to have produced an unusual degree of tenderness and solemnity in all classes." An amazing work of grace was changing the city.

Some of the leading business men of Boston were attending prayer meetings. An unusual number of people who had lived wicked lives also came. One writer said, "'Publicans and sinners' are awakened, and are entering the prayer meetings of their own accord. Some of them manifest signs of sincere repentance."

TODAY'S REVIVAL

Today, across the country, major-league executives are meeting for prayer breakfasts and spiritual conferences. In Minneapolis, 150 business chiefs lunch monthly at a private club to hear chief executives draw business solutions from the Bible. In Boston, heavy hitters such as retired Raytheon Chairman and CEO Thomas L. Phillips meet at an invitation-only prayer breakfast called First Tuesday, an ecumenical affair long shrouded in secrecy. More publicly, Aetna International (AET) Chairman Michael A. Stephen has spoken with Aetna employees about using spirituality in their careers.

That's not to mention the 10,000 Bible and prayer groups in workplaces that meet regularly, according to the Fellowship for Companies for Christ International, or the nearly 4,000 Workplace Chaplains who've been hired by American business, whose ranks are estimated to swell to 20,000 by decade's end. Just five years ago, there was only one conference on spirituality and the workplace; now there are about 30.

Academic endorsement is growing, too: The University of Denver, the University of New Haven, and Minnesota's University of St. Thomas have opened research centers dedicated to the subject. The number of related books hitting the store shelves each year has quadrupled since 1990, to 79 last year.

One of the positive aspects of globalization is the opportunity to go into all the world and engage in business. In countries where missionaries are denied access and "tentmakers" must remain isolated in compounds for foreigners, real businessmen can pass through immigration and customs with a Bible in their briefcase and the Word of God in their mouths and move freely within the culture.

So, how's that revival coming along where YOU work? Surely the Spirit of God residing in you - that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead - is sufficient to empower the Christians who work there to make a REAL difference.

Is America being revived? You betcha!

Are you missing it? Only YOU can answer that.

It's been said that "Prayer changes things." Lord knows, it certainly changes US!

So, let us pray!