RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

There’s an aspect of prayer which I haven’t often heard people speak about – the relationship of obedience and prayer. During the early centuries of Christianity, monks would disassociate themselves from the daily routines of life. They would find a place far away from the regular duties in life and give themselves to prayer. They often sacrificed greatly in order to be such people of prayer.
Yet, there seems to be something missing in such an approach to prayer. Don’t misunderstand me. There are times that we need to retreat and find that quiet place. Jesus did. If He needed to retreat, then how much more do we need to get away with God? But when we look at the life of Jesus, it’s clear to see that it wasn’t one cloistered in a far away monastery. He gave Himself to meeting needs, healing hurts, and reconciling people to God. He was about the Father’s business. He retreated in order to hear clearly from the Father. Once He heard, he was back on the firing lines.
Jesus told His disciples, “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30 NAS). Jesus would listen to the voice of the Father. Then he set about doing the will of God. There was an inseparable relationship to prayer and obedience.
In fact, Jesus told a parable about a man who had been robbed and beaten. A couple of religious people passed by the wounded man, but they were too caught up in their religious duties to help the man. But a Samaritan saw the man and stopped and helped him. Jesus asked an important question, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” (Luke 10:36 NIV) An expert in the law answered Jesus, saying, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus then told him, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37 NIV).
The explicit implication of the passage is simply that we’re not to become so involved in religious duties that we neglect the hurts and needs of the world. When we look at the life of Jesus, we find the most balanced person who ever lived. He withdrew to be alone with His Father. Yet, he constantly poured His life out for others. Jesus prayed and He obeyed. He listened and He served.
It was in that context that the power of God was demonstrated. There’s something incredibly powerful about a life that withdraws to the quiet place and then moves into the difficult areas where the hurts of humanity are crying out for help. When prayer and obedience begin to flow in the same heart, it will always result in great demonstrations of God’s power and love. There’s an old song that says, “trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Jesus may say to us, “Pray and obey. There’s no other way to know the power of God, but to pray and obey.