Tag Archives: Jessie Penn-Lewis

A Spiritual Autobiography of Jessie Penn Lewis

Posted on by

The Leading of the Lord

A Spiritual Autobiography

I was brought up in the very heart of the religious life of Wales, for my grandfather was a Welsh Divine, well known throughout the Principality in his day; and my father’s house was a rendezvous for the ministers as they passed hither and thither on their Master’s work. My childhood’s memories gather round their visits and the great meetings of the Sunday-schools, when often I sat as a tiny child in the midst of the grave elders in the “big pew” listening with intense interest to the “hwyl” of the minister. “The mercy of the Lord is … unto children’s children”; but as it often is with children brought up in the midst of religious surroundings, the true inward change of heart did not come until I had married and moved away to England. Then it occurred without the aid of any human instrument, but the day – New Year’s Day- and the hour are imprinted on my mind.

Only a deep, inward desire to know that I was a child of God; a taking down of my (too little read) Bible from the shelf; a turning over the leaves, and the eye falling on the words, “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all”; again, a casual turn of the sacred pages, and the words, “He that believeth hath eternal life. A quick facing out whether I did believe that God had laid my sins upon the Lamb of God on the Cross; a pause of wonderment that it really said that I had eternal life if I simply believed God’s Word; a quick cry of “Lord I do believe” – and one more soul had passed from death to life, a trophy of the grace of God, and the love of Him Who died. The Spirit of God instantly bore witness with my spirit that I was a child of God, and deep peace filled my soul.

The beginning of “Leading of the Lord”

By Jessie Penn Lewis

Written for “The Christian” in 1903

Jessie Penn-Lewis

Posted on by

Jessie Penn-Lewis
(1861–1927)

Jessie Penn-Lewis was a Welsh evangelical speaker and author of a number of Christian evangelical works.

Early lifePenn-Lewis was born in Victoria Terrace, Neath in 1861[1]. Her father was a Methodist minister. She was married to William Penn-Lewis.

Welsh revivalShe was involved in the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival, one of the largest Christian revivals ever to break out, although the revival was abruptly shortened with the mental and physical collapse of one of the leaders, Evan Roberts. Penn-Lewis traveled internationally to take her message to audiences in Russia, Scandinavia, Canada, the U.S., and India.

Penn-Lewis was close to Evan Roberts and there is some controversy associated with her influence over him. After the breakdown by Roberts cut the revival short, he stayed with the Penn-Lewis’s for a couple of years, but never fully recovered. Ultimately, Penn-Lewis declared some of phenomena of the Welsh Revival to be the work of Satan, declaring her still controversial position in her book on spiritual warfare called War on the Saints, which describes the work of demons on Christians, the theme for which Penn-Lewis is most known.

Influences

Penn-Lewis was influenced by the reformed South African writer Andrew Murray among others, and her books contain quotes from him and references to his works. Frank Buchman, the founder of the Oxford Group, credits Penn-Lewis with helping him to turn his life around from depression when he heard her speak at a Keswick Convention.[3] She also influenced Johan Oscar Smith, the founder of Brunstad Christian Church and the missionary statesman Norman Grubb.