2,000 Young People in UK Encounter God at All-Night Prayer Gathering: ‘A Sense of Holy Awe’

Signs of a spiritual shift are becoming more evident in the United Kingdom as young people flock to churches in search of healing, freedom, and deliverance. In the latest evidence that the tide is turning, more than 2,000 young people gathered to seek God in an all-night prayer and worship event.

As CBN News has been reporting recently, the U.K. was a difficult place to share the Gospel for decades, but that has been changing due to what some are calling a “Quiet Revival.”

“In the last 6 years, the Brits have seen identifying as a Christian and church attendance amongst 18-24 year-olds increase from 4% to 16% and amongst 25-34 year-olds from 4% to 13%!! This a part of what is being called ‘The Quiet Revival’ in the U.K,”  explained Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community church, in a post on Instagram.

Al Gordon, pastor of Saint Church, has been a part of leading a bimonthly prayer gathering in Britain that is at the forefront of this “spiritual awakening.”

Just last weekend, more than 2,000 young adults packed out Saint Church’s Hackney location for the all-night prayer and worship event that was marked by worship, salvations, and “deep repentance.”

Gordon wrote about the remarkable night on Instagram, describing, “Extraordinary scenes: a thick and heavy sense of God’s presence, dozens giving their lives to Christ, healing, freedom. I want to encourage those of you who were there to journal, record, and continue to pray without ceasing.” 

The event, which was a collaboration between Saint Church, King’s Cross Church, and Imprint Church, ran from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., the outlet reports. 

Gordon shared that there were stories of healing, deliverance, salvation, and spontaneous worship, and the presence of God was so thick that more than 500 people stayed beyond the event in a scene reminiscent of the early moments of the 2023 Asbury revival, saying “it could have gone on longer.”

“There was a thick and heavy sense of God’s presence. Dozens giving their lives to Christ, healing, freedom. Moments of extraordinary weight and glory,” Gordon told Relevant Magazine. “Singing like I’ve never heard: passion, raw, hunger.”

Gordon posted more online, highlighting that there were “many moments when the whole gathering felt compelled to get on their faces.”

“A sense of holy awe,” he described. 

“Hours where the band could not lead, but the singing continues. Spontaneous power falling on people. Sometimes profound silence. Other times shouts, groans, weeping,” Gordon continued. “One thing is certain: we are witnessing a profound and sovereign spiritual moment. If you will make room for the Lord, call on him while he is near, he will come and meet you. You can’t orchestrate this, all you can do is humble your heart, go low, cry out for the heavy rain, and he will come.”

It is a powerful example of what has been taking place among young people around the globe. 

CBN News has been following multiple revival moments over the past two years on U.S. college campuses.

According to Intervarsity, an evangelical Christian student movement with affiliate groups on university campuses, decisions for Christ rose by 33 percent last year. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes reports its highest number of salvations since the pandemic, and the international ministry, Cru, recently surpassed the one million mark in commitments to faith globally. 

“It really has been such an incredible season to minister to college campuses since Asbury,” Thai Lam, Executive Director of the CDOP, told CBN’s Faith Nation. 

Pastor Ferguson believes this move of God is crossing the Atlantic. 

“There is early evidence that it is also moving across the Atlantic to the United States. I personally believe this is coming our direction,” he explained. 

Gordon pointed out that, “at the end of the day, the true sign of God at work is not numbers, or experience even, it’s lives transformed, made new, sent out.”