Prayer + Obedience

An AW Tozer quote that's been ringing in my mind: "Prayer is never a substitute for obedience." 

Prayer itself will never fill the shoes or take the place of obedience in our lives.

It's one thing to ask of the Lord. 

It's another to obey what He's already spoken. 

It's one thing to cry out for His intervention. 

It's another to submit to His ways. 

It's one thing to want Him to bring revival. 

It's another to steward our lives in holiness. 

It's one thing to ask for miracles.

It's another to give up our wants.

What are we doing when our prayer eclipses our obedience or when our willingness to obey hinges on condition?

For a deeper dive: 1 Samuel 15:22; Luke 6:46; John 14:15; 1 John 5:2-3.

Micro-Moments

A micro-moment is defined as a very short amount of time, usually one that is seen as being important in some way. We typically do not even realize we are living in these until it is too late.

As Christ-followers, our lives are filled with micro-moments of appeasing our flesh or surrendering to the Lord. In a micro-moment, we can:

Forgive instead of letting bitterness fester;

Utter a slow word of kindness instead of a quick harsh word;

Open our Bible instead of social media;

Choose integrity instead of compromise;

Go to the Lord in prayer instead of gossiping again;

Tend to our spirit instead of feeding an addiction;

Steward well instead of spend compulsively;

Be honest instead of people-pleasing;

Thank the Lord for blessing instead of fret over the frustrating.

Micro-moments are so easily dismissed as not a big deal. Yet, they are the precise things that lead to chains. The little things are the big things!

Be encouraged today to embrace the significance of your every single micro-moment of life. It is an absolute wonder that we have been crucified with Christ. Our flesh no longer gets to call the shots, because we now live by faith in the One who gave it all!

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

In Him, 

Falen

(originally published in Temple Care Biblical Counseling Newsletter, Sept. 2024)

All & Exactly

You are all and exactly what I need Lord

You are safety and you are intimacy

You are my provision and you are my stability

Like a foundation

Solid and unchanging

Reliable and without absence

You are here

You are all and exactly what I need

In the calm and in the storm

In the waking and in the rest

You are all and exactly what I need

Stable and unphased

Solid and unquakable

You are all and exactly what I need

What my family needs

What my workplace needs

What my city needs

What my state needs

What my nation needs

What the globe needs

What the cosmos need

For you are maker and master

Father and friend

Expansive and specific

Necessary and singular

Satisfier and sustainer

More than enough

All and exactly

Ps. 42:7

If deep calls out to deep, then would it not be true that shallow call out to shallow?

I am reminded of shallow and surface friendships, shallow and surface image - whether digital or professional, shallow and surface faith and dare I say shallow and surface christianity.

Maybe being no longer satisfied, content with, entertained by, or comfortable with surface is evidentiary of depth. Maybe the depth is a secondary consequence of a singular superior focus.

A quote echoes in my heart "an inch wide and a mile deep."

A place where shallow no longer fits or can survive. A place where trust brings admittance and uninhibited vulnerability is essential.

There is an immersion that takes place at certain depths that can never be experienced in the shallow.

I am all in.

There is no fear here.
There is no worry here.
There is no bitterness or resentment here.
There is no hatred or sarcasm here.
There is no pain here.
There is no addiction here.
There is no manipulation here.
There is no scheming here.
There is no loneliness here.
There is no betrayal here.
There is no disappointment here.

The waves and the breakers won't allow it. Rolling over me, only one thing matters. The singular and superior focus. His name is Yahweh.