“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? says Yahweh. What place will I rest in? For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says Yahweh: “but to this man will I look, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.”
Revival Quote
During this time Roberts attended a meeting in Blaenannerch on the west coast of Wales, where preacher Seth Joshua prayed, “Lord, bend us.” Later Evan Roberts experienced a powerful filling with the Holy Spirit and the decisive call for his future life: "I felt a living power pervading my bosom . . . the tears flowed in streams. . . . I cried out “Bend me! Bend me! Bend us!” . . . I was filled with compassion for those who must bend at the judgment, and I wept. . . . I felt ablaze with a desire to go through the length and breadth of Wales to tell of the Savior."
— Evan Roberts on how a pivotal prayer from evangelist Seth Joshua during a morning meeting on September 29, 1904, at Blaenannerch chapel, deeply impacted his life. (Christian History Institute)
Prayer
O Lord Most High, You who sit enthroned above the heavens, whose footstool is the earth, I bow before You with trembling reverence. You have no need of temples built by human hands, yet You look upon the humble and contrite, upon those whose hearts quake at Your Word. Today I cry out from the depths of my soul — bend me, Lord! Break the pride that resists Your Spirit, melt the hardness that hinders Your fire, and shape me into a vessel worthy of Your glory.
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh upon me! Let the fire that swept through Wales fall again upon this generation. Let the cry of Evan Roberts echo through the corridors of time — “Bend us, Lord!” Bend Your Church until she trembles once more before Your holiness. Bend our pulpits until they burn with compassion for souls. Bend our hearts until they bleed for the lost, until tears flow for the nations that do not yet know You. Let the same living power that filled that young man in Blaenannerch fill us anew, consuming our complacency and kindling revival’s flame.
Father, forgive us for building grand houses of worship yet neglecting the inner altar of humility. We have sought to build monuments for You, but You desire contrite hearts. Teach us again that revival is not a structure, but a surrender. Bow us low, Lord, until we tremble at Your Word. Let the fear of the Lord return to Your people, the awe that silences pride and births repentance.
Bend me, O Lord, until I am aligned with Your perfect will. Bend Your Church until every wall of division collapses under the weight of Your glory. Let our tears become the river of revival flowing through dry lands. From the ashes of self-reliance, raise up a generation ablaze with holy compassion — men and women who, like Evan Roberts, will go through the length and breadth of the earth declaring Jesus saves. Do it again, Lord. Visit us once more with holy fire that purifies and power that transforms.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.