Why Do You Ignore God’s Promptings?
"As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, 'Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.' 27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, 'Go over and walk along beside the carriage.' " Acts 8:26-29
Pastor's Blog
It happens all the time. I get a thought, think it may be a prompting from God, then think maybe it’s not, then the prompting has come and gone without my having acted on it.
Sound familiar? The reasons I do this range from not trusting my thoughts, to not believing God “speaks” that directly, to being too “into” my own agenda for the day.
Here’s a thought that is probably worth heeding. It’s better to err on the side of following a prompting than to err on the side of ignoring one. The latter is too easy and leaves me living a self –directed life. The former is hard, requires interruptibility and inconvenience, and gets me off of myself and into others. Sounds like something God would do. Finally, how will I know if the prompting is from God or not unless I follow it? If it wasn’t from God, then at the very least I practiced obedience. At worst I lost some time.
If , on the other hand, I err on the side of becoming “unpromptable”, then . . . (you fill in the blank)
Phillip followed his prompting and the Gospel made it to the heart of Ethiopia. That was God’s plan. Phillip just had to “go south” instead of wherever else he was headed.
What is your latest “go south” prompting from the Lord?
After a recent Sunday school class I noticed someone lingering nearby as I was speaking to a friend. There was that prompting that the other person nearby needed prayer and to make a motion towards her that would indicate that she should not leave while bringing my conversation to an end. I did not know this person but I was to believe she knew the other person I was talking with. At the end of the conversation she asked us to pray with her. So glad I paid attention to that unction. Not only did we pray for her but as we prayed my friend and I each were given additional promptings to pray for the same family member of this person initially asking for prayer. For 2 more weeks I have received promptings to continue lifting this person up by name in prayer. Not knowing this person at all has made it very exciting to pray for what God no doubt already has planned for her. It will be exciting to hear her share events which perhaps my prayers have had great impact, not even knowing her very well or knowing what it is I am praying for as I only have little promptings to just lift up her name and her day. God has her in the palm of His hand. I just need to hold hands with Him in agreement. He does the rest.
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