How Did the Welsh Revival Begin?

In our daily meditations at groupbiblestudy.com, we continue to reflect on the Holy Spirit's revival work and how revivals begin. Today, we examine the start of the Spirit's stirring of the people of Wales on the western side of the UK. The Welsh Revival, which took place from 1904 to 1906, began with young people yearning for a deeper, more personal knowledge of God. Evan Roberts, the main catalyst used by God in this revival, was almost unknown when this great work of the Holy Spirit began. His education was limited because he left school at 11 to work in the coal mine with his father. After his conversion to Christ at the age of 13, he prayed that God would visit Wales in revival. At 26, he began training to become a minister, but God intervened in his formal training when revival broke out in a small church in South Wales.

The revival started during the main Sunday morning service among some young people in New Quay, South Wales. Young Florrie Evans was just a teenager at a youth meeting in February 1904. Florrie publicly declared that she loved the Lord Jesus with all her heart, and at that moment, the Holy Spirit descended on the meeting and moved the young people to tears. After this meeting, the convicting work of the Spirit of God quickly spread to other young people in the Cardiganshire area. Young people aged 16-18 began traveling with evangelist Seth Joshua, who had been praying for revival for some time. He prayed that the Lord would call someone not from the university or college but from the working classes.

Evan Roberts was the answer to his prayer. In the spring of 1904, Evan experienced a profound sense of God's presence. One night, he was awakened from sleep and led into deep communion with God for hours. This experience continued every evening for several months until he went to a preparatory school for the ministry at Newcastle Emlyn. He was there for 2½ weeks before hearing about the Holy Spirit descending on the youth in New Quay. He had to return to receive something himself. At a meeting Evan attended, Seth Joshua, the evangelist, challenged the congregation to allow the Spirit of God to "bend" all who listened. Evan had been prepared by his evenings of prayer; the Holy Spirit descended on him and filled him. It was a life-changing experience for Evan Roberts. Oswald J. Smith, in his book, The Passion for Souls, records Evan Roberts as writing the following words:

“For eleven years, I prayed for the Spirit, and this is how I was led to pray. William Davies, the deacon at the church where he grew up in Christ, said one night in the society: 'Remember to be faithful. What if the Spirit descended and you were absent? Remember Thomas, Jesus' disciple, what a loss he had by not being there when Jesus turned up after the resurrection!" I told myself: I will have the Spirit, and through all kinds of weather and despite difficulties, I kept going to the meetings. When I saw other boys with boats on the tide, I was often tempted to turn back and join them. But, no, I told myself: 'Remember your resolve,' and I kept going. I attended the prayer meetings faithfully for ten to eleven years, praying for a revival. It was the Spirit that moved me to think this way.

During a morning meeting that Evan Roberts attended, the evangelist, in one of his prayers, asked the Lord to "bend us." The Spirit seemed to tell Roberts: "That's what you need, to be bent." He then describes his experience: "I felt a living force entering my chest. This leading of the Spirit grew stronger and stronger, and I was almost bursting. I fell to my knees with my arms over the seat in front of me; tears and sweat flowed freely. I thought blood was gushing out." Some friends came to wipe his face. Meanwhile, he was crying out, "O Lord, bend me! Bend me!" Then suddenly, the glory broke. Mr. Roberts adds: "After I was bent, a wave of peace came over me, and the audience sang, 'I hear your welcome voice.' And as they sang, I thought about the bending at the Judgment Day, and I was filled with compassion for those that would have to bend on that day, and I wept.”^[1] We’ll continue our meditations tomorrow.

These revival experiences are from a series I wrote: On Fire with the Holy Spirit. It is found on the All Studies page. Scroll down until you come to the series, click on it, and the study is Revival Comes to the Thirsty Keith Thomas.

^[1]Oswald J. Smith, The Passion for Souls, Welch Publishing Company, Burlington, Canada, Page 42.