Those who have been mighty in prayer have always been those who have come before God and have reminded Him of His promises and of His Word. I suppose Charles G. Finney was one of the most outstanding exponents of prayer who ever lived. He is known as the man who prayed down revivals. As far as church history is concerned, he had the greatest success concerning converts of any other minister since the days of the Early Church.
Supposedly, more people remained saved under his ministry after conversion than in any point in history since the days of the evangelistic journeys of the Apostle Paul. Whole cities were stirred because of Charles Finney's prayers. For instance, I read in his autobiography that in 1829, Finney went to Rochester, New York, and conducted a meeting, and practically everyone in town got saved. All of the honky-tonks and beer joints were closed down. There wasn't a place in town left where one could buy anything alcoholic to drink. Nearly everyone in town had to have gotten saved in order for that to happen. The only theater in town closed up. Vaudeville was popular then, but there was no need to put on a show if no one went to the theater! There was such a move of God that when the circus came to town, there was only one performance and only two people showed up! The circus had to close down and leave town. Everyone was interested in God. The revival was on.
The people just weren't interested in anything else. You can learn something from a fellow like Finney. I also read from Finney's autobiography that he was a Presbyterian minister and then a Congregationalist. When Finney was a Presbyterian, he was holding a meeting sponsored by the Presbyterian church. He told about going to another place in New York to preach in a Presbyterian church on a Sunday afternoon. Finney had been talking for about fifteen minutes when suddenly the power of God fell on him, and four hundred people fell off their seats onto the floor (there were more than four hundred people present). They fell to the floor under the power of God. Finney hadn't seen that happen before. He found out that all four hundred people had gotten saved; they had all been sinners.
When you read about Finney, you find that he was a real man of prayer. I read in his autobiography years ago, and he said that he'd had some experiences in prayer that alarmed him. (I wish we could say in the same way Finney meant it that we had experiences in prayer that alarmed us!) What Finney meant was that many times in prayer, he found himself saying to the Lord, "Lord, You don't think that we're not going to have revival here do you! You don't think that Thou couldst withhold Thy blessings. You said in Your Word to ask and it would be given us."
Finney said he found himself telling the Lord what the Lord had said in His Word. He found himself telling the Lord that He was obligated to perform His Word because He had said it. The following is an excerpt from something Finney said, and it shows us that Finney prayed for results, basing his petitions firmly on the promises in God's Word. I was constrained to pray without ceasing. [I could not rest in the house and was obliged to retire to the barn frequently through the day, where I would unburden my soul and pour out my heart to God in prayer. I had wonderful faith given to me at that time, and had some experiences that alarmed me.
When alone I would wrestle and struggle, and my faith would rise till I would say to God] that He had made a promise to answer prayer, and I could not, and would not, be denied. [I could be so burdened as to use such strong language to God in prayer.] I felt so certain that He would hear me, and that faithfulness to His promises, and to himself, rendered it impossible that He should not hear and answer, that frequently I found myself saying to Him, "I hope Thou dost not think that I can be denied. I come with Thy faithful promises in my hand, and I cannot be denied."' (Kenneth Hagin)
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