Obedience and Sacrifice in Prayer

 

7.
OBEDIENCE AND SACRIFICE IN PRAYER

(See
Discipline)

 

Effective
prayer always accompanies obedience. Disobedience is sin, hence it
hinders our prayers. Prayer and obedience go hand in hand. And by His
grace, we must continue to obey God and keep our hearts free from
sin.

 

Prayer
is also like exercise. For example, when we exercise to make our
physical body fit, it isn’t easy in the beginning. It needs to be
done regularly to keep our muscles intact. If we are lazy we tend to
loose shape as well as the interest to continue. Thus we must become
sacrificial in our prayers till our bodies (our lives) are totally
offered on the altar, till our offering is accepted and the fire of
God falls on it. No sacrifice, no fire. Hence, obedience is a very
important key to catch the revival fire in our lives.

 

Victory
in prayer has more to do with obedience than planning. We must obey
the prompting of the Holy Spirit and pray, instead of only planning
but not obeying.

 

Prayer
also generates the power to pray more
, and hence the cycle
continues by His grace. The only things that can stop this cycle of
power praying are: giving in to temptation and sin that the enemy
brings through our mind or flesh, or through different circumstances.

 

We
must be careful to be filled with the knowledge of His will (Col
1:10-12), so that we may please him at all times by walking worthy of
the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in His
knowledge. Again, this is achieved by our complete dependence on the
Lord when we abide in Him (John 15:1-8) and when we pray in the
Spirit (Rom 8:26, 27), knowing that all things will work together for
good in our lives because we love Him and are called according to His
purpose. (Rom 8:28)

 

It
is important to understand that discipline is the important key when
persevering in prayer. Paul mentions that, “He disciplines his
body and brings it to subjection.
(1 Cor 9:27) NKJV. Indiscipline
can open doors to the enemy’s schemes and shake us from our
persistence in prayer.

 

Remember
many servants of God have said “Prayer is the key to
Revival”.
If we pray faithfully (Rom 12:12), and can obey
carefully, we are surely treading on the path to revival. Personal
revival is very important before one can experience corporate
revival. When we pray from our hearts, the fire of the Holy Spirit
will fall on our lives first.

 

Just
as in physical exercise, with our consistency, we can develop more
muscles. So also, the prayer muscles grow as we pray consistently and
faithfully. To develop good muscles in our body, it requires us to go
beyond the normal. A bodybuilder or an athlete spends many hours,
working out every day, to develop a good physique or skills. In the
same way we must also work towards building our spiritual muscles and
become excellent in spiritual skills, by spending more time in
prayer.

 

At
times, even when we know that God’s will for us is to pray, we
become lazy, drowsy or sleepy just like the disciples; whose eyes
were heavy with sleep when Jesus warned them to pray lest they fall
into temptation. We see how Jesus prevailed in prayer and did not
give up, but He persisted in prayer, which enabled him to go to the
cross willingly in obedience to the Father (Matthew 26:37-43). In the
same way, we too must not give up, but instead jump out of our beds
and pray. Walking or exercising also can help to overcome our sleep
and laziness.

 

Christ
in us enables us to overcome as we depend upon Him. The Bible says,
“The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead will also
quicken our mortal bodies through His Spirit that dwells in us

(Rom 8:11)

 

Different
methods and different ways help us to concentrate and be free from
every hindrance, until our lives are completely surrendered on the
altar of God. Remember no altar, no sacrifice. If you have no
sacrifice on the altar; no fire will fall on the altar. Our sacrifice
on the altar should be pleasing to the Lord, only then the Lord will
accept it, and God will answer it with His fire. This sacrificial
prayer life will also lead us into knowing the will of God. It will
help us to overcome sin and have hunger for God and His Word, hence
we no longer conform to the world, but we will be transformed by the
renewing of our minds, so that we not only know the will of God but
embrace His will as good, acceptable, and perfect for our lives. (Rom
12:1, 2)

 

From “Catch the Glorious Fire” by Ps Paul Quadros.

 

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