The Great Cloud of Witnesses · The Revival Streams
Leonard Ravenhill
1907–1994 · British
Leonard Ravenhill (June 18, 1907 – November 27, 1994) was an English revivalist, outdoor evangelist, and author principally known for his prophetic-confrontational call to revival, sustained holiness, and intercessory prayer.
The life
Leonard Ravenhill (June 18, 1907 – November 27, 1994) was an English revivalist, outdoor evangelist, and author principally known for his prophetic-confrontational call to revival, sustained holiness, and intercessory prayer. Born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England; trained at Cliff College (Methodist Bible college, Derbyshire, founded by Samuel Chadwick); became one of England's foremost outdoor evangelists in the 1930s–1940s with crowds reportedly numbering in the thousands at street meetings.
He emigrated to the United States in 1950 and ministered itinerantly for the rest of his life, settling later in Lindale, Texas. Why Revival Tarries (1959) — with foreword by A.W. Tozer who called Ravenhill "a man sent from God who appeared at this critical moment in history just as the Old Testament prophets did" — has sold 1M+ copies and remains the standard prophetic-revivalist call-to-revival text.
Subsequent works include Sodom Had No Bible (1971), Meat for Men (1961), A Treasury of Prayer (1961), Revival God's Way (1983), and Revival Praying (1962). He substantially influenced Keith Green, Paul Washer, David Wilkerson, Charles Stanley, and (through them) generations of evangelical-prophetic-revivalist voices. He died in Lindale, Texas in 1994 and is buried there.
Go further
Read them yourself — the works below are the next step, and the public-domain ones are free to read in full.
- Why Revival Tarries1959
Standard 20th-c. prophetic-revivalist call-to-revival text; 1M+ copies; foundational for revivalist-prophetic stream. Tozer's foreword called Ravenhill "a man sent from God."
- Sodom Had No Bible1971
Ravenhill's articulation of contemporary Western cultural-Christian compromise. The diagnostic that the modern American church has more biblical-resource access than any prior generation while showing less biblical-power.
- Meat for Men1961
Ravenhill's sermon-collection on substantive Christian formation; the "meat" framework against milk-only contemporary preaching.
- Revival God's Way1983
Ravenhill's mature articulation of revival-theology framework distinguishing genuine Spirit-given revival from manufactured-program revival.
- Revival Praying1962
Ravenhill's articulation of prayer-as-revival-precondition.
Why this voice is honored here
**Founder note (per brief structural justification, 2026-04-25):** Ravenhill is being promoted to Tier 1 because *Why Revival Tarries* (1959) is generationally foundational on prayer-revival-and-holiness — substantively shaping the entire post-WWII evangelical-revivalist stream that produced Keith Green, Paul Washer, David Wilkerson, Charles Stanley, and substantial portions of contemporary intercession movements. His framework substantively engages multiple ★★★ founder-foundational topics: `christian-life.fear-of-the-lord-emphasis` (Bevere-stream peer in Wesleyan-Holiness register), `discipleship.cost-of-following` (Bonhoeffer-stream functional peer in revivalist register), `prayer.intercession-as-co-laboring` (Sheets-stream functional peer in pursuit-of-presence register), and the v1.1 `eschatology.holiness-and-expectancy-frame` (forerunner-and-revival framework). Ravenhill bridges revival-history-research (PD-era figures like Whitefield, Wesley, Finney, Moody, the Welsh and Hebrides revivals) and contemporary intercession-and-revival-stream voices — without him at Tier 1, the registry's revival-stream architectural lineage is left implicit.