Day 131: Praying for new spiritual awakenings (2004)

Join with Salvationists of the Wales Division for day 131 of 150 days of prayer.

• 'Lord, I am not proud. I do not think that I am a great person. I do not try to do great things. I do not worry about things that are too hard for me to understand. Instead, I am quiet and there is peace in my mind' (Psalm 131:1 and 2, EasyEnglish Bible). 

2004

This year saw the centenary of the 1904 Welsh Revival. In 2004 Kevin Adams and Emyr Jones, wrote:

‘The Wales of then is not the Wales of now, things have changed and not just the fashions, but society itself. The Christian influence of chapel and church is now something which is on the periphery of Welsh culture – so different from its position in the years immediately preceding the revival of 1904 when it seemed so central with its popular preaching services and its numerous well-attended mid-week meetings.’ (A Pictorial History of Revival)

Despite the challenges a century on from the great revival God was still transforming lives in 2004, as this article, ‘New Age for Ange’, from the 2024 bilingual War Cry illustrates:

‘As drug-dealing new age travellers and chronic addicts, Ange Sampson and her partner lived a nomadic lifestyle. In their early 40s they trucked across Wales selling the Big Issue. Then, while in a car park in Aberystwyth, an unexpected encounter changed Ange’s life.

‘A tattooed woman in boots and dreadlocks rocked up in an ancient Land Rover and came over to our truck,’ she recalls. ‘I chatted to her, and Jan began dropping by every few days for a cup of tea and a chat.’

‘At that time, Ange couldn’t find anywhere to park her truck for the winter. Her new friend offered her back garden as a parking bay. When Ange popped by her friend’s home, she was shocked to see crosses on the walls. “I felt as if I was melting, like the Wicked Witch of the West,” she jokes, “because I was an occult practitioner. I read runes, tarot and crystals. My involvement in occult practices kept me deep in making poor choices, especially with my addictions. Seeing all these crosses, I was like, ‘Help!’”

‘Jan explained who Jesus was and invited Ange along to her Salvation Army church on Sunday. “I went to the meetings often drunk, weeping and in a terrible mess,” says Ange. “Yet people made me feel welcome.”

‘After eventually escaping her abusive partner, she contacted Jan, who offered her camper van as a place of refuge.

‘The following morning, Ange went with Jan to a breakfast church meeting at the Bay Hotel in Aberystwyth. That day – 18 August 2004 – would become a landmark in Ange’s life. After eating breakfast, the group sang a few hymns. Suddenly, two women started speaking in tongues, which Christians believe is a spiritual language sometimes used to communicate with God.

‘Ange says, “When I clocked that, I became ultra-afraid and thought, ‘What fruitcakes!’ The hairs on my arms stood up. My neck went tight and weird. I was going into fight or flight mode. I went to get my bag which was two feet in front of me on the floor. I started to sweat and shake. The minister asked: ‘Has anyone here not been baptised in the Holy Spirit?’ I put my hand up. I said to myself: ‘What are you doing, you mad thing?’ Then I put my other hand up.”

‘The minister invited those who wanted a relationship with God to walk towards her. Ange was determined to leave the room, but she couldn’t. In her rage, she heard a calm voice saying: “Whatever it takes.” Resigned to her inability to leave, she walked towards the minister.

 ‘“She prayed for me, and I hit the deck like a sack of potatoes,” Ange says. “When I got up, I was different. My rage was gone, and I began to pray in tongues. It bubbled out like a bird singing. I felt like I was born to praise God. After the meeting, I went out for a cigarette, but that was the only addiction left – I had no desire to drink or take other substances because straightaway what I had encountered felt better than all of them put together. I had no withdrawal symptoms. God delivered me from that. The cigarette habit was something I worked on later.”

… ‘Two decades on from finding faith, Ange reflects on the truth that changed her life and helped her through her greatest challenges. She says, “God loves me unconditionally, wants a relationship with me and knows me from the inside out.”’

Prayer

• A reminder of the 1904 revival starts our prayer thoughts for today. Thank God for that revival. 
• A hundred years later God was still changing lives and does so today. Rejoice by praying for those you know who have a story of a changed life. Thank God also for the way in which he has changed your life.