Prevailing Prayer
Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) was born in Warren, Connecticut, and attended high school in New Jersey.  He taught school for eight years and then spent three years studying law in Adams, New York.  A critical skeptic of religious dogma, he purchased a bible and read it for the first time after noticing the numerous citations of the Bible in law books.  Following a dramatic conversion experience in 1821, he gave up the practice of law and began a preaching ministry.  In 1835 he accepted a call to Oberlin College as professor of theology, serving as president from 1851-1875.  His revival ministry extended throughout the eastern United States and included two visits to England.  It is estimated that half a million people were converted under his ministry, and his innovations in preaching and revival meetings have affected successive generations of preachers and revivalists.