THAT literary genius, Robert Louis Stevenson, though hounded by handicaps and pinioned with pain, turned tragedy into triumph. His battle with tuberculosis lasted years; then came the master stroke -- blindness; later came sciatica with such an iron grip that the moving of a muscle was excruciating pain. In this derelict condition, Stevenson, the writer, was ordered to bed, and there the doctor strapped up his right arm to immobilize it. Writing meant agonizing pain. Days later the doctor came, only to be staggered at Stevenson's determination to work. The wellspring within was gushing forth. Then the doctor speculated, 'Bitter things will be written and dark shadows of pain translated into verse.' How wrong he was! Under this duress, the brilliant author of Treasure Island
Leonard Ravenhill presents prayer as faith in action in this fast-paced presentation of this crucial subject. He called prayer the most essential ingredient in producing revival. Filled with exhortations and illustrations, it teaches the art of effective praying-which will result in revival. Moody Monthly said, 'This is a plea for. Aug 22, 2019 Read Leonard Ravenhill articles and sermons from SermonIndex Classics – Leonard Ravenhill. Study the Bible, learn about Jesus Christ, get Christian living.Long Interview of Leonard Ravenhill by David Mainse. Apostle Paul’s Preaching, Passion and Praying (video). Leonard Ravenhill Books Pdf Leonard Ravenhill (June 18, 1907 – November 27, 1994) was an English Christian evangelist and author who focused on the subjects of prayer and revival. Leonard Ravenhill. Revival Praying. Leonard Ravenhill. Revival Praying: An Urgent and Powerful Message for the Family of Christ. Leonard Ravenhill. A Treasury of Prayer: The Best of E.M.
gave the world the glittering book, A Child's Garden of Verse. When a man can carry Stevenson's load and still sing, he is worthy of any man's admiration.There is a parallel story in the Christian world. Its hero, too, was handicapped, for he had a close range fight with the tubercular monster. This man polished no literary gems (though he was capable of it), produced no books, wrote no poems, built no church, and founded no society. About two hundred years ago he died. But today he lives, for from his innermost being there is still flowing a challenge to sacrificial and sustained prayer. This giant in the faith is, of course, David Brainerd.
John Wesley caught some heat from Brainerd and urged his brother Charles to see that every minister in Methodism in that day read Brainerd's unmatched diary. Jonathan Edwards unwittingly burned a part of Brainerd's classic record, but the remainder still carried fire. The Brainerd story touched Forbes Robertson of Brighton and moved him to eloquence. Dr. A. J. Gordon of Boston read the tale, trekked to Brainerd's grave in the snow, and there bowed his head. From then on Gordon's ministry was changed. William Carey of England, who was shaken after meditating on the devotion of the zealot, Brainerd, opened the gospel to the Orient. Henry Martyn, also of England (Smith prizeman at twenty-one and senior wrangler of his university), forsook his loved Lydia and went to India after the call of God came to him through reading the life story of our hero, David Brainerd. There in India Martyn completed the first New Testament translation in Arabic. Bishop French and Anthony Groves, John Wilson and George Maxwell Gordon were alike stirred by Brainerd's diary. After these facts, who can deny the profit of 'the corn of wheat' that falls into the ground and dies?
Even now, two hundred years after Brainerd, men are still stirred and challenged by his life. Recently in the library of Princeton Seminary, I myself handled with affection the badgerskin-covered Hebrew lexicon that Brainerd carried with him on his famous crusade for the lost souls of the Indians. The volume itself seemed a challenge!
Here is my point: If one man could influence the Christian world as this man has done, what would an army like him do? There is no field more unexplored in Christian experience and possibility than this limitless field of prayer. Prayer means care for souls. Prayer means pain. Prayer means privacy, for often the battle is waged alone. Prayer means power. Prayer, Luther said, means 'sweat on the soul.' Prayer means filling in the sufferings of Christ. We cannot shoot fire-belching jet planes with sling shots nor repulse tanks with bottles; less still can we push back the powers of darkness with mere words. Jude talks of praying 'in the Holy Ghost.' This praying alone can bring to pass the purpose of a holy God and put to flight the army of alien powers. This praying is no toy soldier's game. This is realism. This is a fight to the death -- no parley with the enemy -- no truce -- no terms -- a fight to the death!
With some accuracy a recent writer portrayed the present, bleak picture of the slow-footed Church. Then to relieve the shadowy story, he grabbed the truth of Joel 2:28, 'Afterwards,.. I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh,' and hailed this truth as a picture of hope.
Indeed, such it is if not divorced from its context, for the whole of Chapter 2 of Joel is the pattern as a handmaid to revival. This is a prescription for a sick church and for a dying world. God is a God of order, and the order is clear in the chapter mentioned. (The peril of all Bible teaching is that we get lopsided and, like Ephraim, get overdone on one side of our understanding and underdone on the other side.) Only they who fulfill God's commands have a full claim on the Lord.
As I see it, believers need a new concerted effort for this crucial hour. For far less worthy causes than this, we can dislocate our programs when it suits us so to do. Do men pass forever from eternal mercy? And is it true that there is no arbitration after the judgment seat of Christ? If you give a positive answer, then is there anything on earth worth more than the power of the Lord moving upon mankind? Though you cannot be the salt of the whole earth nor the light of the whole world, you may season your community and lighten your neighborhood. In the saintly Brainerd's dying moments, he passed on to the Church God's secret for revival in this or any other day. Listen to the pain-gasped word -- travail, t r a v a i 1, t-r-a-v-a-i-l. Let's try it!
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Prayer
By Leonard Ravenhill
The Gospel Of Prayer
There's nothing more transfiguring than prayer. People oftenask, 'Why do you insist on prayer so much?' The answer is very simple - because Jesus did. You could change the title of the Gospel according to St. Luke to the Gospel of Prayer. It's the prayer life of Jesus. The other evangelists say that Jesus was in the Jordan and the Spirit descended on Him as a dove - Luke says it was while He was praying that the Spirit descended on Him. The other evangelists say that Jesus chose 12 disciples - Luke says it was after He spent a night in prayer that He chose 12 disciples. The other evangelists say that Jesus died on a cross - Luke says that even when He was dying Jesus was prayingfor those who persecuted Him. The other evangelists say Jesuswent on a mount and He was transfigured - Luke says it was whileHe was praying that He was transfigured. There's nothing moretransfiguring than prayer.
The Scriptures say that the disciples went to bed, but Jesus went to pray - as was His custom. It was His custom to pray. Now Jesus was the Son of God - He was definitely anointed for His ministry. If Jesus needed all that time in prayer, don't you and I need time in prayer? If Jesus needed it in every crisis,don't you and I need it in every crisis?
The story goes that a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village saw an old man sitting by a fence. In a ratherpatronizing way, one of the visitors asked, 'Were any great menborn in this village?' Without looking up the old man replied,'No, only babies.' The greatest men were once babies. Thegreatest saints were once toddlers in the things of the Spirit.
C. H. Spurgeon was converted at the age of 16 and beganpreaching in London at the age of 19. When he was 27, they builthim a tabernacle seating 6,000 which he packed twice on Sundays -that's 12,000 - and once on Thursday nights. How? He waited onGod. He got alone with God. He studied..and he prayed.
Desperate Prayer
God makes all His best people in loneliness. Do you know what the secret of praying is? Praying in secret.'But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut yourdoor..' (Matt. 6:6). You can't show off when the door's shut and nobody's there. You can't display your gifts. You can impress others, but you can't impress God.
I Samuel 1:1-15 gives an account of the yearly trip Elkanah and his wife, Hannah, made to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. During this time, Hannah had been distressed that she was not able to bear a son for her husband. This passage of Scripture gives quite a descriptive account of her time in prayerconcerning the barrenness of her womb. Extract subtitles from dvd online. It says that Hannah wept.More than this, she wept until she was sore. She poured out hersoul before the Lord. Her heart was grieving; she was bitter ofsoul, provoked, and of a sorrowful spirit.
Now that's a pretty good list of afflictions - sorrow,hardship, and everything else that came upon this woman. But thekey to the whole situation is that she was a praying woman. Inverse 20 it says that she reaped her reward. 'And it came aboutin due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to ason; and she named him Samuel, saying, 'Because I have asked him of the Lord.'
Now I say very often - and people don't like it - that Goddoesn't answer prayer. He answers desperate prayer! Your prayerlife denotes how much you depend on your own ability, and howmuch you really believe in your heart when you sing, 'Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling..' The more self-confidence you have, the less you pray. The less self-confidenceyou have, the more you have to pray.
What does the Scripture say? It says that God takes the lowly, the things that are not. Paul says in I Corinthians 1:28 that God takes the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no flesh should glory in His presence. We need a bunch of 'are nots' today.
The Language of the Poor
Prayer is the language of the poor. Over and over again David, the King of Israel, says, 'Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and answer me; for I am afflicted and needy' (Psalm 86:1). And do you remember that one of the greatest psalms he wrote says, 'This poor man cried and the Lord heard him..' (Psalm 34:6).
The apostle Paul overwhelms me with his spirituality, his pedigree, his colossal intellect. Yet he says that he's very conscious that when he's weak, he is strong. He was always tryingto prove to himself and to others that he was a nobody.
True prayer is a two-way communication. I speak to God and Godspeaks to me. I don't know how the Spirit makes communication -or why God needs me to pray - but that's how God works.
'Get Up And Pray!'
One day I was at a conference with Dr. V. Raymond Edman of Wheaton College, one of the greatest Christian educators in thiscountry. He told us of an experience he had while he was inEcuador as a missionary. He hadn't been there long before he wassick and dying. He was so near death that they had already dughis grave. He had great beads of sweat on his brow and there wasa death rattle in his throat. But suddenly he sat straight up inbed and said to his wife, 'Bring me my clothes!' Nobody knew whathad happened.
Many years later he was retelling the story in Boston.Afterward, a little old lady with a small, dog-eared, beaten-upbook, approached him and asked, 'What day did you say you were dying? What time was it in Ecuador? What time would it be inBoston?' When he answered her, her wrinkled face lit up.Pointing to her book, she said. 'There it is, you see? At 2 a.m. God said to get up and pray - the devil's trying to kill Raymond Edman in Ecuador.' And she'd gotten up and prayed.
Duncan Campbell told the story of hearing a farmer in his field who was praying. He was praying about Greece. Afterward, heasked him why he was praying. The man said, 'I don't know. I hada burden in the spirit and God said, 'You pray; there's someonein Greece that is in a bad situation.' I prayed until I got arelease.' Two or three years later the farmer was in a meeting listening to a missionary. The man described a time when he wasworking in Greece. He had been in serious trouble. The time? Twoor three years ago. The men compared notes and discovered that itwas the very same day that God had burdened a farmer, on a littleisland off the coast of Scotland, to pray for a man in Greecewhose name he didn't even know.
It may seem the Lord gives you strange things. I don't care. Ifthe Lord tells you something, carry on with what the Lord tellsyou.
Who Shall Ascend to the Hill of the Lord?'
There's another experience Duncan Campbell told about when he was working in Scotland.
'I couldn't preach,' he said. 'I couldn't get through to God.The heavens were solid. It was as though there was a 10 ft.ceiling of steel.' So he quit trying to preach. He asked a youngman named John Cameron to pray. The boy stood up and said,'What's the use of praying if we're not right with God?' Hequoted the 24th Psalm, 'Who may ascend into the hill of theLord?'
Roblox redeem toy code website. You can't approach God unless your hands are clean, which meansyour relationships with others are clean and your heart isclean. 'Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? He who hasclean hands and a pure heart..' (Psalm 24.3-4).
After the boy recited Psalm 24 he began to pray. He prayed 10,15, 20 minutes. Then he suddenly said, 'Excuse me, Lord, while Iresist the devil.' He turned around and began to tell the devilwhere to go and how to get there. He fought for all he was worth.You talk about having on the armor of God and resisting thedevil! When he finished resisting the devil, he finished hisprayer. He prayed for 45 minutes! When he finished praying it wasjust as though God had pulled a little switch in heaven. TheSpirit of God came down on that church, that community, on thedance hall at the other end of town, and the tavern on this endof town. Revival was born in that prayer!
At the end of Malachi it says, 'And the Lord, whom you seek,will suddenly (that's the word I like, suddenly) come to histemple' (Malachi 3:1). Remember what it says about the shepherds?They were watching their flocks by night when suddenly therewas the sound of the heavenly host. Do you remember a bunch ofmen that had been waiting in the upper room? Suddenly the HolySpirit came on them in that room.
There's a date in history that I love very much. It wasWednesday, August 13, 1737. A little group of people in Moraviawere waiting in a prayer meeting. At 11:00 suddenly the HolySpirit came. Do you know what happened? The prayer meeting thatbegan at 11:00 lasted 100 years! That's right. That prayer roomwas not empty for a century! It's the longest prayer among menand women that I know of. Even children six and seven years oldtravailed in prayer for countries the names of which theycouldn't even spell.
Why We Don't Have Revival
In an old town in Ireland they'll show you with reverence aplace where four young men met night after night after nightpraying for revival. In Wales, there's a place in the hills wherethree or four young men only 18 or 19 years old met and prayednight after night. They wouldn't let God go; they would not takeno for an answer. As far as humanly possible they prayed arevival into birth. If you're thinking of revival at your churchwithout any inconvenience, forget it. Revival costs a lot.
I can give you one simple reason why we don't have revival inAmerica. Because we're content to live without it. We're notseeking God - we're seeking miracles, we're seeking big crusades,we're seeking blessings. In Numbers 11, Moses said to God,'You're asking me to carry a burden I can't handle. Do somethingor kill me!' Do you love America enough to say, 'God, sendrevival or kill me'? Do you think it's time we changed PatrickHenry's prayer from, 'Give me liberty or give me death,' to 'Giveme revival or let me die'?
In the 30th chapter of Genesis, Rachael goes to Jacob andthrows herself down in despair. She says, 'Give me children orelse I die.' Audi mmi 2g high software update 5570. Are you willing to throw yourself down before God toseek the spiritual birth of spiritual children in our country?
People say, 'I'm filled with the Holy Spirit.' If the coming ofthe Spirit didn't revolutionize your prayer life, you'd bettercheck on it. I'm not so sure you got what God wanted you to get.
We've said that prayer changes things. No! Prayer doesn'tchange things. Prayer changes people and they change things.We all want Gabriel to do the job. God says do it yourself - withMy sufficiency and My strength.
We need to get like this woman, Hannah. What did she do? She wept, she was grieved, she said she had a complaint, she fasted -and she prayed.
Jesus, the anointed of God, made prayer His custom. Paul, withhis background and intellect, depended on prayer because he saidhe was weak. David, the king, called himself a poor man and criedto the Lord. Hannah prayed for a son and gave birth to a prophet.The prayers of a handful of young men sparked revival.
There's nothing more transfiguring than prayer.
Leonard Ravenhill Books I Recommend
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