Prompting

 

2 Thess 1:11

So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.

Let us explore all that Paul is saying here. The first area that we need to ponder on, is what he meant by a life worthy of God’s calling, which he elaborates on in verse 12  We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It means living lives where we are aware of how His goodness is working in and for us; it means that we acknowledge His work in us through the choices we make on a daily basis; and through the humbleness it produces in us – who are we, after all, that He should shower us with His blessings?

It means that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is glorified in us – we walk as His representatives here on earth, taking on His character more and more, emulating His ways and works ( Unlike simple copying, emulation implies trying to reach the same high standard as the person being imitated, out of admiration or respect for them).

It means that we proclaim that He alone is the source of our glory and exaltation - we deflect all praise and honour we receive from people back to Him; the only thing that matters to us is who we are in Him and not who we are in anything else.

The second part of the verse speaks about receiving the power of God to do the things that our faith prompts us to do. The Prompter is of course Holy Spirit, and He can only suggest some action to us. It remains up to us to obey and DO. When we first learn to hear His voice, this can bring about great turmoil in our hearts – did I hear correctly? Was it really Holy Spirit speaking to me? What will people think or say? And obedience despite our fears only sometimes has immediate results – we may never know what effect our words or actions had on a person! We will have to wait until we are in heaven to learn what the impact was. But sometimes…. a person is healed right in front of our eyes. A mother shares that your payment of her groceries just now means that she is now able to pay a doctor’s bill for her child. Your random offer to pray for a complete stranger in the mall was the answer to their plea to Abba that they will start believing again if something like that happened today…..

Pearls to ponder:

Let us become aware of the goodness of God in our lives by actively searching for and thanking God for it. As you prepare to go to sleep, praise Him for His love and mercy and grace displayed in your life today. May we increasingly become aware of His promptings to act in faith, so that the power of God can work through us!

I heard the voice of God today