Children and young people are not incidental to the history of revival. In the 1740s in Cambuslang, Scotland, a period of revival included dozens of praying children. At one school, children as young as 8 years old organized prayer meetings three times a day. At another, students regularly stayed for prayer meetings after classes were dismissed and then had to walk long distances home in the dark. People in the town reported children gathering for prayer in barns and outhouses whenever they had opportunity. 

When I read these accounts, I wonder if we expect far too little of what God may do among the kids in our churches.

College students, too, have often been the subjects of the Spirit’s mighty work. As Thomas Kidd explains in his analysis of the revival at Yale College during the same period, “students at Yale went room to room, counseling students, especially those who lacked assurance of salvation.” Among a group that we’d expect to find partying or oversleeping, we find zealous concern for the souls of others and for the cause of Christ in the world.

As we follow the news from Asbury and desire lasting fruit from those meetings, we should also pray with expectation for the children and young adults in our own homes and churches: “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” (Ps. 85:6).