Can God Still Move?
It was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles — the biggest celebration on Israel’s calendar. The priests had marched to the Pool of Siloam, filled a golden pitcher with water, and carried it back to the altar while the crowd chanted Psalm 118:25: “Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.”
The water symbolized God’s provision — the way He’d sustained Moses and the people in the wilderness. It pointed back to Hezekiah’s tunnel in Jerusalem. It carried deep theological weight. And right in the middle of it all, Jesus stood up and said something nobody expected.
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).
Not a trickle. Not a tap. Not a stream. A river.
Here’s what stops me in my tracks. A few years ago, the Baptist Press published an article from the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Church Profile. It reported that SBC membership had been in steady decline since 2006 and hit its lowest number since 1978. Only 18.5 percent of Southern Baptist churches were growing. Over 42 percent had plateaued. And 39 percent were declining.
So can God still move? I believe the answer is an absolute yes — but I also believe we have to ask ourselves an honest question: Have we made room for Him to?
Jesus didn’t offer that living water to perfect people. He offered it in the middle of a religious ceremony that had become routine. The Pharisees were arguing doctrine. The Sadducees were fighting for influence. And right there, in the noise and the politics and the tradition, Jesus said, “Come to Me.”
Adrian Rogers once said, “The reason so many of us are not filled with the Spirit is that we are too full of ourselves.”
That’s the real problem. It’s not that God has stopped moving — it’s that we’ve filled up the space where He used to work. Our schedules. Our preferences. Our plans. When I come to Jesus every day and learn to trust and rely on Him completely, there’s less room for me and more room for Him.
Does our prayer life demonstrate a dependence on Jesus? Does it indicate a thirst for revival? Jesus says, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).
God hasn’t changed His mind. He’s waiting on us to change ours.
Keep Looking up!
Heaven is closer than you think.
May God bless your day.
Related devotionals: When did prayer begin? · Does God hear me? · The Cane Ridge Revival
Want more from Pastor Rodney?
If today’s devotional spoke to your heart, my books carry these same themes deeper. Stories of God moving in ordinary lives, scripture for tired pastors and weary parents, and steady reminders that heaven is closer than you think.