Why Revival Tarries
In Chapter 1, With All Thy Getting, Get Unction: Ravenhill highlights the importance of prayer life. He comments that prayer was "the homespun of sincerity and humility, and so is not afraid to kneel.” Additionally, he comments that prayer is very effective. It impacts everything we do. Ravenhill mentions that often the pulpit preaching is dead because of dead preachers. They don’t have the unction to preach the word of God. He comments that it is horrifying to see a preacher without the unction. He comments that the ”unctionless preacher is a savour of death unto the death.” Further, Ravehill helps the reader to understand that the union can’t be learned with some nice hermeneutical skills. Instead, it requires a life of prayer. Intellectually bullets on the pulpit won’t lead you to victory by praying life in the closet. Unction succeeds over heavy logic, and “it will pierce and percolate, it will sweeten and soften.” He challenges the preachers to see that their preaching is dead without a life of prayer. He comments that away with “this palsied, powerful preaching which is unmoving because it was born in a town instead of a womb and nourished in a tireless, prayerless soul.” He adds: “We may preach and perish, but we can not pray and perish.”
In Chapter 2, Prayer Grasps Eternity, Ravenhill again centralise the importance of prayer life. He comments that if people are not praying, they are straying. He further adds that if Christians need a successful life, they need vision and passion. Both are birthed and sustained through a life of prayer. Also, in this chapter, one of the most important highlights is the call to prayer ministry, which is not for some spiritual elite but for everyone, unlike the preaching ministry. Even to live a victorious Christian over the battle of sin, it is the life of prayer. “A sinning man will stop praying and a praying man will stop sinning.”
In Chapter 3, A Call for Unction in the Pulpit - Action in the Pew! Ravenhill highlights two indispensable factors for successful Christian living. He calls them vision and passion, and when someone gains clarity about them, they face human criticism and demonic opposition because they have discovered and “contracted a passion.” Further, Ravenhill expounds from Isaiah 6: “And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’ And he said, ‘Go, and say to these people.” He breaks this into three segments: Isaiah’s upward vision of God’s holiness, which even this generation needs to see; Isaiah’s vision of his spiritual crisis and uncleanness; and his vision of breadth—he saw the need to reach out to the world.
Then, Ravenhill challenges: Would God entrust us with that vision? Have we graduated from the secret place of prayer and the school of suffering so that our spirits are tempered to bear such a soul-sickening sight? “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord can impart such a vision.”
Being spiritually minded is joy and peace. We must care for lost souls in a world where people have not yet encountered Christ. Synthetic religion must go!
Ravenhill encourages us to pray for spiritual insight—both inward and outward—so we can see God in all His holiness. As we look inward, we will be able to see all the filth that needs to be cleansed, and as we look outward, we will see the need to give ourselves in mission to a dying world in sin, without the special revelation of Christ Jesus.
In Chapter 4, Where Are the Elijahs of God? Ravenhill highlights how God looks for a man who is not merely a preacher but one who will stand in the gap, like Elijah, who prayed! A man who knew God, prophesied with divine infallibility, strangled a nation, and altered the course of nature. “Elijah locked heaven, pocketed the key, and made Ahab tremble.” “No man can do more than that for God or men.” He calls our attention to be Spirit-filled messengers. Elijah lived with God, thought about the nations like God, grieved over sin like God, and spoke against sin like God. He was passionate about prayer and denouncing sin in a land filled with evil. “He had no smooth preaching—passion fired his preaching, and his words were on the hearts of men as molten metal on their flesh.”
“The man who can get believers to pray would, under God, usher in the greatest revival that the world has ever known.”
In Chapter 5, Revival in a Bone Yard: In this portion of the chapter, Ravenhill highlights political helplessness, moral lawlessness, and spiritual helplessness. He points out that the world is not looking for a new definition of the Gospel; instead, there is a need to demonstrate the power of the Gospel. He strongly emphasizes the need for men to be drunk with the Holy Spirit. Conversely, he warns about the sober church that never does any good. He also points out the need to shed tears for the lost, calling it being grief-stricken in prayer.
In Chapter 6, Why Revival Tarries – Because: Ravenhill highlights the false narrative of a sinful life among Christians. He claims that it is misleading when we say we are seated with Christ in heavenly places and yet continue to live in sin. He vehemently asserts that the decline in Christian morality is because of the Church. Further, Ravenhill gives several reasons why revival tarries: Evangelism is highly commercialized. Tithes meant for widows and the poor are spent on luxurious living by many evangelists. Revival tarries because of the luxurious lifestyle, because the Gospel has been cheapened, and because of a lack of prayer.
Ravenhill strongly encourages believers to imitate Elijah, who was a man who prayed and stood in the gap. Finally, Ravenhill concludes that revival tarries because we steal the glory of God. He rebukes this by declaring, “Away with all fleshly backslapping and platform flattery. Away with this exalting of a sickening parade of flesh in our pulpits.”
He leaves the reader with the conviction that men love praise and seek their glory. However, Ravenhill prays, “O God, lift us out of this rut and this rot! Bless us with breaking! Judgment must begin with us preachers.”
In Chapter 7: Is Soul-Hot Preaching a Lost Art? In the seventh chapter, Ravenhill highlights the need for great preachers like Isaiah and Paul (city-wide shakers) who altered Asia, jaundiced the Jews, riled the Romans, taught the teachers, and pitied jailers. Together with Silas, Paul dynamited the prison walls with prayers. Ravenhill addresses the need for fervent preachers to rescue this “generation of sinners from the greedy mouth of a yawning hell.” Ravenhill gives a stirring example of the Apostle Paul, anointed by the Holy Spirit, who impacted the marketplace and synagogues, “penetrating its places.”
In Chapter 8: Unbelieving Believers, Ravenhill emphasizes the importance of believing in the Bible and obeying it as well. Further, he emphasizes that God honors faith, not wisdom or someone’s personality. He also adds that preaching is not effective if there is no faith. He then comments, “The greatest benefactor of this generation will be the person who brings down on this strutting but stricken Protestantism the inestimable power of the Lord. The promise still stands: ‘The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.’ If any of us knows God, then watch out, Lucifer!”
In Chapter 9: Wanted - Prophets for a Day of Doom! Ravenhill talks about Paul, a courageous Christian, and Daniel in a Roman den of lions. Conversely, he discusses Bible-twisting religions and institutions, where the candles are almost guttered out. He shows an earnest cry for the need for men of God. He reflects that “a prophet may have miracles, but they must have a message.” He expresses his concern for communist nations and says that they will encounter revival.
In Chapter 10: Fire Begets Fire, Ravenhill again highlights the critical need for prayer. He comments that men of prayer must be men of steel, for they will be assaulted by Satan even before they assault his kingdom. His strong emphasis on prayer is shared repeatedly because Ravenhill believes that without prayer, we can’t see revival. He boldly claims that Satan fears prayers. He compares the power of prayer to the atomic bomb that shook Hiroshima. Ravenhill believes in the atomic power of prayer. Satan is defeated when people pray.
In Chapter 11: Why Don’t They Stir Themselves? Ravenhill talks about America’s falling away from the Lord. Faith is forsaken, and instead, men are fed with films and football. He criticizes science for having diabolic and deadly forms, even lobotomization in the past. This horrible, violent electric shock operation on the brain, in the hands of dictators, caused millions to suffer. It was a strategy to dehumanize men. Further, he briefly calls the church to first repent, and only then will it break. Only then would the church altars be filled with weeping penitents.
In Chapter 12: The Prodigal Church in a Prodigal World, Ravenhill begins drawing his readers’ attention to how long God would refrain from spewing the Laodicean church—a doom-clean sword of rejection because of lukewarm believers. He mentions spiritual powerlessness that grieves the Holy Spirit. “A prodigal church is a prodigal world in God’s real problem.”
In the end, Ravenhill shares his conviction with a deep need for the church to repent. He comments, “Preachers make pulpits famous; prophets make prisons famous. May the Lord send us prophets—terrible men, who cry aloud and spare not, who sprinkle nations with unctionized woes—men too hot to hold, too hard to be heard, too merciless to spare. We are tired of men in soft raiment and softer speech who use rivers of words with but a spoonful of unction. They know more about competition than consecration, about promotion than prayer. They substitute propaganda for propagation and care more for their church’s happiness than for its holiness!”
In Chapter 13: Wanted - A Prophet to Preach to the Preachers! Ravenhill desires to see fiery preachers with more fire in the pulpit so that there will be less burning in hell—preachers who are unctioned by the Spirit, like John the Baptist, who called out for repentance. He explains that repentance is not a few hot tears at the penitent form. It is not emotion, remorse, or reformation. It is about a change of mind about God, sin, and hell. He further gives a great example of how Charles Wesley was filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Conversely, he warns preachers who are rigorously living for God but are still preaching the Word of God. Ravenhill quotes James 3:1 ESV: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”
In Chapter 14: An Empire Builder for God, Ravenhill shares about the Apostle Paul’s conversion, and he identifies himself with the death of Jesus (“I am crucified with Christ”). A servant who rose from the ashes of his burned-up self to be the New Testament Samson, having peace with God, Paul made war on all that was godless. A man sold out to God with complete and costly consecration. A city-wide revivalist. A great exemplar of life—living epistles. Likewise, there were people like Madam Guyon (Prayer of the Heart). “Brainerd and John Knox were men of like passions.”
In Chapter 15: Branded - For Christ! Paul faithfully gave himself to that Lord, body, soul, and spirit. He was branded for Christ. Paul reflected on evidence of his being crucified for Christ. Nothing could stop his commitment to make an impact for the kingdom of God. Even if he was “unsponsored, unwelcome, and unloved—it made little difference to Paul.” Paul was branded with humility—he didn’t look for human praise. Paul was branded by suffering—he suffered danger from danger. Paul was branded for passion, “he walked the tightrope of obedience to call upon the Holy Ghost to bear his witness.” Paul was branded for love—he “loved God and loved people, his enemies, hardship, and even soul pains.”
In Chapter 16: Give me Childreen or I Die, Ravenhill again highlights the need for prayer. Specifically, he gives a strong call to preachers: if their souls are barren and they don’t see altars filled with repentant decisions, then the preacher must earnestly cry out and not take refuge in popularity. Instead, they should seek and invite the Holy Spirit to bring an inner spiritual awakening. Ravenhill highlights the example of Jonathan Edwards, a spiritual kinsman who “sought that accord of the Holy Spirit.” Ravenhill also highlights John Knox’s prayer: “Give me Scotland or I die.”
The Moravian revival was born out of a prayer meeting that lasted for 100 years.
In Chapter 17: The Filth of the World, Ravenhill talks about the filth of the world, which is neither bad but the very best. It’s not even material but spiritual. It is not even Satan but of God. It’s not just a saint but the “saint Kiera of saints.” He quotes the Apostle Paul, who calls himself the world’s filth (1 Cor. 4:13). He had no rights, reputation, or possession. Who was persecuted? It was Paul’s choice to be some of the world's filth—“bankrupt materially and socially.” Paul declared, “The world is crucified unto me.” This was all because of the gospel mission’s creed. Opposite in the modern world—“believers have gold for our god and greed for our creed.”
In Chapter 18: Prayers as Vast as God, Ravenhill explains that the prophets of old, like Moses and Jeremiah, were overwhelmed by the weight of their divine calling and tried to excuse themselves due to personal inadequacies. However, God didn’t accept their objections because He doesn’t rely on human wisdom but instead draws His chosen ones into deep communion with Himself. Once a soul hears God’s voice, it is forever changed. Unfortunately, much modern preaching lacks this divine encounter and borrows instead from human ideas. True spiritual power comes from time spent with God in prayer.
Ravenhill also explains that prayer is not just a spiritual exercise. It is a force backed by the power of God Himself. Just as science has tapped into atomic power, the Church must rediscover the limitless power of the Holy Spirit through prayer. However, effective prayer demands a holy life and deep intimacy with God. Reading books on prayer is not enough; just as reading about health doesn’t make one healthy, prayer must be practiced to be powerful. True intercession requires spiritual discipline and a heart burdened for others.
In Chapter 19: As the Church Goes, So Goes the World, Ravenhill highlights contemporary Church conditions. He explains that the Church began with passionate, Spirit-filled believers who agonized in prayer, but now it often relies on programs and organization without spiritual fire. While early Christians had spiritual fervor without formal education, many modern believers have education but lack passion and power from the Holy Spirit.
Ravenhill feels the conviction of Spirit-empowered leaders—flame-hearted, inspired believers who can guide others and stand against the tide of false religion and superficial spirituality. Without such leadership, the Church becomes powerless, and the world drifts further into darkness.
In Chapter 20 (last Chapter): Known in Hell, Reavenhill says that the preacher powerfully explores why the Apostle Paul was known in hell, as illustrated in Acts 19:15. Unlike many who merely use religious formulas, Paul had a deep spiritual authority that even demons recognized. This authority came from:
1. Intimacy with God – Paul had divine revelations, worked miracles, and lived in constant communion with the Holy Spirit.
2. Persuasion by Truth – He was unwaveringly convinced of God’s Word, which gave him boldness and discernment.
3. Death to Self – Paul lived a crucified life—dead to praise, ambition, and materialism, yet alive in Christ. This made him spiritually unshakable.
4. Hate for Sin, Love for Souls – Driven by the terror of the Lord and love for the lost, he preached with fire, seeing sinners not just as lost but as rebels needing salvation.
5. Eternal Perspective – Paul feared no suffering, seeing life and death in light of eternity. His hope and joy were rooted in the assurance of being with Christ.
6. Judgment Awareness – The coming judgment motivated him to live rightly and urge others toward holiness.
Ultimately, Paul’s full surrender, spiritual authority, and eternal focus made him a terror to hell—explaining why a demon once said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know”
