Revival Forum 89 - Part 1 — Leonard Ravenhill

The Church's Greatest Need: Revival and Prayer

What's the greatest need in the church today as you would see it from what you've observed and I'm sure if we digested some of your books That we may have insight into it. But what would you perceive brother Ravenhill to be the greatest need in the church in America specifically today?

I won't give you my opinion. I'll give you a Bible opinion from Jeremiah chapter 1 to Verse 13 my people have committed two evils. They forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hewn them out. Systems broken sisters that can hold no water.

The Collapse of the Church Prayer Meeting

It's amazing to me when every pastor that comes. Oh, I'm in a mega church. You know we get 4 ,000 Sunday got nothing to do with your church. Every church in America nearly is filled Sunday morning. How many people you have in your prayer meeting.

The prayer meeting has almost died. Not just in Presbyterian churches, but in Pentecostal church in Baptist churches. I have a prayer meeting Thursday morning for For pastors about 20 come some Come 200 miles some come 300 miles round trip and the last five or six weeks We've all ended up on the floor in tears praying for one thing revival.

Nobody's praying for his church. I believe the spiritual condition of America at this moment is lower than it was in the revival of the 1700s with Jonathan Edwards. We forsaken God particularly we've forsaken the prayer meeting.

What would happen if you had a choir like say you have at first Baptist or somewhere I first baptized in Dallas or Good brothers first Baptist Church in Atlanta. I stayed there a month once. You have about 200 people in the choir.

What if only 10 turned up for choir rehearsal on Friday night? Do you think you might get the resignation of the choir master? But supposing a guy with 26 ,000 members had 10 come to the prayer meeting he'd die of shock you see.

We have had people last just a year ago now. We finished our 500 prayer meeting every Friday night and It was a prayer meeting. In most churches now the preacher preaches Sunday morning Sunday night and Wednesday night.

Forget it. One of the young pastor that comes to us he got moved by the power of God. He went to his church and said look I'm going to preach Sunday morning Sunday night, but not Wednesday night. We're going to pray.

He's in a country church. He went from 60 Wednesday night to six. They don't want to pray. We Had a prayer meeting where people drove four five and six hours. And there were people that came and they belong to famous churches in in California and they came over and said look we know why God's brought us in this area.

We need to learn to pray. We went to a very popular church. It's attended by dozens hundreds of film stars and others, but there's no prayer life there. But you know what happened when they come three or four times they quit.

You know why? Because we had men that used to mumble in their prayers. And it pleased God to educate them in the spirit, and I would go on Wednesday night. I go Friday night. There was one in a full-blooded American Indian.

He was dying in the gutter snow falling on him. He was a victim of drugs and drink and God awakened him. He got wonderfully saved and he got an anointing in prayer to hear that man pray for the American Indians.

Ministry to Neglected American Indians

They're the most neglected people in America today. And and the Indians somehow don't go after them. You can't go on the reservations. They kill you all they say listen you stole our land you stole our oil.

You stole our mineral rights. You stole our fishing rights. Get out of here. And I've told him stay with it stay to your people with your people don't let somebody else wear your crown. You see some of us we were walking around eternity and God was going to put a crown on my head.

I didn't do the job so he passes it to down. He's going to wear it for a billion years every time I see him. I thought that should have been my crown. But that's my fault. It's not the devil's fault. No man take thy crown.

That's that's a warning against deacons, but anyhow. Not let a man take your crown. God has given you a job do it if you die.

That's what it takes brother Leonard. What is the nature? And the content and the direction of Those prayer meetings for the average layperson who has not been able to attend. Where do you begin? What do you pray for?

What do you target? What happens in those prayer meetings that are so unusual. And what are the kinds of prayer meetings that we need to start having in? Our churches.

Targeted Covenant Prayer

Well, we have different target. I call it target praying. For instance one week we pray for all the husbands of the wives or Fathers of the children who are there whose daddies were not saved maybe not even church remember.

We concentrate on Unsafe fathers unsaved husbands. Another time we concentrate on teenagers. You see there's something about covenanting in prayer. I went to dr. Tosa's church, thank you and I stayed there for two weeks, and I had the privilege of praying with him.

It's a wonderful man. He wasn't the greatest preacher I've ever heard. They had an intimacy with God like nobody else and I. Remember one day. He said Lynn don't let anybody Diminish your appetite or zeal for prayer.

He said I'll tell you what happened in World War. One the finest young men in our in our church went to war. They were drafted 30 of them, and we covenanted with their parents and their wives. We covenanted in prayer that not one of those men would get killed or Seriously injured and every man came back.

The only one that was lame was his own son. But he said if we can covenant in prayer like that. When you can't you covenant in prayer in your churches. Not one of our girls in our churches is going to get pregnant.

Not one of our boys is going to go in to drink. We're not just going to raise nice healthy children. We're going to do more than that. We want to produce spiritual offspring and the reason those superstars that came to our prayer meetings.

Didn't continue well. They heard men that were praying with anointing. Again, they heard this fellow crying with tears for the different tribes in America. It's astounding that a what two and a quarter American Indians.

Intercession and the Example of Hannah

Where's David Brainerd today?

There is no brainer there. How do we have how do we have a right? to pray for Revival when in the 20th century There are so many people who believe Theologically that things are just going to get worse and worse and worse.

And God certainly is not going to send a revival, so why are you wasting your time praying that God will send one?

The Upper Room and Giving Ourselves to Prayer

Well you get a nucleus of people you get together and talk with the deacons and others when it says here, they're forsaken me. So what? How many of you deacons come to prayer meetings one night? I was standing on the platform with Charles Stanley there were maybe Over a thousand people there.

I think he has 50 deacons, and I said Charles. Where are your 50 deacons tonight? He said well, I can count 15. I said well fire the rest. What did they do in the upper room when the Holy Ghost came they gave themselves continually to fundraising.

Did they? What did they do? Give ourselves continually to prayer. I Like the figure I'm going to speak maybe one day. I think Hannah is the best type of an intercessor that I know that all the qualifications she had grief she suffered she mocked and.

Yet year by year it wasn't once they scorned her. But when she got pregnant she didn't care a hill of beans about anybody. Well, let me say this too. I think there's a danger of seeking revival. To justify my ministry to prove where the best people in town.

Seeking God Rather Than Revival

We mentioned it with Paul this morning. What does it say? The Lord whom ye seek we're not seeking him. We're seeking revival. We're seeking healing. We're seeking miracles. It's not that we need if we get God we gets all that's needed and revival is when God comes down.

Picked up the book for me, please. Here's a little book. I hope you'll all get it's come down Lord. It's a good book. Of course. It's from England, but apart from that. Get a copy if you can it's published by should have a table.

It's alright for this. It's published by banner of truth, but I mark this page 23. Now this is revival. I think revival is the most prostituted word that we have in our vocabulary today either revival or faith.

We don't know much about either. Revival stops the traffic and their toes. He used to say Leonard when revival comes It it changes the model climate of a community. Taverns closed down nightclubs closed down.

It's I mean, there's a war going on now there.