HOW REVIVAL STARTED! - 1904 - Azusa Street

HOW REVIVAL STARTED! - 1904 - Azusa Street
by Frank Bartleman

... We had been praying for a sweeping revival for Pasadena. God
was answering our prayers. I found a wonderful work of the Spirit
going on at Lake Avenue. The altar was full of seeking souls.
There was no big preacher there. One night nearly every unsaved
soul in the house got saved. It was a clean sweep for God.
Conviction was mightily upon the people. In two weeks´ time two
hundred souls knelt at the altar, seeking the Lord. The Peniel
boys were underneath, and wonderfully used of God. We then
began to pray for an outpouring of the Spirit for Los Angeles and
the whole of Southern California.

I find the following observations in my diary, written at that time:
"Some Holiness churches (foremost at that time) are going to be
surprised to find God passing them by. He will work in channels
where they will yield to him. They must humble themselves for
Him to come. We are crying, `Pasadena for God!´ The people are
too well satisfied with their own goodness. They have little faith
or interest for the salvation of others. God will humble them by
passing them by. The Spirit is breathing prayer through us for a
mighty, general outpouring. Great things are coming. We are
asking largely, that our joy may be full. God is moving. We are
praying for the churches and their pastors. The Lord will visit
those willing to yield to Him."

And the same is true today of the Pentecostal people. Their
ultimate failure or success for God will be realized just at this
point. We must keep humble and little in our own eyes. Let us
get built up by a sense of our own importance and we are gone.
History repeats itself in this connection. God has always sought
a humble people. He can use no other. Martin Luther, the great
reformer, wrote: "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ says
repent, he means that the whole life of believers on earth should
be a constant and perpetual repentance. Repentance and sorrow -
i. e. true repentance - endure as long as a man is displeased with
himself - that is, until he passes from this life into eternity. The
desire of self-justification is the cause of all the distresses of the
heart." There is much need always of heart preparation, in humility
and separation, before God can consistently come. The depth of
any revival will be determined exactly by the spirit of repentance
that obtains. In fact this is the key to every true revival born of God.

-From 'Azusa Street' by Frank Bartleman - one of the greatest
Revival books ever written.