A Season of Fasting and Prayer

For months neither the General Conference Committee nor the Michigan Conference Committee had been able to meet for counsel because of the sickness, in each case, of two out of the three committee members.SHM 143.3

This very serious situation had been preceded by the four difficult years of the Civil War. When that long conflict was ended (in 1865), there was great rejoicing, and the brethren looked forward to a year of encouraging progress in evangelism and in growth of the church membership. They now sorrowfully lamented that “instead of a special rise in the message, the progress of the truth the past year has been no more than ordinary.”—Ibid.SHM 143.4

Facing such conditions, the General Conference Committee were now setting apart four days as a season of fasting and prayer. From Wednesday, May 9, 1866, till the close of the following Sabbath, they urged that among Seventh-day Adventists business be suspended, and that public meetings be held in the churches during the afternoon of each weekday and twice on the Sabbath “to pour out their supplications before God.” In concluding they said:SHM 144.1

“Let us cry to the Lord to revive His cause, remove His rebuke from off His people, restore His servants, and lead on the message to its destined victory. ... We have reached a crisis in which it seems that the Lord alone can save us.”—Ibid.SHM 144.2

The correspondence columns of the church paper indicate that a profound impression was made upon the minds of ministers and laymen during these days of supplication and heart searching. And it was fresh from this experience that four days later the delegates assembled in Battle Creek, Michigan, for the third annual session of the General Conference.SHM 144.3