Power of a Praying Woman 10/17/06 9:02 AM Page 55
Lord, Teach Me…
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that are good for you because you don’t know if you’re worth it. You don’t move forward in your life because it takes all your energy just to survive each day. When I started learning to pray about every aspect of my life, I asked God to help me be disciplined enough to be daily in His Word, to pray faithfully, and to take the steps of obedience I needed to take. I asked Him to deliver me fr om depression and anything else that kept me from all He had for me. I was surprised at how quickly God answered those prayers. I have become disciplined, organized, and obedient beyond what I believe are my natural capabilities. I am still learning new levels of obedience, however, even after 32 years of walking with God. My body is getting older, but as a result of obeying God in new ways, my spirit is being renewed with each passing year. And with each new step of obedience I take, I experience new blessings and new freedoms I have not known before and never thought possible. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that once you are saved you don’t have to put forth any effort. That’s like getting married and never taking a shower again. You might be able to get away with it for a while, but it’s risky business and your quality of life will de?nitely suffer. Learning obedience is a lifelong process. There are always new dimensions of it to conquer. Even if you have walked with the Lord for 40 years, you still need to ask God to show you any area where you are not being obedient. We get into trouble when we think we know what to do and we stop asking God if we’re doing it. “We must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). We can never get prideful about how perfectly we are obeying God because He is continually stretching us and asking us to move into new levels of growth. Nor can we go to the other extreme, saying, “This is just the kind of person