The Kneeling Church

Why Revival Demands Communion, Not Mechanics

“The greatest need of the church today is not better methods but deeper communion. Revival will never come through mechanics—but only through men and women who kneel before God and refuse to rise until He has come.”

This statement cuts straight to the heart of the modern church’s dilemma. In an age of strategic models, slick presentations, and high-performance ministry structures, the great danger is not that we lack innovation—but that we lack intimacy. Revival will not be manufactured by better branding, digital tools, or clever techniques. Revival comes through brokenness, humility, and desperate communion with the living God.

This truth is not new. It echoes the deep cries of men like E.M. Bounds, A.W. Tozer, and Leonard Ravenhill, all of whom preached, prayed, and pleaded for a Spirit-born awakening in the church. Their writings resound with the urgency of knee-worn revival, not man-made religion.

E.M. Bounds: Prayer is the Engine of Power

E.M. Bounds, best known for his classic work Power Through Prayer, relentlessly reminded the church that God’s work cannot be done by human energy:

“What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.”

To Bounds, the revival of the church would not come by method but by men and women filled with the Spirit, shaped in the secret place of prayer. He understood that God’s power flows not through systems but through surrendered lives.

A.W. Tozer: The Fragrance of God’s Presence

Tozer warned that the church could “run smoothly on its own” even if God withdrew His Spirit. That terrifying possibility has become a reality in many places—churches that function mechanically but are void of God’s presence. In The Pursuit of God, he writes:

“We have substituted theological ideas for an arresting encounter. We are satisfied to have the word without the presence.”

Tozer longed for a generation of believers whose hearts were aflame with holy desire—not for ministry growth but for God Himself. Methods, while not evil in themselves, were never the answer. Only communion with the Holy One could stir the church to life again.

Leonard Ravenhill: Revival Costs Everything

Leonard Ravenhill, the fiery prophet of 20th-century revival preaching, was perhaps the most direct:

“The church is dying on its feet because it’s not living on its knees.”

He believed revival would never come to a comfortable, halfhearted people. It would be born through agonizing intercession, often in hidden, uncelebrated corners of the church. The call was simple: Get alone with God. Stay there. Refuse to rise until heaven comes down.

Kneeling Before the Throne

So where does this leave us today?

We are a people surrounded by endless resources, yet often starved of real power. We know how to do church—but do we know God? Do we tremble before His holiness? Do we wait for His presence? Do we ache for His Spirit to rend the heavens and come down?

This is what the quote above is crying out for—a church that no longer leans on strategies but falls on its face, seeking the Lord until He answers. Not better methods. Deeper communion.

Until we are once again a kneeling people, we will not be a revived people.

Let the cry of our hearts be this:

“Lord, teach us to pray—not for results, not for recognition, but for You. We will not rise until You come.”