I learned that in order to have a vibrant prayer life, I must be careful to deliberately give up any things that are vying for my time and interest. Such things take away my focus and energy to have a vibrant prayer life.
Amongst many of such distractions cited by Ps Edmund, an unyielded life is my problem.
Not yielding to God is a deliberate act of rebellion. Selwyn Hughes put it aptly:
"The desire to resist God's rule and reign is deeply ingrained within each one of us ... The heart is indeed a resistant rebel."
This is an issue of the fallen state of man. Satan has tricked too many of us, too often, to "do it my way" instead of yielding to God.
Too often we trust our our capability to tackle a problem instead of first inquiring the Lord for His guidance.
Too often we plan with our limited wisdom and then ask God to bless our imperfect plan.
What then is a yielded life?
As I search my heart for areas which I have not yielded to God, I realized an important truth; even if I have yielded 99% of myself to God, my life is unyielded. That remaining 1% simply makes my entire life unyielded.
That is why the very first message Jesus preached, when He begun His ministry, addressed the very issue. His message was simply, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17b. He addressed the most fundamental issue of unyieldedness by providing the solution - repentance. It is the direct act of addressing the rebellion of man.
Only if I repent before God then can I begin to live a life totally yielded to Him. Only then can I have a vibrant prayer life, that is, a life of constant and close fellowship with Abba Father. Only then is my life abundant!
God bless.
Steven
No comments:
Post a Comment