Jesus Is the Answer’: 700 Inmates Worship God, 400 Surrender to Christ in Oklahoma Prison Revival
An Oklahoma prison yard was transformed into a sanctuary of hope last week as over 700 inmates gathered to worship God, with more than 400 publicly committing their lives to Jesus Christ. The unprecedented outpouring of faith took place during a revival service organized by God Behind Bars, a national prison ministry focused on bringing the Gospel into America’s correctional system.
The powerful moment, captured and shared on social media, reveals hundreds of incarcerated men with arms raised high, singing and worshiping freely under the open sky. Despite the prison fences surrounding them, many testified they felt a deeper freedom than ever before—spiritual freedom found only in Christ.
The faith-based nonprofit ministry God Behind Bars posted images and footage of the event on Instagram, where the response has been overwhelmingly positive. “This is a move of God,” the post read. “We’ve never seen anything like this before. Hundreds of inmates were crying out to God, many for the first time in their lives. THIS IS REVIVAL.”
View this post on Instagram
Pastor Paul Daugherty has been leading Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for more than 10 years, succeeding his parents, Sharon and the late Billy Joe Daugherty, who founded the church.
It is one of the city’s largest churches, and while more than 7,000 worshippers participate in services each week, the Holy Spirit spoke to Daugherty just three short months ago, asking him to reach an unlikely group with the Gospel message.
“I was like, man, I really feel like there’s a harvest of people in the prisons that we could reach with God’s love that no church in our city is really going after,” he told CBN News. “I really want[ed] to reach almost every prisoner we can in an outreach.”
This extraordinary gathering is part of a growing trend across the United States where prison ministries are seeing increasing hunger for spiritual truth among inmates. According to organizers, the Oklahoma facility had never experienced a revival of this magnitude, making the event historic for both the prison staff and the ministry team involved.
“For many of these men, Jesus Christ is the first real hope they’ve ever encountered,” said one God Behind Bars team member. “They’ve been failed by systems, by culture, by fatherless homes and addiction—but now they are being transformed by the power of the Gospel.”
The revival included worship music, testimonies from former inmates turned ministers, and a clear Gospel message. As the altar call was given, the Holy Spirit moved mightily. Inmates who had long been hardened by years of crime and incarceration broke down in tears, embracing each other and bowing in repentance. Many who came forward were gang members, drug dealers, and repeat offenders—men whose lives had been marked by destruction but who now professed a desire to walk in newness of life.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections officials permitted the event as part of ongoing faith-based rehabilitation programs. In recent years, Oklahoma has taken steps to expand opportunities for inmates to participate in Christian-based recovery and discipleship efforts, citing the positive impact on prison culture and recidivism rates.
Faith leaders and conservative Christian commentators celebrated the revival as an example of what happens when the Gospel is preached boldly and without compromise—even in the most unlikely places. “This is the kind of transformation our nation desperately needs,” one pastor commented. “If God can change lives in a prison yard, He can change lives anywhere.”
This moment of mass spiritual awakening stands in stark contrast to the prevailing secular narrative that suggests hardened criminals cannot be redeemed. The truth on full display in Oklahoma is that no one is beyond the reach of Christ. Inmates—some serving life sentences—proclaimed that even if they never step outside the prison again, they are finally free on the inside.
As one inmate tearfully declared after giving his life to Christ, “I used to think prison was the end of my story. Now I know it was the beginning of my testimony. Jesus is the answer I’ve been looking for my whole life.”
Many conservatives point to events like this as a powerful rebuttal to the culture of despair and nihilism promoted by the left, which often devalues the power of faith and personal responsibility. Rather than being warehoused and forgotten, these men are finding redemption and purpose—through the truth of Scripture, not through state-run therapy or ideological reprogramming.
From a policy standpoint, prison ministries like God Behind Bars continue to advocate for greater access to facilities, believing that spiritual transformation is the most effective form of rehabilitation. Statistics consistently show that inmates who engage in Christian discipleship are significantly less likely to reoffend upon release.
Critics on the progressive side often argue for “systemic reform” rooted in secular humanism, but the visible fruit of Christ-centered revival tells a different story. These 400 new believers are living proof that true change starts with the heart, not with bureaucratic programs.
Supporters of the event are calling for churches across America to increase support for prison ministry initiatives. As one volunteer put it, “We can’t wait for people to come to our churches—we have to take the church to them.”
The Oklahoma revival serves as a reminder that the Great Commission is not limited by barbed wire or concrete walls. In fact, the Gospel often shines brightest in the darkest places. While politicians debate criminal justice reform, God is working on the frontlines—healing, saving, and setting captives free.
The message that echoed across the yard was simple but profound: Jesus is the answer. And for hundreds of men in a maximum-security prison, that answer has changed everything.
Keywords:
Oklahoma prison revival, God Behind Bars, Christian prison ministry, inmate salvation, Jesus is the answer, 400 inmates saved, prison worship service, conservative Christian news, Gospel in prisons, Christian transformation, Oklahoma DOC, faith-based rehabilitation