Lessons from the Scottish Revival 1948-52
In Part 1 we saw that the praying men and women in the Hebrides were given a revelation by the Holy Spirit that God was a covenant keeping God who responded to the intercession of his covenant people.
Here is what happened next;
At 3am God swept into the cottage
The first night of the meetings in the church at Barvas, nothing much happened, but one of
the praying deacons said to Duncan Campbell, "Don't be discouraged, it is coming. I already
can hear heaven's chariot wheels. We will have another night of prayer and then we will see
what God is going to do."Â
About thirty went to a nearby cottage and continued to pray into the night.
At about 3am God swept into the cottage and about a dozen were laid prostrate on
the floor, unable to move. Something had happened! Revival had come!Â
As they left the cottage, they found the lights burning in every house as men and women were seeking God.
They found three men laying by the roadside under conviction of sin, crying out for God to
have mercy on them.
Converted before arriving at church
The events of the second night will never be forgotten by those who were there!
Buses came from the four corners of the island. Seven men were being driven to the meeting in a butcher’s truck, when suddenly the Spirit fell on them in great conviction - they were all
converted before they reached the church.
As the preacher preached tremendous conviction swept down upon the people and tears fell down the faces of those present. So deep was the distress of some that their voices could be heard outside.
Under the burden of Intercession
The meeting finally ended, and people began to move outside. A young man began to pray
under a tremendous burden of intercession, He prayed for three quarters of an hour and as he prayed people gathered outside the church until there were twice as many outside as there had been inside. When he stopped praying, an elder gave out Psalm 132Â and as the great congregation began to sing, the people streamed back into the church again and the meeting continued until 4am.
The moment people took their seats the Spirit of God in great conviction began to
sweep through the church and hardened sinners wept and confessed their sins.Â
At the police station
As the meeting was finally closing, a messenger hurried to the preacher, "Come with me!
There is a crowd of people outside the police station; they are weeping and in awful distress.
We do not know what is wrong with them, but they are calling for someone to come and pray
with them."
Describing the scene outside the police station the minister later declared, "Oh I saw a sight I
never thought possible. Something I shall never forget. Under a starlit sky, men, and women
were kneeling everywhere, by the roadside, outside the cottages, even behind the peat stacks,crying for God to have mercy on them!"
Six hundred people had been making their way to the church, when suddenly the spirit of God had fallen upon them in great conviction, causing them to fall to their knees in repentance.
Crying out against dead religion and standing on the promises of God.
Amen
Revival Prayer
In Part 3 we find out what else happened when revival came to the Hebrides and the implications for the church in Ireland and elsewhere.