OBEY AND PRAY
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done” (Luke 22:42).
Hallelujah! We recently celebrated Easter with our risen Lord! I thank Him every day for life and eternal life with Him. Thanking Him for His great love for us; but also for His obedience. In His humanness, He didn’t want to suffer; He went against His own will “[a]nd being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8)
Obey means to submit to authority; to follow orders. I love the Bible story after Jesus’ death and resurrection in John 21 when the disciples are doing something familiar (it was their profession)—catching fish! They’d been working hard, out all night and caught nothing. I’m sure they were praying while they waited with no results. Yet when Jesus told them to “[t]hrow your net on the right side of the boat and you’ll find some” (vs 6), they obeyed with great success! Personally, I’d be thinking: “What difference would throwing the net on the other side of the boat make? It’s the same area of water that didn’t have fish!” and “Why take the time and effort to throw these heavy nets over to the other side of the boat for what would seem to be for nothing?” Yet they obeyed and were unable to haul the net in since it was so full of fish! After they had fled and denied Jesus, in His death He gave them another chance in life. In their obedience, Jesus knew they’d be successful and was ready for them with fresh bread and hot coals burning, to cook some of that delicious fish for breakfast! He hears, answers, and blesses prayer!
The Bible is very clear on obedience bringing a blessing and ignoring His Word being foolish. I’m reminded of Matthew 7:24-25 on how to build a house. Will we obey and have a firm foundation or ignore His Word and foolishly build our lives on sinking sand?
I know that if you’re reading this, you love Jesus and are wisely building your life on Him. Most, if not all people, would want to build their homes—their lives—on a firm foundation and would not deliberately build on sand. They just don’t think about it or know the truth. That’s where we come in and take responsibility as believers to pray for our unbelieving friends and family, as well as for the broken world, all with pointing to the way of Jesus. It’s what Kevin, Andrew, Wendy, and our Palau team are obediently doing as they proclaim the Gospel and catch fish! Let’s pray with and for them as they cast a big net and then watch Jesus work and bless their (our) efforts.
Please join us April 25th at 1pm (PT) to catch the LPA vision and pray for their work globally, digitally, and collectively. As the children song goes: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey!” AND PRAY!
In Obedience,
Gail Stockamp
“The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and laws written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul” (Deut. 30:20, NLT).
PRAYER REPORT
Please enjoy opening the update below and keeping all the regions in your prayers: