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Obedience and
Prayer
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Scripture
“You did
not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear
fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever
you ask in my name John 15:16
The prayer of
a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
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The Quest for Fruit
We have looked
at several passages where God promises us anything that we ask of
him. This passage is much the same, but the context should be
observed. God is looking for fruit in our lives. Then
He will give whatever we ask in his name. Likewise, James tells
us that the power of prayer comes from a person who is righteous.
Every Christian is made righteous in God’s eyes through the
atonement of Christ. James, however, is talking about living a
righteous life and ultimately the bearing of fruit.
David writes
in Psalm 18:23-24: “I have been blameless before him and have kept
myself from sin. The LORD has rewarded me according to my
righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.”
We know the
life of David was not always in obedience to God. Likewise, we will
not always be in obedience to God’s will. However, David sought
after God’s heart. It was David’s attitude that was most
important. His life bore fruit even though he was not capable of
100% obedience all the time.
Obedience and Faith
Andrew Murray writes,
| “Obedience and
faith are simply two parts of one act – surrender to God
and His will. As faith strengthens itself in order to
be obedient, it is in turn strengthened by
obedience. Faith is made perfect by works.”
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Once again we
are left with a repeating cycle. Faith leads to obedience, but
obedience strengthens faith. At times we don’t obey because we
don’t have enough faith. Then when we pray, our prayers don’t get
answered because we failed to obey.
For an
example, we say we trust God to take care of us but we worry about
our finances. We do not obey God when he asks us to trust him and
not worry about this. Should we expect God to answer a prayer
regarding our finances when we haven’t obeyed what He has told us
about money? When we pray about this, have we really placed our
faith in Him that he will provide and obeyed Him by trusting?
What do you
believe God can not do in regards to your church?
If this sounds
like a trick question and your answer is, “God can do anything” then
the question must be asked, “Why haven’t you asked God then or why
hasn’t he responded?”
Do we really
believe in what we ask God for? Are we willing to obey when God
calls us to be part of the answer to that prayer?
Adapted from
“With Christ in the School of Prayer” by Andrew Murray
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