Faith Ablaze-Leonard Ravenhill Holiness

Leonard Ravenhill was a man of God consumed with the burden of prayer. It came from his early years as a young boy as thought about the stories of great revivals and men of God in the past. He meditated on the God who answers prayers. Ultimately Ravenhill would spend 8 hours a day in prayer and in the study of Scripture.

Leonard Ravenhill seen the condition of the Church in England was consumed with the call of God to intercede. That calling turned into a call to preach on holiness. His focus was to awaken the Church. He did not chase fame but the fire of God. He was convinced that the only way to experience the presence of God, the fire of God was through the dying of self. Those who had personal encounters with Ravenhill sensed his hunger for the presence of God and that hunger would fall upon them.

When he preached he needed no notes, truth would flow from his mouth like a rushing river and exposed the hearts of those listening. While many were stirred to get closer to God, others were disturbed by his preaching on repentance and holiness. Ravenhill would always go back to prayer is the Christian’s battlefield and not back down preaching against spiritual apathy.

Ravenhill noticed that the more he preached about purity, the more he was avoided in Christian circles. Ultimately a door open to preach in America. He was shocked at the condition of the American Church. Ravenhill continued to preach with tears, confronting sin, and calling the Church to repentance.

Some saw Ravenhill as a prophet of pain, others saw him as a spiritual grandfather. Others saw him as too severe, too inflexible. Ultimately he came to the conclusion the price of faithfulness is loneliness. He would repeat often “The true man of God is never popular. It is necessary to burn alone so that others may learn the way of fire.”

What if each of us as Christ Followers desired to seek the fire of God in such a way that others knew we have been in the very presence of God?