Culturally Irrelevant

Nehemiah 3:5 says that the nobles of Tekoa were unwilling to put their shoulders to the task of rebuilding the wall. They were important people and manual labor was beneath them…technically. However, the “men” of Tekoa went straight to work on the wall. In fact, these same men went the extra mile and worked on another section of the wall in verse 27.

Katy and I are beginning to see the “wall” of prayer. Like a wall, prayer protects, creates spiritual boundaries, stages both offensive and defensive maneuvers, supports watchmen and acts as a filter for what comes in and goes out. I’ve heard it taught that only some are called to a life of prayer. I used to accept that, but not anymore. I believe we tend to see the hard labor of prayer as someone else’s job in the body. That’s convenient, but not true. Every single one of us has been called to the secret place to pull on and discern the Father’s heart, to cry out for unity in the body, to ask for more laborers and lost souls, to be filled with the Spirit on a regular basis.

The Bible is full of examples of unceasing prayer (e.g., Joshua in the tent of meeting) and teaches us to pray constantly. In the Spirit, in the understanding, with songs, with instruments, in the morning and evening, alone and with others, during good times and bad. I’ve struggled with this for years, trying my best to “practice the presence of God” like Brother Lawrence teaches. But it becomes a difficult exercise of always trying to get back into a place that I feel I’ve lost. 

The good news is that it’s not up to our own discipline, emotional energy, force of will or mental capacity to grasp the things before us. God graciously empowers us to do the very things he requires of us. In “The Release of the Spirit” Watchman Nee explains that our spirits long to have constant fellowship with God, but the trouble is with the hardened shell of the soul. When unbroken, my thoughts, criticism, planning, emotional swings, and willfulness all act independently to hinder what the Spirit is trying to work out through me. In essense, because of the Spirit’s presence and work in me, my spirit is ready to fellowship with God, to touch other people, to pour out from the anointing that’s available. But because my thoughts, the way I feel about things and my will to have things a certain way, are so powerful and insistent , I’m having to use my soul to sit at the wall of prayer. Instead of my spirit being the free vessel, my soul becomes the constricting filter by which I experience God, receive revelation, minister to others, etc.

So, I’m at the wall, reading Watchman Nee and hanging out around John 15 right now. I’m asking God to search my heart and shine his spotlight of truth into my deepest motives and the things I say in my mind when I’m not paying attention. In the meantime, we’re beginning to see bits and pieces of God’s heart more and more. For the lost, for the body of Christ all over the world, for this new generation of young people, for kids and baby Christians. And we’re just taking it to the wall.

I don’t look for weird things to happen. In fact, I try very hard to ignore them and stick to what I’m sure of. But sometimes you just can’t ignore the obvious. It started on our stop in Vicksburg on the way to Pensacola a couple weeks ago. When I checked in at the hotel, the girl at the desk gave me the electronic keys and said, “You’ll be in room 333.” Instantly, I was hit with Jeremiah 33:3. It was the reference my parents put in the front of my first NKJV study Bible when I graduated from high school. I don’t think a week has gone by since then that I haven’t thought about that Scripture. It has always been important to me. As I was walking away from the desk towards the car I felt the Holy Spirit saying, “Ben, call to me and I’ll answer you.” I told Katy about it when I got in the car.

The next morning we stopped for gas before leaving town. I pre-paid with cash and then went in to collect my change. I picked up a bottle of water for Katy and then went to the register. As I stood there I wondered, “Wouldn’t it be cool if my change was $3.33?” And just like that, the girl rang up my water and there on the register was my change…$3.33! So I smiled and walked to the car and told Katy. We both just laughed and recognized that God has a pretty funny sense of humor.

To make things more interesting, two nights in a row this week I’ve sat up in bed in the middle of the night, wide awake. Both times I’ve looked at the clock and it has been 3:33am. This morning, right after my alarm went off and I hit snooze, Katy and I both sat up in bed because of a noise coming from downstairs. It sounded like a dog barking. Katy stuck her head out the door to listen and said, “It’s one of Jack’s toys. Sounds like it was left on and has a short in it.” So I fumbled down the stairs at 5:30am and began to recognize the sound of Barney like a broken record, repeating the same syllable over and over again. How long it had been stuck like that, I don’t know. But as soon as my feet hit the tile floor, it said clear as day, “Hello, friend. Let’s spend the day together!” Ha! Now that’s rich. I just had to laugh. I was going to sleep in, but that dumb toy got me downstairs and now I was wide awake to hear it say that! I just stood there and thought, “There’s no end to the creative and quirky ways that God will draw us…and even trick us…to seek him, call on him and spend time with him.

Needless to say, I get the point. God is getting through loud and clear. I’ve been spending some time in the book of Nehemiah. I’ve never thought about Nehemiah as a book about prayer, but God is opening my eyes. I’ll throw some things out here in a couple days as I dig a little deeper.