Do you know what’s interesting about prayer?
When we examine both the “Old” and New Testaments, we see that prayer is NOT an end in itself.
It’s ALWAYS connected to action.
And when I say “action”, I mean OUR action.
Prayer is the preparation for action.
As I said yesterday, God accomplishes His perfect will through imperfect human beings.
Noah had to build the Ark himself to survive the flood.
If he hadn’t, he and his family would have died.
Abraham had to leave most of his family behind and go on a tough journey to find the new land God promised him.
If he didn’t God would have chosen someone else.
Moses, who had a confidence problem, had to face the powerful Pharaoh to free the Israelites from Egypt.
Joshua had to fight many battles with his spear and sword to inherit the land God gave to Israel.
David had to run from a king who wanted to kill him, build and destroy alliances, and fight wars to free Israel from the Philistines so he could establish God’s kingdom on earth, even if it didn’t last long or wasn’t perfect.
We’ve encountered many Bible characters in our journey through the Hebrew Bible.
And if there’s any one point that’s driven home again and again, it’s that “Faith without works” is dead.
David especially demonstrates this trait in spades.
He also shows us that, no matter how much we love God or how good our intentions are…
We WILL make mistakes…
We WILL sometimes upset the Lord…
We WILL fall flat on our faces…
And we WILL face tough challenges that’ll cause us to never wanna get out of bed in the morning…
Yet, despite all this, when it comes to deciding to take action or do nothing at all…
The Bible is clear that taking action is the best thing we can do.
And the opposite is true.
Doing nothing is the WORST thing we can do.
Ya feel me?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“How, then, can they call on the
one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the
one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without
someone preaching to them?
And how can anyone preach
unless they are sent?
As it is written:
‘How beautiful
are the feet of those who
bring good news!”
-Romans 10:14-15
“To the angel of the Messianic Community
in Laodicea, write:
‘Here is the message from the Amen,
the faithful and true witness,
the Ruler of God’s creation:
‘I know what you are doing:
you are neither cold nor hot.
How I wish you were
either one or the other!
So, because you are lukewarm,
neither cold nor hot,
I will vomit you out of my mouth!”
-Revelation 3:14-16
“Then they (Israel) asked for a king,
and God gave them Sha’ul Ben- Kish,
a man from the tribe of Binyamin.
After forty years,
God removed him and raised up
David as king for them,
making his approval
known with these words,
‘I found David Ben-Yishai
to be a man after my own heart;
he will do everything I want.’
-Acts 13:21-22
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