Weekly Prayer (12/10)

David Brainerd and Indian Revival

David Brainerd (AD 1718-1747) was a preacher to the Indians in the early days of the United States. He brought about the revival and was known as the “Apostle of Indian” Born in 1718, he studied at Yale University. He was called to evangelize in the brush area of the Indians in 1742. He died of lung disease in 1747. He was under 30 years old. Although his service time was not long. But there is no story as glorious and magnificent than David Brainerd. His story influenced William Carey’s to go to India for mission, and inspired John Wesley and well-known South Africa missionary Andrew Murray. There are no other miracles that prove the truth of Christian faith more than his life and work. He was alone in the wilderness where the Native Americans lived, struggling with deadly diseases day and night, most of the time he could only relied on one Indian aborigine who believed in the Lord to translate for him in order to have contact with the Indians, but with the words of God in his hands and his heart, and the flaming fire of God burning in his spirit, he spent most time in prayer, and poured his heart out to God, thus establishing the church of God, and received the effect full of grace of God.

But before David Brainerd began to live by faith, he lived under the influence of legalism for a long time. He believed that people must rely on deeds to earn God’s grace, but few  months after his 21st birthday, on a Sunday afternoon, when he walked into a dense forest, an indescribable glory opened his eyes, he was able to see that God’s will is the source of peace and joy for a person, from that point on he was willing to do God’s will without counting the cost. It became the driving force in his life.

David. Brainerd was willing to dedicate his life to serve Christ. All he could see was: The only way to accomplish this will, he must become a pastor to preach the gospel; but not the way he used to think, to earn salvation for himself, because he now knows it is the unmerited grace of God. You can’t buy with money, nor pay any price. In order to achieve this call, he must be trained, so he entered Yale University, or Yale College was the name at the time.

When he was 24 (1742), he was examined by a pastor’s association and received a certificate allowing him to preach. (He was later appointed as a pastor on June 10, 1944). He said: “After the exam, I felt that I love God very much. I prayed with one of the pastors, then went to bed and decided to live faithfully to God.” Then a mission group hired him as their missionary and sent him to live in New York, New Jersey, and to the Red Indians on the borders of Pennsylvania doing evangelism. This was the turning point of David’s life. He believed that this is God’s call for him. He was so convinced of this, he accepted this appointment with joy and gratitude, and look at this mission as if he had received it directly from the hands of God.

In the spring of 1743, he bid farewell to his relatives and friends, leaving the family and comfort, to face the hardships and dangers. However, David was extremely frustrated in the first few weeks, and the challenge of language and bad weather were all problems. But his greatest disappointment was that the reaction of the Indians to the gospel were indifference. Of course, the first thing a missionary must do was to learn the language of the local people. Although he worked hard to learn the language of the Indians, he progressed slowly, so he rode from time to time to seek help from a missionary who worked among the Indians about twenty miles away. So most of the time he relies on English-speaking Indians to interpret him

David soon discovered later that the reason Indians were so skeptical and disregarded the message he gave, was because they had suffered a lot in the hands of the white people. So, it was only when he lived with the Indians in a house made of wood and turf for a while, that was when they began to trust him and listened to what he had to say. In those days, David was extremely lonely. In order to reach the tribes scattered around, David often must traveled hard, sometimes by horse, sometimes walking, he often went through the wilderness, swamps, mountain climbing, thorns, through dense forests, climbing over the cliffs. Sometimes he had to walk 15 miles to buy bread. In the effort of saving time and trouble, he had to put the bread in storage, by the time he ate it, it had already become hard and moldy. Teaching these what David often called “poor Indians required extreme endurance. When their doubts toward him were slightly lessened, he again attempt to gently guide them step by step to gain the knowledge of Christ. They were so ignorant that even the simplest truths must be repeated and repeated to have comprehension.

When David taught and preached, he still had to rely on translators because his Indian language was not enough. There was a long period of time he had to work with non-Christian translators, but because they did not understand the truth of the Christian faith, their translations were not always reliable and accurate. He was eager to have a Christian translator, but since there was still no Indian who believes in the Lord that can do that kind of work. The translator who served him for a long time was the best he could get, and his behavior improved a lot. He used to be a well-known drunker, but now he drank less, and he often showed real interest in the information he was translating. Later David heard him advising his fellow Indians to abandon their paganism and return to Christianity, although he himself had not done this. One day, when the translator stood next to the young missionary and translated his message one sentence at a time, David noticed that he seemed to be greatly moved. David hoped that he could really give his life to the Lord Jesus this time. But it was not easy to change a 50-year-old of his lifetime believe. When the meeting was over, the man went home without saying a word. In the next few days, he was very uneasy about sin and could not even sleep. One day, he went to David and was extremely grieved. Just like Philippi’s jailer in prison, he asked David, “What can I do to be saved?” David also answered him in Paul’s words: Believe in the Lord Jesus, you can be saved.” After the translator was born again, his ministry was completely different. When David preached with power, the translator seems to have the same inspiration, his translation was also full of passion of fire. They became the happiest companions in the ministry of evangelism.

Spiritual awakening

David Brainerd was never satisfied with his achievements. He often spurred his sick body to work harder, often at the end of the day, he prayed wholeheartedly for the repentance of the Indians. He did not believe that his efforts could change the Indians. Because only God could do this, that is why he would spend a lot of time praying, asking God to make him a wise and faithful messenger, give him the right words to say, so that he could lead the Indians to trust in Jesus Christ.

One Sunday morning, he had a very special burden. He said: “When I woke up, my spirit was stressed by the responsibility in front of me. Before I got out of bed, I cried out to God. After I got dressed, I immediately retreated into the woods and poured the heavy burdens in my inner being unto God. Asking especially for God to help me in this major work, because I could no longer think of anything else. With an unreserved openness, I re-dedicated myself to God, live or die, willing to endure the suffering He ask of me among non-believers, I deeply felt that nothing can discourage me from this blessed work.” Even on the journey, he asked God to bless the people God want him to go to evangelize. In a trip he said: “As I rode three hundred miles away to the Indian, my heart continued to rise to the throne of God in heaven, asking Him to be with me and help me” Hoping and almost anticipating that, that will be the day God will give power and grace to his poor Indians.”

When the Indians came to David Brainerd and asked, “What can I do to be saved?” was the fulfillment of his missionary dream, there was an indescribable joy inside him. Now that the entire tribe had been influenced by his evangelism, the drunkenness was greatly reduced, and he was able to witness the joy of many Indians “coming into Christ in groups.” Sometimes the revival happened suddenly and unexpectedly. Although when there was no special meeting arranged at the time, even David Brainerd himself did not expect the extraordinary thing to happen. The only explanation was that God had answered the countless prayers of this young minister.

Because all the local Indian began to have a very serious concern for their souls. David no longer need to try to get their interest. Whenever he appeared, people immediately gathered from all everywhere, and often did not give him the time or opportunity to dismount, they surrounded his horse, to ask him eagerly to guide them the road to salvation. David sat high on the saddle, and everyone could see and hear. He looked at a large group of people, having the same hunger and thirst for the truth, just like the group Peter preached on Pentecost in Jerusalem; they had the same question: What should we do?”

This very movement, David Brainerd called it “the great awakening of the Indians”, which began in the early summer of 1745. On a Sunday in June, he preached to three or four thousand people. When he preached the love of Jesus and how He took the punishment of their sin on the cross, they listened attentively; David Brainerd invited them to come before the Lord to receive the grace of sin forgiven that Jesus had prepared for them. The scriptures that were spoken that day were Isaiah 53:10: “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.” It was a wonderful verse, and the prophet Isaiah, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, prophesized what would happen in Golgotha. When they heard how Jesus suffered, many people wept, opened up their hearts, and accepted Jesus as their Savior. David Brainerd said: “My soul rejoices, because God likes to use me to lead these poor Indians. How happy and exciting it is for me to see the results of my labor!”

This extraordinary interest and concern for the gospel continued for several weeks, and the Indians came to listen to the gospel in droves and accept the invitation to repentance. Sometimes they were so eager to offer themselves to Christ that they couldn’t wait for David to come among them. They came on the street and surrounded the little house, to ask for more instructions. On August 6, 1745, he was twice surrounded by eager people. In the morning they came to his residence, and in the afternoon, they waited in the place where David usually preached the gospel. It was a wonderful experience to preach to a group of people who listen so intently. At that time, it is not hard to see men crying. At the end of the afternoon’s meeting, a group of men stood far away and busted into tears. David went to them to confirm whether they were convicted for their sins. He asked them what do they want the Lord Jesus to do for them; their simple answer was: “We want Him to cleanse our hearts.”

On the second day, on August 7th, David quoted the verse from Isaiah 53 in his preaching and received similar results. After the meeting started, there were Indians came from far distance. As soon as they entered the place, they immediately felt that there was a transcendent power moving, affecting the hearts and minds of all congregations. David wrote: “Things are so wonderful! When they come from a remote place, the Spirit of God immediately grasps them and makes them care for their souls.” On that day, several people accepted Christ as their Savior. However, on August 8th, David witnessed the most brilliant scene of God’s work.

On that day, God’s power seemed to be likened to a huge torrent, covering over the assembly, washing away all obstacles. There were gathering of men, women and children, and many people with the reputation of drunk for many years. Almost everyone felt the need for a Savior, young boys and girls dedicated themselves to the Lord Jesus, and those who had lived a very degrading life for many years repented. However, there were also some white people who heard the rumor that there is a big awakening among the Indians. Some of them came out of curiosity and wanted to see what the gibberish was about. They stood by and scorned the red-skinned Indians becoming Christians. But some of them after hearing the message from David, their conscience   were convicted and became brand new Christian, after returning home.

These Indians had finally experienced a great changed, came out from the ignorance and the idolatry, to become pure, passionate, God-loving Christians who learn to live together in harmony, take on their own responsibilities, especially work diligently, no longer in debt. The situation in the past of quarreling, laziness, not attentive to things are now gone; in addition, they have removed the evil customs and tradition, accepted and practiced various duties of Christians; began family worship; the Lord’s Day was observed; the Christian faith as the intrinsic Virtue was also expressed by them.

Holy life

David Brainerd lived a life of holiness and prayer. His diary was full of records of fasting, meditation, spirituality, and prayer. This was the main theme of his diary. He spent a lot of time on prayer every day. He said: “When I came home and devoted myself to meditation and fasting prayer, my spirit pursued to kill everything that was not pleasing to God, and pursued self-denial, humility, and separation from the world.”, “I wanted to have nothing to do with the world, only to labor for God in honestly. I don’t want to live for anything the world can give me not even for a minute.”

Those who have power in prayer are those who have spiritual power. The effect of prayer will never be extinguished. Brainerd’s life was the life of prayer, he prayed day and night; prayed before preaching; prayed while riding through the deserted, endless woods; prayed while lying on a bed made of straw; Prayed in the secret and secluded woods. Day after day, early morning or late at night, he was praying and fasting, pouring out his spirit to God, interceding for people, and fellowshipped with God. His prayers before God were powerful, so God was with him in power and responded to his prayers. On October 9, 1747, David went home to Heaven. Although he was less than 30 when he died, yet he still speak and work today, and will continue to do so until the end come.

(Source: Christian Revival Story Collection)