A New Canada for God!

Over one hundred years ago, in November 1904, a great spiritual awakening occurred in the nation of Wales. The man God raised up to help spark the revival was a Welsh coal miner named Evan Roberts - a man who at a very young age longed to see a move of God amongst the people. It was while attending an evening meeting in the coastal town of Blaenanerch that Evan found himself in great travail and with tears cried out to the Lord: "Bend me! Bend me! Bend us!" From that point onward, throughout the day and the night "without ceasing, he prayed, wept, and sighed for a great spiritual awakening for his beloved Wales." He spent hours "in unbroken, untiring intercession," for his own soul had been awakened to the need for a national revival.

In his book entitled I Saw the Welsh Revival, David Matthews wrote that Evan initially met with a group of young people to describe "the deep hunger of his own heart for a new Britain for God and for a deeper knowledge of the work of the Holy Spirit within." As I was reading this book, the little phrase "a new Britain for God" literally jumped out at me and I began to wonder whether "a new Canada for God" was possible during the times in which we live. Of course, it must be said that the only way this could be possible is through a great, unlimited, and unrerstrained outpouring of the Holy Spirit that would touch the entire nation.

During the revival in Wales, the special word that Evan Roberts emphasized over and over again in the churches was simply, "Obey the Holy Spirit." As a result, men, women, and children were taken up with this move of God in such a way that it changed the very heart of the nation. For us in Canada, herein lies the key! While it would be easy for us to think that revival should come to the church at large, the truth is much closer to home, for in reality, a great awakening must occur in my own heart and life before I should expect to see it in others. Here is where a new Canada begins - it begins in the heart and home of every believer in this counrty who longs to see the day of God's power.