A Well of Revival

Whenever I hear about others who have a spirit to pray for revival in the Newark area, my heart leaps with joy! Recently, many of us prayed together at Old First Church, which was founded in 1666. First Presbyterian Church of Newark has authentic records declaring it is “the Church that founded Newark.” Participating in the First Great Awakening under Aaron Burr Sr. and George Whitefield, the church ordained and sent out David Brainerd as a missionary to the Native Americans. It also helped found Princeton University, and produced pastors that served as first presidents of Princeton, Harvard, and Yale. The church was even used as a regular stop on the Underground Railroad by Harriet Tubman, and we had the privilege of walking through the passageways under the church.

Newark was dedicated by its founders to be as “close as possible to the Kingdom of God on earth.” Thus many of the revivals that have swept through this nation have first passed through our city. Old First Church was a well of revival, and our purpose in seeking God together was to spiritually “re-dig” this well, crying out for a new wave of revival.

It was an amazing time of worship, confession, encountering the heart of God, and crying back what we believed are His desires. As we used the Lord's Prayer as a model, I was struck by how much space is used in that passage to deal with forgiveness. Then the Lord spoke to me and said, “I want to pour out a spirit of forgiveness over Newark.” Instantly, I pictured the woman who anointed Jesus' feet in Luke 7:36-50, 47, “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven – for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

In Scripture, unforgiveness leads to resentment, retaliation, anger, hatred, violence, and murder. When God's people as individuals and in local fellowships can receive God's Spirit to forgive, when we really understand and practice this, then we can begin to love one another as He loves us! Please pray with us that His church will indeed cry out and receive God's Spirit of forgiveness in the cross of Jesus Christ. Pray that we will forgive as we have been forgiven and be set free to love one another deeply from the heart, “opening the well” to revival. Please also pray that the lost in Newark would receive an outpouring of the Spirit of forgiveness and salvation through the Savior of the world, and that His love would overcome hate in this great city!