“We are all as spiritual as we want to be.”
This short but pithy quote from Leonard Ravenhill is a good summary of his wit and depth.
If you’ve ever read or listened to Ravenhill, one thing you notice is his piercing turn of words which captures your mind and convicts your heart.
Here are a few of my favorites quotes from Leonard Ravenhill:
- God-hungry men find God.
- No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be a shop window to display one’s talents; the prayer closet allows no showing off.
- Pale, pathetic, palliating preaching must go. The pulpit never needed voices more that it does at this hour.
- The Spirit comes upon praying people.
- Easy-going preachers produce easy-going believers. We have more star preachers that scarred preachers.
- God is not concerned about our happiness but about our holiness.
- Our churches are more air-conditioned than prayer-conditioned.
- Our God is a consuming fire. He consumes pride, lust, materialism, and other sin.
- The secret of praying is praying in secret.
- Maturity comes from obedience, not necessarily from age.
- One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Book of God, read it, and believe it. Then the rest of us will be embarrassed.
This week I watched an interview with Ravenhill toward the end of his life. Though he struggled to remember certain details, his vigor was not diminished nor had his passion for prayer faded. At the end of the hour, I was deeply encouraged and challenged by this dear man of God.
Can I freshly encourage you to press down the Narrow Way. What would it be like to be in our 80s and yet ever-increasing in our passion and love for Jesus Christ, like Ravenhill was? I want that. And I want that for you too.
I’m cheering you on unto that end!
Want to watch the interview I mentioned? Check it out below.