Babel and the Perils of Prayerlessness

In Genesis 11, we find one of the clearest pictures of the heart of the human race—a heart apart from God, a heart and mind that desires to exalt oneself, to act independently of God, to be proud, arrogant, self-sufficient, self-serving, and with that, self-congratulatory—“I did it/we did it” with no thought of how God has supplied the wherewithal to accomplish all that has occurred. With that attitude is also an action of prayerlessness—no true prayer, that is.

Genesis 11:4 reports the plans of those born in the years after the Flood, “let us build ourselves a city, and a tower…let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered” over the earth. Note the references to “us” and “we” and the lack of references to God. They were living life with no thought of God, of what He wants or what He says. Note also they were in direct opposition to God’s original plan to be fruitful in order to “fill the earth” given first to Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28) and given again to Noah and his sons in Genesis 9:1 after the Flood.

These are attitudes and actions of prayerlessness—no link to seeking God, no link to desiring the will of God. They were not concerned with exalting and expressing the image of God throughout the earth as God desired (Genesis 1). God saw these attitudes as destructive. He stated, “Nothing which they propose to do will be impossible for them,” literally “nothing…will be withheld from them”—no restraints (Genesis 11: 6). With a single language they would be prone to greater unity in resisting God and, in turn, missing out on His best, His will.

In His great wisdom, God put restrictions on them—multiple languages to break up the unified rebellion, weaken their selfish independence, and scatter them over the earth. That could also potentially lead them to greater dependence on Him. God puts restrictions and boundaries on people to lead them to Himself, to see Him more clearly, to see sin and wrong for what it is, and to comprehend a measure of His mercy, even in tough times (see Acts 17:26-31).

The city where this occurred became known as Babel (“Confusion”), because there God mixed and mingled the language into many languages to redirect their attention (11:9). This did not cure the problem. It only restrained it. The attitudes persisted. Genesis 10:10 tells us that Nimrod was the leader of this city. He also built other cities such as Ninevah. In these cities superstition, false religion, and all kinds of idolatry found fruitful soil.

Throughout history we see reflections of that same independent, proud heart—“I will make a name for myself; I can do it myself; I will exalt myself, look at all I have built/done/written/said/earned/amassed….” There are a million things people are proud about but not thankful to God for (Romans 1:21) and a million things people want to take credit for without acknowledging God and His gifts, starting with one’s very breath. He gives all life, breath, and all things—that covers everything (see Acts 17:24-26). The breath to receive the oxygen to burn the food to activate the energy to create and write and draw and invent and repair and build and cook and help others and, well, you get the picture.

This attitude is approaching fever-pitch in the United States. Abraham Lincoln saw this in his day—he called for a “National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer” for March 30, 1863. Note these words: “It is the duty of nations...to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins...with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy... The awful calamity of civil war...may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins.”

Lincoln openly stated, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven....We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”

Carefully read Lincoln’s conclusion. “Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for...forgiveness.”

We do not see Lincoln’s attitude in the leadership of today, including too many of our churches. God is allowing us to go our own way, but there is a point where He will say “enough” and then we will begin to see revival or ruin.

Ninevah experienced that choice—it was in the days of reluctant Jonah who thundered the message like a headline, “Forty Days and Doom Descends” (see Jonah 3:4). The king got the message and called for fasting and repentance. God showed mercy—revival among this very Gentile city with the heritage of Nimrod.

God is able to work in answer to prayer, in conjunction with one obedient voice. As Jonathan stated in 1 Samuel 14:6, “the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.” He can work His work as He pleases using whom He pleases when He pleases. Nebuchadnezzar stated that in Daniel 4:35. So did Job in Job 23:13 and the psalmist in Psalm 115:3. And in doing that, He has chosen many, many times to fulfill His works in answer to prayer. What a hope we have in God! We find that cry three times in Psalm 42:5, 11 and 43:5—“why are you in despair, O my soul? Why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.”

The latest war cries against prayer in the USA are clear examples of those who do not depend on God, do not believe in Him, and do not pray to Him. But we should not expect them to—they do not know Him or they are out of fellowship with Him. Please note that this anti-prayer sentiment has been around for awhile. Daniel faced it around 539 BC. Where was he? In Babylon, the very territory of the original “No-Prayer-Zone,” Babel. Certain government officials worked the system to get a law passed that outlawed Daniel’s kind of praying and allowed only pagan praying—praying to the king (that would be flattering, if you were the king—foolish, but flattering). Daniel continued to pray “as was his custom” (6:10) and he was arrested, tried, and sentenced to the lion’s den. The Lord chose to rescue him out of that and brought swift justice on those who had sought to destroy him.

The Lord has a way of dealing with those who try to erase evidence of Him at work. While many are plotting, planning, and scheming against Christians and their praying, He is in Heaven, enthroned, carrying out His will, answering prayer, and, according to Psalm 2:4, laughing. He does not pace the floors at night or lose sleep—in fact, He never sleeps or slumbers, no dozing off or sleeping on the job. He is ever alert, ever aware of exactly what is going on, and He is ever on schedule to accomplish His full will. Just wait and you will see—all will see.

Today, He calls us to pray. Even when His people were under His chastening hand in Babylon, He commanded them to seek the peace of the city where they were in exile and to “pray to the Lord on its behalf”—to intercede for peace and well-being from God in that place (Jeremiah 29:7). We can do the same for each of our cities—where God has placed you or me.

One final note—during this year’s National Day of Prayer, millions of people who claim to be Christian did not spend any extra time (or any time) in prayer, did not gather with others to pray, did not encourage others to pray—they simply went about their day as usual. So, we should not complain about those who do not pray on a National Day of Prayer—educators, professors, government leaders or workers, bosses, school mates, neighbors, etc.—they are simply living out their beliefs. What we truly believe (Old English word “by-live”) we live by. All the rest is just religious talk, meaningless, empty. We need to pray for those who do not pray—they are missing out on fellowship with God, on answers to prayer, on talking to Him about their sorrows, grief, hurts, and questions. We can encourage them, even urge them to pray, to call on the Lord, especially for salvation, then for all of life.

What is my life, your life—a reflection of Babel or a reflection of Heaven? Are you a “Self-directed Tower Builder” trying to rule over heaven and earth and your own life without God, or are you a Spirit-directed follower of Jesus, joining in prayer, looking to Him as He rules over all, building His Kingdom? What does your daily prayer life reflect? Look in the mirror of the Word and adjust accordingly.

© 2010, Rick Shepherd. Used by permission.

Rick Shepherd and his wife Linda make their home in Jacksonville, Florida where Rick has served as director of the Department of Prayer and Spiritual Awakening for the Florida Baptist Convention since 2000. Before that he served in churches in Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. Rick is also one of the authors in the Following God Series from AMG Publishers.