The Israelites had traveled in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the Lord, and the Lord vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.
Memory verse: You are my friends if you do what I command. John 15:14
Prayer is solemn communication with God about everything and obedience is an act of respect born out of love. When you pray to God, often there is an expectation that He will speak to you in response to your request, but what good will it be if you do not carry out the instructions given by God?
True relationship is born out of not just communication but acting on things communicated to you. Failure to do this renders the moment of conversation useless.
The journey of the Israelites from Egypt to Cannan is one which is often referred to from time to time as the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham, but most importantly a lot of lessons were learnt from their journey which are still relevant and applicable in today’s world. The bible passage for today refers to the reason why a journey of 11days took 40years “Disobedience“!
The Israelites had been praying and praying to God, having continually expressed their uncomfortable situation to Him. They never stopped until God heard their cry and instructed Moses process and initiate their delivery from slavery and extraction from Egypt, Exodus 3:9-10.
Soon as the Israelites had a bit of fresh air, they started acting unstable. One minute they pray and clearly say to Moses, we will obey everything and the next minute they disobey God’s given commandments. Even after seeing all the miracles God done to bring them out of slavery and the ones he continues doing on their way to Cannan, their memory was still very short and obedience was not top of their priority list until God decided it’s best to take them the long way so they can learn.
When God delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians by parting the red sea, it was their opportunity to meet with Him on mount Sinai but how then will God be sure his lovely children will trust and obey? At the time of distress, they could have said anything to get out of pain and soon as comfort kicks in, their mouth moves in a different direction, so God needed them to make it to the promise land but also to get there with the right state of heart.
Many of us beloved are like the Israelites, we display exactly the same behavior in different areas of our lives. We are very committed and dedicated to God in needy times, mostly when we have burning issues, so we complete the first aspect of today’s devotional “pray, pray and pray” until we finally get God’s attention then what next? Things begin to fall in place then we simply forget everything that’s transpired and how God turned things around.
Comfort begins to make us feel too important and finally we begin to negotiate with God’s instructions.
Yes, the bible tells us to pray without ceasing 1Thessalonians 5:17 but what we also miss out is that Jesus confirms the blessing of God is only on those who hear the word of God and practices it, Luke 11:28.
Partial obedience is full disobedience! You cannot choose when to follow God’s word and when not to if not you will be putting your life on a long journey. God leads us according to the needs of our lives, not the desire of our hearts so when you pray, His instruction may not fully be in the line of your desire but your duty is to obey His knowing that whatever instructions given by Him, He is still moving you in the right direction with a plan to give you a fulfilling life. If you love God, obey His commandments. John 14:15
PRAYERS:
- Father I thank you for a wonderful morning
- Thank you for your love is so much it is unmeasurable
- I receive the grace to show love to others as you have commanded
- Help me O Lord to obey your commandments and to be diligent at it
- Help me to be a hearer and a doer of your word.
- Forgive me all my sins O Lord and let your mercy prevail over judgement
- Thank you Lord for answers to prayers, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.
