Pray and Obey

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. (Isaiah 58:3)


9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us. (Micah 3:9-11)

5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? 6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? 7 Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? (Zechariah 7:5-7)


Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? (Malachi 3:14)

I have seen this Zechariah reference before and I think I have commented on it in this blog; but I may not remember rightly, and I will comment more anyway. These passages make me think of numerous prayer meetings with little prayer. They remind me of my own mixed history of prayer. Prayer really seems to work, I am shocked at answered prayers sometimes. Shocked that the weather has cleared when I needed it for mission work (just in the local community, not an exotic spot) after praying. Shocked that clashes in my schedule worked themselves out in answer to prayer. Shocked that very specific prayers have been answered at times, though often in such a way that I know God just wanted to show me his power but did not really plan to do some of those things. As a small child I prayed for the life of a tree, it was revived but continued to be sickly before I finally put it down. I prayed for a job and got one that day, I liked it, but it only lasted one day, I was simply never called back to work. It was the final nail in the coffin for my wish to have a "normal" job so I did not need to put all my eggs in the church basket. I never aspired to church work, and I still find some aspects of it painful. But God is training me and I know I am privileged to be paid to serve God. Am I like the bad priests mentioned above serving God for hire? Maybe, I hope not and I don't think so. Each one of us must earn money in our working hours, but what we do in our entire life determines if we are serving God or money. I seek to stand for truth and justice and also mercy in my workplace, which we should all do.

So much rambling, I need to go soon and I have barely touched on the verses. Obey God and pray; don't attempt one without the other. That's the message of today. If God calls you to be a church worker like us Jonahs then pray and obey. If God calls you to give more than a tithe of your money to him (in the person of an individual or organisation he is convicting you about now) then pray and obey. If God calls you to change your lifestyle to be consistent with his word then pray and obey.
You need Jesus, ask and you will receive.