A call back to the prayer closet Drawing on the writings and teachings of Leonard Ravenhill There is a question every pastor, every leader, and every believer must eventually face, and it is not comfortable: do we actually believe God answers prayer, or have we simply learned to run the church without waiting on Him? We can build excellent programs. We can fill a calendar with events, grow attendance, sharpen our preaching, polish our worship, and still be spiritually dry. Activity is not the same as anointing. A church can be busy doing things for God while quietly ceasing to spend time with God — and no one notices until the power is gone and only the machinery remains. The poverty we don't talk about One old prayer warrior put it bluntly: "Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer." That line stings because it is still true. We are not lacking resources, technology, or talent. We...
Recently I came across this topic. Sharing it for wider awareness. Every pastor has seen it, even if we didn't have a name for it. The visitor who cannot sit still through the sermon, tapping a foot, wringing their hands, rising to pace the back of the sanctuary. The elderly saint in the pew who suddenly seems restless and irritable in a way that is out of character. The young adult in the prayer line who cannot stop moving, whose words come out fast and pressured, whose body seems to be racing even when their spirit longs for peace. Often we reach for spiritual categories first—anxiety of the heart, oppression, a need for deeper surrender. Sometimes that is exactly right. But sometimes what we are watching has a clinical name: psychomotor agitation . Understanding it will make us better shepherds. What Is Psychomotor Agitation? Psychomotor agitation is a state of increased, purposeless physical movement that comes together with inner restlessness and emotional tension. It is not...