God's Part and Our Part
There are many things in the Christian life that have to come from the Lord. He is the only one who can illuminate His Word to us, so that we can understand it and obey it correctly. He is the only one who can change a heart. However, we have our part to play, too. When He teaches us, we must be willing to live out what we learn. Why would He teach us, if we were set in our ways? Also, when He changes our heart, we need to give Him all the thanks and the credit, so everyone will know that He alone is worthy. David knew this, and that is why he included this in his prayer to God. (Psalm 86:11,12) I would challenge all of us to pray like this.
"Teach me Your way, O Lord." That is a simple prayer, but it should be our prayer every morning. We should ask the Holy Spirit to open God's Word to us and explain the ways of God. Then, we should make the commitment to walk in His truth. I believe when He sees our willingness, He will pour out His way to us. Also, we should pray, "Unite my heart to fear Your name." God can change our hearts, if we yield them to Him, and He can unite our hearts to fear His name. He can show us how to respect Him and be in awe of Him in every area of our lives. When He answers that prayer, it will so change our lives that we will not have to struggle with sin like we did before, so we should thank Him with all of our heart and glorify His name forever. If we can look back on our lives and see growth in our spiritual maturity, our fear of Him and our obedience to His ways, He deserves the credit, because we could never cause that to happen on our own.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 87-89.
"Teach me Your way, O Lord." That is a simple prayer, but it should be our prayer every morning. We should ask the Holy Spirit to open God's Word to us and explain the ways of God. Then, we should make the commitment to walk in His truth. I believe when He sees our willingness, He will pour out His way to us. Also, we should pray, "Unite my heart to fear Your name." God can change our hearts, if we yield them to Him, and He can unite our hearts to fear His name. He can show us how to respect Him and be in awe of Him in every area of our lives. When He answers that prayer, it will so change our lives that we will not have to struggle with sin like we did before, so we should thank Him with all of our heart and glorify His name forever. If we can look back on our lives and see growth in our spiritual maturity, our fear of Him and our obedience to His ways, He deserves the credit, because we could never cause that to happen on our own.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 87-89.