Moriah Chapel - Old (1904)
The meetings continued with some success and the word got around the neighbourhood that the Spirit was stirring. The meeting on Friday was the largest so far with old as well as young and with Baptists and Congregationalists joining the Calvinistic Methodists. The meetings became a topic of conversation with some criticising the new method and some Roberts’ state of mind. The power of the Spirit in the meetings was becoming stronger and the Saturday meeting lasted for over five hours. Sixty confessed Christ at the Sunday meeting and it was here that he taught them the prayer ‘Send the Spirit now, for Jesus Christ’s sake.’
By November 7th, the start of the second week; people in the town were convinced that some irresistible power was gradually taking hold of the people. At 7.00pm there was a prayer meeting and the chapel was filled to bursting. After speaking on the last chapter of Malachi, Roberts asked some of those who had not made a public confession of Christ, to do so. After a number had complied to his request, nearly everyone was moved to tears and many cried loudly and wept in agony. ‘Those present this night have no doubt that they heard some powerful noise, and felt the place filled with the Divine Presence. The people one after the other fell in agony, because of their souls’ condition. …The next step is more wonderful still. Evan Roberts asked them to pray the “Direct Prayer,” as he calls it. “Send the Holy Spirit now, for Jesus Christ’s sake.” He prayed it firstly, then everyone in the meeting was to pray it in turn. When it was about halfway the second time, the whole audience gave way before some irresistible influence, and now the state of things is beyond any description.’ The meeting went on for eight hours.
The Tuesday meeting was very hard. Many left by three and then Roberts called together those remaining and after a considerable struggle Holy Spirit descended and he got home around 7.00am. He was awakened at around 11.00am with his mother screaming out that she was dying. She had felt so bad about leaving the chapel before the end of the meeting and Evan helped her in prayer until she found peace. On the Wednesday he was invited to hold the service at Brynteg Congregational Chapel, Gorseinon and Holy Spirit broke out there as well. He was in the same place on Thursday night and it was a very powerful meeting with people coming from further afield and for the first time a reporter from the Western Mail was there. The newspaper reported that shops were closing early to ensure that the owners got a seat and the tin and steel workers were arriving in their work clothes.
Some students from Ammanford came to one of the meetings, caught the fire and started meetings at Bethany Chapel, but the fire was not of the same intensity, so they invited Roberts to come.
On the Friday the meeting was held at Moriah chapel again and over 650 attended, including several ministers from surrounding districts. On Saturday a long article was published in the Western Mail that was very sympathetic to what was happening in the meetings. This article brought about an invitation from a chapel in Aberdare for Roberts to preach on the Sunday; an invitation he accepted. By now prayer meetings were being held in some houses in Loughor all day long. Two girls went to hold open air meetings near some public houses in Gorseinon and some young people went to evangelise some gypsies who had encamped near Loughor. In both places there were salvations.
That night the new chapel was filled long before the time to begin the service, so Roberts asked his friend Sydney Evans, who had just returned from Newcastle Emlyn, to take the overflow into the old chapel. However, in minutes that was full as well. Several of the people there that night had come to scoff, but ended up giving their lives to Christ. It was past 5.00am when the people went home.