"The old Devil gets mad when you're trying to do good. Pray that God will move the stumbling blocks"
About this Quote
Mahalia Jackson frames resistance as proof of purpose, and she does it in the plainspoken, high-voltage language of the Black church. “The old Devil” isn’t a gothic villain; it’s a name for the friction that reliably shows up when someone tries to climb out of the ditch - temptation, fatigue, backlash, doubt, the sudden phone call that derails your plans. Calling that force “old” is a sly demotion: evil isn’t sophisticated, it’s repetitive. It runs the same plays, hoping you’ll be tired enough to fall for them.
The line turns spiritual warfare into practical instruction. Jackson doesn’t advise obsessing over the Devil; she shifts attention to what actually moves the day: prayer as action, not ornament. “Pray that God will move the stumbling blocks” keeps human agency in view while admitting its limits. You can’t bulldoze every obstacle alone, especially if the obstacles are structural - poverty, segregation, predatory bosses, the casual cruelty of a country that loved Black music more than Black people. Prayer becomes a way to stay oriented when the world is designed to disorient you.
Context matters: Jackson’s gospel wasn’t just performance; it was a moral engine that fed the civil rights movement and fortified ordinary people. Her intent is pastoral and tactical: expect opposition, don’t romanticize it, and don’t let it redefine your mission. The subtext is consolation with teeth - if doing good draws heat, you’re probably standing near the right door.
The line turns spiritual warfare into practical instruction. Jackson doesn’t advise obsessing over the Devil; she shifts attention to what actually moves the day: prayer as action, not ornament. “Pray that God will move the stumbling blocks” keeps human agency in view while admitting its limits. You can’t bulldoze every obstacle alone, especially if the obstacles are structural - poverty, segregation, predatory bosses, the casual cruelty of a country that loved Black music more than Black people. Prayer becomes a way to stay oriented when the world is designed to disorient you.
Context matters: Jackson’s gospel wasn’t just performance; it was a moral engine that fed the civil rights movement and fortified ordinary people. Her intent is pastoral and tactical: expect opposition, don’t romanticize it, and don’t let it redefine your mission. The subtext is consolation with teeth - if doing good draws heat, you’re probably standing near the right door.
Quote Details
| Topic | Prayer |
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