Blessing Minus Commitment
We want the blessing of God in our lives without our commitment to love, serve, and obey Him. We believe in God and want Him to answer prayer for our healing, provision, problem removal, and wisdom, but we want God’s blessing on our terms. So we search for that someone who we think has a direct line to God and who can pray the prayer of faith over us. Presto! A miracle with little or no effort on our part!
Sometimes it works that way, and sometimes it doesn’t.
“Please pray for me. I just want the pain to go away.” What my friend did not say was, “Make it all better without my putting forth any energy. I don’t want to change; I want to keep doing what I’m doing, living to please myself but without all this pain.” News flash: God loves you more than that.
The pain and difficulties of life can be good things when they cause us to seek the Lord, pray, and read our Bible. God wants a relationship with us that is not superficial. The almighty creator God of the universe wants an intimate relationship with you and me. He wants to go deep into my heart of hearts, breathe life to my within, make me new from the inside out, and fully cover me with His incomparable lovingkindness. He is always envisioning my eternity beyond what the human eye can see.
The truth is God cares about all of me. He is a good God and a loving heavenly Father. He desires to meet my external needs but not at the expense of my greater internal needs. I need a Savior and Lord whom I trust and who loves me unconditionally. Jesus Christ fits the bill perfectly! I want to follow and obey the One who died for me so that I don’t miss heaven. He is the boss of me because He knows what is best for me.
“Dear Lord, I’m sorry for trying to usurp your authority over my life. Forgive me for living life my own way, for believing the lies of the enemy instead of the truth of your Word. I want to follow you more closely and obey you more fully. I surrender everything to you. Teach me your ways and help me choose holiness over worldliness. I want your blessing in my life, and you want my commitment to love and serve you. I do that now in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).
“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name” (Psalm 103:1).