昨天，我們談到「復興禱告」的第五個特點，就是悔罪。現在我們已經明白，在復興之前，神的百姓禱告的特點是承認自己的罪，以及渴望與所有已知的罪斷絕。我在1958年到訪南韓期間，見過與這最有力的見證。相信你也知道，韓國在60年代初經歷了宗教復興，而我到訪的那一年，雖然人們已極之渴望復興的來臨，但教會仍不能說是復興。

有一天清早我去參加了一個零晨四時的禱告會。當我進入禱告會場（一間學校的大禮堂）的時候，我就意識到將要見證一些不尋常的事情。會場裡有一大群人，每個人的臉上都帶著敬畏和專注的表情。他們沒有唱詩；忽然間在一個訊號發出以後，大家就都跪下來禱告。剛開始的時候他們都很安靜，但是很快的大家就開始高聲祈求，一個接著一個，在短短的幾秒鐘內，眾人的聲浪進入了高峰但是忽然又停了下來。然後有一位男士開始以高音調說話，我的傳譯員告訴我他在承認自己的罪和國家的罪。我沒有辦法以語言來充分描述他聲音裡所帶出的強烈感情，他似乎被哭泣的痛苦和悔疚緊緊的抓著，而就在那幾分鐘之內，同樣的悔罪的靈進入了每個人的心裡，包括我自己在內。

我離開韓國時意識到自己已經見證了靈性復興的初期，所以後來我聽到復興在韓國發生時完全不感到意外，因為復興的標記一早已告訴了我。

We are seeing that prior to revival the prayers of God's people are characterised by contrition and a desire to break with all known sin. The closest I have ever come to witnessing this came during a visit to South Korea in 1958. As you know, Korea has been experiencing religious revival since the beginning of the 60s, but in the year that I was there, although the people were greatly expectant, the Church could not be described as being in revival.

One morning I participated in a 4 am prayer meeting. As I entered the prayer venue - a large school assembly hall - I was conscious that I was about to witness something unusual. The place was crowded and there was a tense reverent expression of attention on every face. There was no singing and at a given signal people knelt for prayer. At first there was silence but soon the people began to pray aloud, one after the other, until within seconds their voices became a crescendo which then stopped as suddenly as it had begun. A man's voice rose in high-pitched tones and my interpreter told me that he was confessing his sins and the sins of the nation. No words of mine can adequately describe the intensity that was in his voice, the agony of his sobs and the penitence that seemed to grip him. Within minutes the same spirit of penitence swept through every heart in the audience - my own included.

I came away from Korea sensing that I had witnessed the first stages of a spiritual revival. When later I heard that revival had broken out I was not surprised. The signs had told me so.