Monday, January 26, 2015

Prayer Without Perspiration Leads to Paralysis

In our last blog post we began to explore the process of renewal through the lens of the story of Nehemiah.  It is a story that continues to remind me as leader of renewal that this journey requires courage, wisdom, God’s favor, and an enormous amount of prayer.

Andy Stanley writes, “Visions are born in the soul of a man or woman who is consumed with the tension between what is and what could be.”  It is out of this tension that God-sized visions are born.  This was certainly the case for Nehemiah. He received word about the poor condition of the city of Jerusalem and the burden of that drove him to his knees in prayer to the God of the city.

In the midst of this season of prayer Nehemiah gets a glimpse of what could be and a God-given vision is born.  We know it’s God-given because in Nehemiah 2:12 he reveals to us that these plans are “…what God had put in my heart.”  How does Nehemiah respond to this God-given vision?  He responds with more prayer. 

Nehemiah realized that this was no small task that God was calling him to.  In fact, from a human perspective it seemed impossible.  And from where you are standing, what God has called you to may seem impossible as well.  But let me tell you something – a God-given vision will always be bigger than we can accomplish on our own and the magnitude of that vision should always drive us back to our knees. 

As your read through the story of Nehemiah you are going to find that prayer played a critical role at every point.  But one thing you may not notice as readily is that these prayers were always followed by action.

Here is what I have come to realize.  Many of our churches in need of renewal aren’t lacking in the area of prayer.  They pray a lot!  They are lacking in the area of action, and prayer without perspiration leads to paralysis.  At some point you have to get up from your praying and actually DO what God has called you to do.  Otherwise, the church becomes paralyzed and renewal is an impossibility.

So, here is the question.  How can we mobilize our congregations from the posture of prayer to the place of action?

Please leave your comments!



For more resources of Vibrant Church Renewal and Evangelism go to:

http://www.usacanadaregion.org/church-renewal

http://www.usacanadaregion.org/evangelism

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