Picturing Theology

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P i c t u r i n g T h e o l o g y

Let God Arise! A Sober Call to Prevailing Prayer for a Dynamic Spiritual Awakening and the Aggressive Advancement of the Kingdom in America’s Inner Cities Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis, January 1, 2003

Written in honor of all those who for these long years have in faith and sacrifice refused to let go of the Lord until he blessed them on behalf of the poor in the city

What a long title for a short essay! This is my tribute to the wonderful piece penned by the churchman and intellectual Jonathan Edwards, leader in the Awakenings in the northeast in the 18th century regarding the need for intercession to spawn new movements for God. His original title was long as well: “A Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God’s People, in Extraordinary Prayer, for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth.” Edwards wrote his little tract in 1746 after experiencing two remarkable movements of the Spirit of God, in 1734-35 and 1740-42 respectively. Edwards’s tract displayed his deep conviction that when God’s people pray fervently, intensely, and powerfully for revival, he would release the power of his Spirit in society. This remarkable visitation would then result in many people repenting and believing in Christ as Lord, and would trigger a worldwide “revival of religion” and an “advancement of the Kingdom on earth.” All committed Christians, according to Edwards, have a positive duty to pray for this. Having argued his points primarily from careful reasoning and his exegesis of Zechariah 8.18-23 (among other texts), Edwards sought to support his “humble plea” for a more dedicated and organized movement of prayer pleading to him for his visitation. He was neither the first nor the only Christian leader of the time that was calling for “extraordinary prayer.” As a matter of fact, a “Memorial” was written by certain Scottish ministers who circulated their ideas at the time of his tract-writing. This memorial had been circulated throughout many English- speaking churches, but especially in England. It called for a new emphasis of “extraordinary prayer” at certain times, a schedule which Edwards himself endorsed, specifically on “Saturday evenings, Sunday mornings and the first Tuesday of each quarter, for an initial period of seven years.”