Joel Virgo » Prayer Heart Devotions Holy Spirit

“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure” –D.L. Moody

A Man Who Kneeled

Nehemiah is a man who adopted a kneeling role. Instead of trying to look productive, we must instead be productive. Seeking God earnestly and patiently is the most productive use of our time. It is no mere escape route, but a wise response to grim reality. It gives us the perspective that we need, and it changes history. How did Nehemiah respond to news of desolation back in Jerusalem? Nehemiah 1:4 says, “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” He wept, and then threw himself into lengthy prayer and self-humiliation.

Why Not Take Action?

As we read the book of Nehemiah, we appreciate that the man is no passive flower. We have a man of swift, decisive action; a creative and brilliant strategist who made things happen. He’d engineer and generate things through a mixture of ingenuity and belligerence. So then why did he not do something? It would surely beat all this wailing. Begin a PR campaign, start lobbying, get on talk radio, or at least write a blog. Instead he mourns. And in doing so, he’s “blessed,” according to Jesus (Matt. 5:4). Knee-jerk activism, however impressive it might look, reveals a feeble grasp of the situation and a sinful confidence in independent methods. Nehemiah prays and mourns (with fasting) for five months because he doesn’t have a choice.

Do You Pray?

The biggest danger for any generation of leaders is prayerlessness. Much in the church that begins from a spirit of genuine humility and prayer is carried on in proud self-sufficiency. Arthur Wallis once said, “A move of God will last as long as the Spirit of prayer that inspired it.” You can tell when this happens. It’s when prayer is used as a last resort, as a spare wheel, but it’s meant to be the steering wheel. There are certain battles we simply cannot win without prayer. The more I lead, the more frequent such battles seem. Jesus made this clear with the statement regarding the demon that would not submit to his disciples in Mark 9:29: “He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.’” This is a striking text if you reflect on it: what had the disciples been trying with this demoniac? Of course they must have prayed, but that is not the point being made here by Jesus. It is one thing to hit a crisis and pray in reaction, which is what the disciples were doing, but it is quite another to live a life of prayer and have reserves of spiritual force, wisdom, and peace from which to draw when Satan is threatening. This is the lifestyle Jesus wanted his twelve to live. To be continued.