Shepherd's Corner (October 29, 2025)
- Brian Lee
- 10 hours ago
- 2 min read
Building Up a Praying Community Part 2: When God’s People Pray
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”— Acts 2:1–4 (NIV)
Every great movement of God begins in prayer. Before a single sermon was preached or a miracle performed, the early believers waited together, praying for the Holy Spirit to come. Pentecost was not a humanly crafted plan. It was Heaven’s answer to a praying people.
The same Holy Spirit has been at work throughout Church history, and He is at work in our lives today. I am reminded of a quiet corner of New York City in 1857. What happened?
In 1857, a 49-year-old businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier left his trade to serve as an inner-city missionary. The Old Dutch North Church, which had been in Manhattan for 88 years, was struggling. Families were leaving, pews were empty, and depression filled the streets. The economy was collapsing, and despair was everywhere.
Jeremiah wasn’t a preacher or scholar. He was just a man with a heart for people. Unsure how to begin, he prayed. Then came an idea. What if businessmen like himself simply gathered during their lunch hour to pray? He printed a few flyers and invited anyone who wished to come.
On September 23, 1857, Jeremiah sat alone in a third-floor prayer room. He sat there all alone for about 30 minutes. Finally, he heard footsteps on the wooden stairs. Six men joined him that day. The following week, twenty came. Then forty. And then Jeremiah decided they should meet daily.
Three weeks later, on October 14, the stock market crashed. Banks failed, businesses folded, and New Yorkers flooded into churches seeking hope. Within six months, ten thousand men were praying together daily across the city. Reports spread to Philadelphia, Chicago, and beyond. Soon, every major city in America had daily prayer meetings. Within two years, over a million people came to faith in Christ.
It all began with one man who prayed and refused to give up when only six showed up.
History confirms what Scripture declares. God moves when His people pray. Revival is not manufactured. It is received. The Holy Spirit still responds to humble hearts that seek Him together.
Dearly beloved, might God want to use someone who decides to pray? The question that once stirred Jeremiah Lanphier still confronts us today:
“What if?”
Depending on who or what our true and functional "God" is, the question can either cripple or compel. May we be compelled to pray until the Holy Spirit once again fills the house.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”— 2 Chronicles 7:14
In His Grace Alone,
Pastor Brian Lee
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