Leonard Ravenhill: The Man Who Asked for Prophets
Drawn from the teaching of Professor Gary S. Maxey · 1 min read
Professor Gary Maxey calls Leonard Ravenhill a modern-day prophet. He points to him when he asks where our prophets are.
Life
Ravenhill was born on 18 June 1907 in Leeds, England. He became an evangelist and author who focused on prayer and revival. In 1950, he moved with his family to the United States. In 1978, he settled in Garden Valley, Texas, near the Last Days Ministries ranch, where he taught regularly. He died on 27 November 1994 at the age of eighty-seven.
His books
Why Revival Tarries was published in 1959. Reports say it has sold more than a million copies. Sodom Had No Bible followed in 1971. Professor Maxey calls them classic calls to revival. The title of Professor Maxey's own book, Why the Nigerian Revival Tarries, echoes Ravenhill's.
What Professor Maxey draws from him
He describes Ravenhill's rebukes of the church's backsliddenness as tough, rough and scathing. He says Ravenhill was fearless and risked rejection and anger by calling God's people to repent. Then he quotes a passage from Why Revival Tarries: "Preachers make pulpits famous, prophets make prisons famous." The passage asks God to send men too hot to hold, too hard to be heard, who know more about consecration than competition.
The challenge behind it
Professor Maxey uses Ravenhill to ask three things. Are there men and women in your church whose lives match their preaching? Have you encouraged them? Are you willing to go on your knees and become that person yourself?
Your answer
If you cannot name a prophet in your church, perhaps the first thing is to pray for one. Pray that God would raise such a person, and that he would give you grace to listen when that person speaks.
Drawn from the teaching of Professor Gary S. Maxey and public biographical sources. Sources: Wikipedia, "Leonard Ravenhill."
