Instant Download Revival Books

This section includes general overviews of historical revivals. Each of the books in this selection of revival histories provides an overview of historical revivals. None of them are the same and all of them are full of treasure from our rich spiritual heritage.

Here are scenes from other eras, other cultures and other places. Some stories will shock you or surprise you, but all will whet your appetite for a fresh move of God in our day. They are all stories of ordinary people who were ignited by an extraordinary God and who were used to bring His kingdom to their world in their day.

In their stories you will find principles and practices which you ought to learn to ensure that you achieve something worthwhile for God where you are.

Genuine revivals have occurred in almost every age of the church era. They have been the major means that God has employed to rescue a weakened and backslidden church, restoring her to new levels of power and influence. God's remedy for an ailing church has always been revival.

Seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord are God's way of energizing the church and advancing His cause. The bi-products of revival are immense: Churches come alive, Gospel preaching carries unusual power, missionary movements are born, holiness replaces worldliness, passion for prayer, bible study and worship consumes individuals and revival converts are usually persevering believers until their dying breath.

And the model of all history's revivals is that presented in the pages of the Bible.

Were there spiritual awakenings prior to the great reformation? In studying the broad sweep of revival histories it is not difficult to concur with the eighteenth-century evangelicals’ view that ‘revival is the engine of history,’ the most powerful gift of God for the expansion of His church and for the renovation or reform of human society.

To quote Jonathan Edwards’, the first ‘theologian of revival,’ Indeed, it is true to say that seasons of revival have always been the major means that God has employed to advance His cause and the cause of the church in the world.

Obviously Edwards based his observations and conclusions on pre-1730 revivals, many of which we have only scant records and know nothing about - but they did occur and this section includes some of this material.

The Puritans had a rich spiritual history rooted in great outpourings of the Spirit. Following as it did so closely upon the Reformation it is not surprising that the Puritan movement in England believed so firmly in revivals of religion as the great means by which the Church advances in the world.

The Reformation was the greatest revival since Pentecost. That 'multitudes could be converted to Christ' no longer sounded impossible to the pioneering Puritans. They prayed it, believed it and saw it happen.

The Puritan hope of a glorious and worldwide revival before the second coming of Christ, from the Reformation onwards was embraced firstly by the giants of Puritanism, then by men like David Brainerd, Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield - men who laid a foundation of revival theology and expectation for centuries to come.

One of the largest sections of revival books we have on any period of church history and covers what is called the 'The Great Awakening.'

Though it was certainly not the greatest revival in numerical growth or geographical scope, it well deserves the title because it was the first discernible occasion that God’s Spirit was outpoured simultaneously across different nations.

Nikolas Count Ludwig Von Zinzendorf was the leader of the Moravian community in Herrnhut, where they experienced a great outpouring of the Spirit. Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield were greatly used of God in America, John Wesley was the main instrument in Britain.

These books are the records of these men - and many others - who saw this fresh outbreak of God in their world.

These books cover the Second Worldwide Awakening which lasted about 30 years. The revival had immediate effects that were were extraordinarily widespread. It also gave a remarkable impetus to world missions which affected the Churches history for decades to come.

The beginning of the revival can be traced to the industrial towns of Yorkshire in late 1791 and soon spread to other parts of Britain, leaving a proliferation of Bible and missionary societies in its wake.

It spread to various parts of Europe but found its most receptive ground in the USA, particularly in the Cane ridge revival in Bourbon County.

In this section there are materials on Asahel Nettleton, Charles Finney and James Caughey - names which dominate the American and British scenes

Finney's well documented ministry began in 1830 and netted 100,000 souls within one year! The Methodist Episcopal church steadily increased in the 1830's, especially through camp-meetings. But their numbers doubled in 1840-1842. Other denominations flourished too.

The greatest effect of this revival was felt far beyond the boarders of North America and for centuries to come. Finney's philosophy of revival, expressed in his autobiography and explained in his "Revivals of Religion", has subsequently affected thousands of Christians and precipitated revivals around the world.

Here are records of mid-nineteenth century revivals which began in prayer and shook the civilized world. This Great Awakening was the greatest to date in its extent, effects and lasting impact.

In September 1857 Jeremiah Lanphier, a businessman and convert of Finney's (a decade before), began a noon day prayer meeting on Wednesdays in a New York church. Within six months over 10,000 business men were meeting in similar meetings across America; confessing sins, being converted and praying for revival.This lay-led movement harvested a million souls in two years.

In Britain another million were won to Christ by 1865. Evangelistic, missionary and philanthropic enterprises blossomed on every hand. Moody and Sankey, William and Catherine Booth, Walter and Phoebe Palmer, Charles Haddon Spurgeon and Hudson Taylor are representative of a vast army of revival preachers that enjoyed the blessings of authentic revival. These are there stories.

It would be vary easy to review this period, 1880 to 1903, as a period of unusual evangelistic effort and success, as most its documentation surrounds the ministry of Dwight L. Moody, together with a host of other ministries that were also born out of the 1857 revival. Orr regards this period also as a 'resurgence.' Certainly the fourth great awakening had produced some highly motivated and anointed ministries, but looking at the world situation, something more than evangelistic success was afoot. It was quite distinct in its character and effects.

It initially centred around the ministry of D L Moody, whose ministry may be described as "highly successful crusade evangelism interspersed with periodic revivalism". Moody began his ministry in Chicago and entered full-time Christian work in 1860, concentrating on his Sunday school and YMCA work. He was God's chosen vessel to take the sparks of the 1857-60 revival to ignite a fresh passion for God and for souls around the world.

This is the largest collection of books we have on any period of church history. The Welsh Revival spawned a host of other worldwide revivals that affected the church for 100 years - right down to our day.

Most of these materials are records of Evan Roberts laboursand the extraordinary events that followed his ministry, resulting in 100,000 people being converted in just 6 months in the tiny Principality of Wales.

What was more astonishing is the rapid and widespread revivals that were sparked by this awakening. The flame leapt across Europe. India and the Far East were ignited. The United States felt its after-shock everywhere, particularly in Los Angeles which produced the Pentecostal Movement.

It would not be difficult to conclude that the twentieth century was an era of Pentecostal Revivals and that Evangelical Revivals had become merely history.

This is clearly not the case as there have been innumerable outpourings of the Spirit which have resulted in a restoration of Christian faith and zeal and which have ushered millions of new converts into the Kingdom of God.

These books record some of these thrilling stories.

Does prayer precede revival? Read these materials to find out!

This section on prayer is obviously very important, as Dr A. T. Pierson once said, 'There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer.' Let me recount what God has done through concerted, united, sustained prayer.'

These key books provide a map to guide us into a place of power through prayer.

Here are several books on the theology and dynamics of God-sent revival.

An understanding of the theology of revival and the necessary elements that invoke and prepare for revival is of immense value. Whether the reflections expressed here are from Calvinists (Jonathan Edwards) or Arminians (Charles Finney), their observations provide a healthy framework drawn from historical and theological analysis by those who experienced revival in their ministries.

This section is a must-read for all who have a passion to see revival in our day.

We have included some sermons by revivalists of former days to help capture some of the Biblical and Gospel-centred themes that were employed during revival times.

The depravity of man's condition, justification by faith and the substutionary death of Christ were always presented centre-stage by revival preachers.