MIDWEEK CONNECTION
Part of the tragedy of many Believers today is that they don’t understand they are not living in the will of God. Due to very poor teaching that is pumped through several of today’s Christian television broadcast, podcast and webcast, many have been led to feel validated merely because God has answered their prayers.
Today, we want to show you that answered prayers are not always a validation from God. Did you know that you can insist on having your way with so much intensity and defiance that God will give in to your demands?
Here’s proof!
When the Psalmist recalled a couple of incidents where God’s own people made demands of Him, we clearly see that He met their demands, but He also added something else.
Psalm 106: 13-15 reads: "They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul."
Could it be that a huge reason why the Church is so weak in America is because God has sent leanness into our souls? A lean soul is a heart, mind and spirit that are never satisfied. They’re never content, never at peace or resting in divine security. A lean soul is always longing for a something new, something special, or something more, but it never obtains what it craves.
So the lean soul searches beyond the boundaries of God for fulfillment and satisfaction. A lean soul cannot provide help and depth to others in their journey. A lean soul cannot offer wisdom from the word of God. It can offer personal experience and that experience is basically a shallow relationship with God that gets depressed and quits on God when things go wrong. It throws a temper tantrum and quotes scriptures to demand blessings from God. It threatens to leave the faith if he or she does not get their way.
Here’s the worse part, many of today’s preachers teach that this kind of lifestyle is a Godly lifestyle. Lean-souled preachers tell lean-souled Believers that all they have to do is quote scriptures when they are in trouble and demand that God perform His Word.
Now there are thousands of Believers who have no idea what it means to live under the commands and constraining love of God. They have no depth of wisdom and peace within them and they feel justified in their rebellious and compromising lifestyle simply because every time they get themselves in trouble, God always bails them out.
They don’t understand that with every bail out, their soul becomes even more lean, even more malnourished, even more dry, even more hardened against the will and purpose of God. That’s why we have thousands and maybe even millions of Believers who have bought into the world system and world’s views on social, economic and political issues.
We don’t claim to have all the answers and we don’t claim to be perfect in our journey. But we do declare that we refuse to teach that every time God answers your prayers, it is a sign of His approval of your lifestyle and choices.
While it remains true that God loves us and will do anything for us, the true mark of a son or daughter of God is that they strive to love God unconditionally, too. They strive to please HIM and not just please themselves. While they realize God will always be there for them, they also start living in such a way as to show God that they will be there for Him, too. True followers of Christ have longing souls instead of lean souls. They have a desire for God that goes beyond their own desires.
So what are we doing to stem the tide?
At Urban Life, we are obeying the strategy the Lord gave us for this ministry. He told us to return to the pattern of the early church in the second chapter of Acts. We are giving ourselves to apostolic teaching and fellowship, to breaking of bread and to prayer.
We’re not avoiding the tough issues of life and we’re making every effort to hold everything, including our personal opinions and views, to the standard of God’s word. We want you to be like the Bereans of Acts 17 and check out the scriptures for yourself to see if what we are teaching is really what the Bible says and if it’s what the Bible really means.
Let’s continue on this journey together.
Psalm 107:9 assures us, “…He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”
