prayer 101: divine obedience

Prayer is typically viewed as being a time of silent "talking" to God. Sometimes we're not too silent. 

We praise and adore God in prayer. We recognize Who He is and what He does. We seek His guidance and provision in our lives. We ask Him to intercede in the lives of friends, relatives, and loved ones. In prayer, we confess our sins. Those are what I would call the "quiet" part of prayer. We may even sing and worship but that is still relatively silent. 

But then there's the "active" part of prayer. Throughout this study, we have sought to transform or reform our lives into lives of prayer. A life of prayer is when we are "being" with God throughout the entire day. We are thinking about Him and speaking to Him. We may sing to our Father during the day, but He's looking for more from us. 

As we looked at confession, we discovered that the act of confession was only the beginning. We found that confession was not enough. We  discovered that in order to "complete" our confession, we need to repent. Repentance is the more difficult part. In repentance, we must actively turn away or turn around and move in the opposite direction. Repentance is hard but we want to repent because it, along with confession, aids in restoring our relationship with God and our fellow men and women. And yet, I still don't think we've quite finished this section. Something is missing. 

And I say that something is missing because we know - I know - what God desires - demands - even more than confession and repentance. God  demands Obedience. That's a word that none of us like to hear.

We know that we have to obey many things in life. Driving rules. House rules. Our bosses. When you think about it, the list of rules that have to be obeyed daily is almost endless.  But rules are necessary for order and safety.

Everything runs by rules and laws. Obedience is not optional. The entire universe obeys the laws of gravity, motion, thermodynamics, entropy, and other laws of physics.

Then  there are the laws of God. And those aren't just the Ten Commandments.  For example, there's the law of sowing and reaping. That law says that whatever we may sow - good will or evil, generosity or greed, kindness or contempt - we will reap the consequences.

Obedience brings us closer to God and His will for our lives. And this is not just religious obedience. It's not just the do's and don'ts of the various "isms" - regardless of Catholicism, Judaism, or mainline  Protestantism. It's not just submitting as the Muslim does. It is much more. As true, born-again believers in God by the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ, we know that the difference is a personal relationship. We Christians have a personal relationship with our Father God. Out of that personal relationship with God comes, I believe, two proper motives or driving forces for obedience: love and faith. There's also a posture to obedience and we'll look at that later.

Two Motives for Obedience.

Our obedience comes out of love rather than fear or compunction. Because we love God - remembering that He first loved us (me)(1 John  4:18 - 20). We are drawn into a loving obedience toward God. We want to obey His commands and precepts because we love Him, and He loves us (me). As I think about that, that makes sense. 

Our children obey mom and dad primarily out of love - there's a sort of tie between the two. They inherently know that they are loved and so our children naturally begin to obey. Now, I know there are lots of rolling eyeballs going on, so bear with me. We've said that it's not humanly natural to obey. We naturally (and sinfully) fight authority. In time, we learn to loosen our grip on what we believe is ours for something eternally better. 

It is love that causes us to "obey" the wishes and desires of our spouses.  My wife likes certain things done in certain ways. My natural tendency is to not (necessarily) perform these tasks the way SHE wants them done.  Here's a typical example and scenario: my wife was one of those people who completely cleaned up when she was working on a project. If she's painting a room, she will completely clean up and put everything away so it doesn't even look like anyone's done any work; brushes, rollers,  pans, everything. I learned from my friends the painting professionals - you know, the smart guys. When I clean up, I let the leftover paint dry in the pan rather than washing it; the roller and brush get wrapped in plastic rather than being rinsed; drop cloths (if used) are folded and left in a corner of the room rather than being brought back down to the basement.

Because I didn't follow her rules of clean up, painting time would be a time of angst. I didn't want that. I  wanted to please her. Let's face it: I was being selfish. Ten extra minutes of my time, following my wife's rules demonstrates that I love her and care about HER desires. As I obey her wishes, I love her.

As we act in obedience to God, our lives change. We are transformed. But how can we (I) become better or more obedient? Yes, we are obedient out of love. Our love is demonstrated horizontally to our fellow man as well as vertically to God. 

Jesus put it this way, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15

The second motive of obedience is faith. Faith may not be as applicable to our human relationships, but it is more applicable to our heavenly relationship. But let's start with our human side. Again, think about your children or grandchildren. There is a  certain "faith" that they have in Mom and Dad. By faith, they know they are loved and cared for. They know that because we love them for who they are - our children and grandchildren - they will obey for no other  reason other than their faith in our wanting the best for them. They have faith that we will not only approve of their behavior but that we will be glad. We may acknowledge them with words of "good job!" or "well done!" or we may clap our hands.

But it's through and by Faith that we are not only able to obey God, but we are also able to accomplish His works in our lives and have our lives transformed into the image of Jesus. We can participate in the "divine nature" and be saved. 

Here's what the apostle Peter tells us: "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these, He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

"Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior  Jesus Christ."  2 Peter 1:3-11.

All of that has everything to do with obedience. Let's follow the progression from faith to love in obedience. When we're acting in faith in God - obedience - we will add goodness. Goodness is added because God is good. Everything that He has done, is doing, and will do is good; it is right and proper. Adding knowledge is something that we have to do. It is a knowledge of God and His Plan. It is knowledge of His Plan for our lives. It is knowledge of how we are to relate and interact with others, whether believers or unbelievers. 

After knowledge comes self-control. Why self-control? In obeying God, we (I)  must control ourselves (myself). I come second or third or last. God comes first, others come second. My knowledge of God and His Will and Plan helps me to understand that. Perseverance? How many times have you "tried" to do something one time and succeeded? Not too many I would assume. The good things of life - the best things - require perseverance. We have to stick with it. 

Remember, God doesn't just ask us to do the hard things in life, He asks us to do the impossible! How can we even attempt the impossible without perseverance? 

Godliness? That again looks back to our knowledge of God, His Will, and His Plan. Knowing God through His Word reveals everything that we have to know about acting in a godly way. God expects us to act in a Godly way. We are to act (obeying Him) in a way that reflects His motives and means.  When we are obeying God as we act toward others, we hopefully have added brotherly-kindness or affection. We WANT to be kind.  And brotherly kindness or affection will lead to love. We obey according to love.

In all of this, we have to have Faith. Our faith in God and how He is working in our lives is the motive to obedience. Faith is the string that runs through those pearls.

So if love and faith are our proper motives to obedience, what is our posture to obedience?

Our posture is determined by our attitude toward obedience. And what should our attitude be? In a single word, Christ-like. And what does Christ-likeness look like?  Paul's letter to the Philippians  may say it best: 

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 

"Who, being in very nature God,
   did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
   and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
   and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:4-11

My attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. And what was that attitude? He humbled Himself to the Father's Will and Plan. Although Jesus was fully God, He completely condescended ("made himself nothing") to us men and women, His creation, for the very purpose of redeeming us and bringing glory to God.

Jesus made Himself a servant. Servants have to do one primary thing: obey. They are to follow the rules of the master of the house. Furthermore, they are to do it without question. And even beyond that, they are to do it in a manner that you wouldn't even realize the task was being accomplished. Did I mention the humility with which their assignments are to be done? 

That was how Jesus came as a servant. Every second of His brief 33-year life on earth was in service to the Father. He served God the Father (as a  model for us) obediently and without question. He knew all that He was to do and never once deviated from His path. He never once complained.  He acted sinlessly. His entire being was firmly fixed on ONE destination: the Cross.

In complete, humble, secure, divine obedience, Jesus followed through to His goal. And what was that goal again? His goal was to redeem you and me, His creatures, made in His likeness, and restore the original plan of relationship with God and to bring Glory to the Father. The only way to do that was to be nailed to a cruel Roman cross after leading a perfect life in obedience to God. 

And if that wasn't bad enough, two further astounding things were to be done to this Innocent man: First, God would heap on Jesus the sins of the entire human race - the world, past, present, and future - on His person. Jesus bore my sins and your sins. Your parents and grandparents sins and as far back as you could go. And then there are the sins that are yet to come; yours and my future sins. The sins of tomorrow and the next day and the day after that into the future until Jesus comes again in Glory. 

Second, God would then forsake Jesus. The Father would turn His back on His  Son. Heaven must have been silent at this occurrence. In our finite minds, we cannot even imagine the severity of this action. The perfect unity of the Trinity would be broken instantly, and I believe, even though brief, it must have seemed like an eternity. I don't even suggest that I have the words to describe this point in time.

Jesus was obedient to the end because He loves the Father. Jesus was obedient to the end because He loves you and me. He did what He did out of sheer love. In His sacrifice, Jesus overcame the power of death. He overcame the power of sin. He proved that sin could be broken and defeated. He crushed the serpent's head at last (Genesis 3:15).

And then He was rewarded for His obedience. Jesus' obedience has led to His again being positioned at the right hand of the Father. The world itself stands condemned, but He stands at the ready to intercede for all of us so that we can all be reconciled to God. 

But that's not all. God has appointed Him master over all creation. He has gone from servant to master. As a servant He obeyed. As Master, every knee confesses and every tongue proclaims His glory and majesty. We do adore Him voluntarily as His eternally redeemed or we will adore Him as the eternally condemned.

How will you choose to obey God? That's His question for you and me. The apostle Paul also demonstrated obedience to God in his work of spreading the Gospel to the world. He forsook all that he had because he loved God more. Paul says to his "son" Timothy at the end of his ministry before his own death, "And of this gospel, I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I  am not ashamed, because I  know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." 2 Timothy 1:11-12.

Let each one of us overcome the wrath of God and simply obey Him and His  Word. Let us each remember what Jesus did for us for eternity.