prayer is not a substitute for obedience

[buildthefarm]

prayer is not a substitute for obedience. thats a phrase i heard on the radio yesterday and it hit me like a ton of bricks. as many churches have been proned to do, the chuch i grew up in at some point in my teenage years, got into the message of grace. and then they stayed there for like 5 years slowing perverting grace so that it sounds so nice. and then they moved all the way to universalism and at some point it was literally in the church bulletin that God worships us.

i left before it got to that point. not that i knew my church doctrine and got outa there cuz of the wrongness. i left church after high school and only looked back for brief periods here and there for bout a decadeish til i had children. its a common pattern of the american church today sadly.

but now that im on track with the Lord(or trying to be) i find it much easier to ask forgiveness than permission. i can admitt when im wrong and really its not an issue for me to ask forgiveness. but to obey, and to ask Gods will and wait for the answer. thats gonna take practice.

ive learned enough to know if its true for me its probably true for a million other people too so i thought id share that and see what you think. i dont really have a point accept that its something that needs work. prayer is important for entirely different and equally valid reasons than obedience is important. the childish side of me still tries to get away with doing the wrong thing by doing it and asking forgiveness.

time to grow up is drawing ever closer. those of us who are going to be around in difficult times will need to grow up and mature in our faith in advance. time to do the hard thing voluntarily so we will be prepared when difficulty is forced upon us.

[Eric Latham]

I believe prayer ties in with obedience. For instance, God was calling me to a day of prayer on Saturday and I didn't listen and resisted the voice and after that I had to repent and ask for forgiveness because I did not listen to his voice. For Instance the pharisees did n't do bad stuff and didn't sin but I don't think Jesus considered them obedient because they didn't listen to him and what he was saying. To define Obedience, I would simply say it is choosing God every moment you get. But I agree. God has recently been calling me to serious obedience and its so hard sometimes. Honestly though, I look forward almost to hard times because all the material stuff will start fading away that used to tempt me to not choose God and when recession comes just imagine how many lost souls will be looking for upright people like us to follow. It makes me smile just thinking about it

[hearingGod]

ha! a big amen re: all the big 'stuff' hitting & all the material stuff....all the routine stuff we get caught up in & 'sociality' falling away so we can really focus on the important stuffs.
it's so hard rt now doing that while dipping our toe in the whole 'back to basics' stuff.... but it's so good in training cuz it won't seem so hard then in the thick of it! and no tv and -add a distraction here-, and we can draw closer to HIM and let our witnesses shine.
til' then... sigh...

and obedience.... ya.... wooo.... our lives may depend on it soon, so we gots to keep getting back in line while it's still day & asking for those 2nd chances when we know we miss it. never walk away in condemnation... just keep training.... "ask me again Father, I will do it this time, because I will yield & let You flow"

Jhn 3:30 "He must increase, but I [must] decrease."

[Jaymark]

obedience is def key! There is a joy that comes with it too! The fear of the LORD makes you feel clean too(that's in the psalms somewhere too).

[warrior]

Neat little thing to do on obedience. Pick some Biblical stories and put your self in the part of the character being told what to do. What would you do? How much of a struggle would you have with your life's pulls. This is no guilt trip on anyone. It is a guide to how much of His grace we need God to shovel on us. Mmmm a slightly different use of the word grace than buildthefarm's ex church. I'll do a talk for them if they like.