FAITH FOR OBEDIENCE
(week 04/11)
OLUBI JOHNSON
Faith is trust in God, based on the integrity of His Word which when exercised in prayer releases divine creative power to bring into physical manifestation what God has promised.
In particular, we can and should use faith to release the necessary divine wisdom and power to obey God.
This truth is expressed in God’s commandment to Israel to do His Word by saying His Word with their mouths and putting it in their hearts:
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 MKJV: For this commandment which I command you today is not hidden from you, neither is it far off. (12) It is not in Heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to Heaven, and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it? (13) Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us to the region beyond the sea, and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it? (14) But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.
It is crucial to understand that it takes releasing God’s wisdom and power in sufficient measure to do God’s Word, so using faith for obedience is to be primary use of our faith. When we obey God diligently then we automatically fulfill the conditions for receiving all the promises of God as shown in
Deuteronomy 28:1-13 MKJV: And it will be, if you shall listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you today, Jehovah your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth. (2) And all these blessings shall come on you and overtake you, if you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your God. (3) You shall be blessed in the city, and be blessed in the field. (4) The fruit of your body shall be blessed, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your cows, and the flocks of your sheep. (5) Your basket and your store shall be blessed. (6) You shall be blessed when you come in, and blessed when you go out. (7) Jehovah shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to be stricken before your face. They shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. (8) Jehovah shall command the blessing on you in your storehouses, and all that you set your hand to. And He shall bless you in the land which Jehovah your God gives you. (9) Jehovah shall establish you a holy people to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Jehovah your God and walk in His ways. (10) And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Jehovah, and they shall be afraid of you. (11) And Jehovah shall prosper you in goods, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers to give you. (12) Jehovah shall open to you His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. And you shall loan to many nations, and you shall not borrow. (13) And Jehovah shall make you the head, and not the tail. And you shall be always above, and you shall not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you today, to observe and to do them.
This scripture shows that if we diligently obey God, all these blessings both spiritual and material will come on us and overtake us: in particular, we will be able to fulfill our destiny in this 3rd day in general and in this year 2011 in particular of being established as a holy people unto God who are head and tail; above always and not beneath, feared and reverenced by the nations of the earth so being able to effectively preach and witness to them the gospel of the Kingdom.
As we attempt to obey God, as it were, getting unto the way of obedience, we will be led by the Holy Spirit as to when and how to pray to generate and release the necessary wisdom and power to perfect our obedience.
Genesis 24:27 KJV: And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
This leading of the Spirit as to when and how to pray is given to us dynamically as we are obeying God; in other words, the Spirit of God cannot lead us to perfect our obedience if we do not start the actions of obedience. It is as we are acting on the Word and then face difficulties and challenges to do the Word that we are then prompted by the Holy Spirit as to how to pray like the Lord Jesus prayed at Gethsemane as He was on the road of obedience to die on the cross.
Luke 22:40-46 KJV: and when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. (41) And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, (42) Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (43) And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. (44) And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (45) And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, (46) And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
Again, we see this truth in operation as He was on the road of obedience to raise Lazarus: He prayed with groanings or travail (though silently in Himself by sighing deeply (Mk.7:34)) to release the power of God in sufficient measure to raise Lazarus from the dead after being buried for 4 days.
John 11:33 MKJV: Then when He saw her weeping, and also the Jews who came with her weeping, Jesus groaned in the spirit and troubled Himself.
John 11:38-44 MKJV: Then Jesus, groaning in Himself again, came to the tomb. And it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. (39) Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who died, said to Him, Lord, by this time he stinks. For it is the fourth day. (40) Jesus answered her, Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? (41) Then they took away the stone where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. (42) And I know that You hear Me always, but because of the people who stand by I said it, so that they may believe that You have sent Me. (43) And saying these things, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, Here! Outside! (44) And he who had died came out, bound hand and foot with sheets, and his face was bound with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Untie him and let him go!
As we practice using our faith for obedience by watching and praying as we obey or act on God’s Word, our senses (the will, mind and body) will become trained in righteousness and so will respond more to righteous stimuli rather than sinful stimuli as was the case before.
Matthew 26:41 MKJV: Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Galatians 5:17 NIV: For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
Hebrews 5:14 AMP: But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.
