by Kaye Johns

There is a cause-and-effect relationship between our access to the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and our obedience to the words of Jesus. If you have never recognized this life-affecting truth, read this from our Lord, as recorded in the Gospel of John:

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever -- the Spirit of truth."
[John 14:15-17a]

There is a sequence here. The Lord Jesus is saying, very clearly, that our access to the guidance, power and comfort of the Holy Spirit has to do with our obedience. The message of scripture is that the disobedient child of God has grieved the Holy Spirit and the Spirit remains apart from him.

One function of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to act as our earthly intercessor -- the One Who takes our prayers and lifts them to the throne of God, where the risen Christ sits as the Father’s right hand, making intercession for us at the highest level. Both divine intercessors are involved in every prayer we breathe.

If we are to worship and pray in spirit and in truth -- as our Lord instructed in John 4:24 -- we must have the presence and power of the Spirit of truth to guide and enable us. Without the Spirit of truth, there will be no effectiveness in our prayers. And we must understand -- from these words of Jesus that we have quoted from John 14 -- that the Spirit becomes active in our daily lives as a consequence of obedience! Although we have been in-dwelt by the Spirit as a result of our saving faith in Christ, there is a vast difference between the indwelling of the Spirit and the effective, powerful working of the Spirit in regular response to our praying! The indwelling Spirit can be ignored, quenched, grieved, so as to become silent -- a non-factor -- in the practical arena of our life.

What is obedience?

It is doing God's will. It is keeping His commandments. It is living a life that is daily directed by the words and ways of God as we find them explicitly presented in His Word, the Bible.

Obedience to God is exactly the same thing as obedience to our earthly parents. Most of us had parents who loved us and set up standards by which we were to behave. They did not require things that were impossible. Neither does God do that with His children. Obedience means surrendering the will to the will of another; the submission of oneself to the authority and requirements of a parent.

God's commands are not oppressive. They are always given in love and with our own best interest in view. It is for our good that we understand and obey them. The bottom line is that, since God has issued His commands to us for our own good, it pays to be obedient. Obedience brings its own reward.

The Apostle John speaks volumes when he writes:

"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him." [1 John 3:21-22, emphasis mine]

If we have an obedience problem, we have a love problem. A love problem between us and our Savior must be dealt with.

Remember Jesus said, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, but do not do what I say?" He is not Lord if we are disobedient. And He cannot respond to our prayers unless and until we yield in submission to Him.

If we want to get anything out of our prayers, our life must be in harmony with God. Prayer puts into those who sincerely pray a spirit of obedience, for the spirit of disobedience is not of God and does not belong to God's praying people.

God requires obedience. Not sinless perfection, but a committed, determined spirit that responds to His commands with two words only: Yes, Lord.