The Third Great Awakening

When the revival fires that had burned brightly through the early decades of the nineteenth century began to die down, the Lord visited His people again with another move of the Holy Spirit. As with the previous revival, the Third Great Awakening began as a movement of prayer.

The Birth of a Movement: Jeremiah Lanphier and the Prayer Meeting

In 1857 Jeremiah Lanphier was led to start a prayer meeting in the heart of the financial district in Lower Manhattan, New York City. At first, only a handful of people attended but a few weeks later, the stock market crashed on October 10, and everything changed. This prayer meeting began to overflow and became a movement of prayer with thousands of people joining together crying out to the Lord for His help. This prayer movement spread like a bushfire and ignited a widespread revival.

The Spread of the Prayer Movement: Tens of Thousands Gather for Prayer

To understand the extent of this movement, eyewitnesses recorded that there were tens of thousands of people gathering daily for prayer in New York City alone. Newspapers like the New York Herald and the New York Tribune picked up the story, recorded the crowded attendances at the prayer meeting so that interest in prayer and revival spread all over. As well as sweeping through the whole of the United States, the overflow from this revival also went around the world to England, Europe, and Northern Ireland in 1859.

Spiritual Maturity: The Focus of the Third Great Awakening

The First Great Awakening is remembered for the many thousands who flocked to hear the message of God’s grace and love through the New Birth. The Second Awakening was marked by its evangelistic zeal and the birth of the modern missionary movement. The Third Great Awakening built on the blessings and accomplishments of these previous movements, but also highlighted the need for spiritual maturity expressed in holy living. Today we would say that Christians must not only talk the talk but also walk the walk.

The Third Great Awakening highlighted the need for spiritual maturity expressed in holy living. Christians must not only talk the talk but also walk the walk.

DL Moody and Evangelistic Ministry: Thousands Turn to Jesus

This awakening was blessed and enriched by the evangelistic ministry of DL Moody and others, resulting in people turning to Jesus in their tens of thousands. As well as proclaiming the new birth, this third awakening was also concerned with the necessity of believers growing to full maturity in Christ. Emphasis was made on Christian consecration and a total commitment to the cause of Christ and the need for a practical outworking and expression for their Christian faith. Christians are saved to serve as well as worship and believers were taught the priority of Christian discipleship and the need for absolute surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The Holiness Movement: Surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus

The Holy Spirit shone His light on the biblical teaching that to live victoriously and fruitfully, believers need to receive and trust in the empowering of the Holy Spirit. To follow Jesus, the believer must surrender their aspirations and agendas for His Will to be done on earth as in heaven. This awakening later gave birth to the Holiness movement that was to inspire the Pentecostal movement that rose to prominence in the twentieth century.

Social Progress and Initiatives: The Temperance Movement, Salvation Army, and Abolition of Slavery

This revival saw a flowering of those aspirations for social progress that had first appeared during the first and second awakenings. Amongst the many initiatives for social change was the Temperance Movement which sought to tackle the evils of rampant alcoholism. William Wilberforce who is better known for his support for the abolition of slavery also encouraged the working classes to drink beer! That is because beer was far less harmful than gin that was being consumed in huge quantities in what came to be known as the Gin Craze. This awakening also saw the birth of the Salvation Army and the abolition of slavery.

The Global Impact of the Third Great Awakening: From Ireland to Korea and Manchuria

The extent of this awakening was enormous and its effects reverberated around the world. In 1859 a revival broke out in Ulster, Northern Ireland that revival historian J. Edwin Orr said had a greater spiritual impact on Ireland than anything since the days of St. Patrick (c.385-461 AD). In later decades the revival fires spread to Korea in the Great Pyongyang Revival of 1907, and Manchuria in 1908. It was the dying embers of this revival that led to the prayer movement that resulted in the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905.

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