SHOULD is never a motivator

In the two Bible studies I lead, we are going through a study produced by World Harvest Mission called “The Gospel-Centered Life.” I went through it this summer while on Project in Juneau, and I was continually convicted through the issues the material brought up. It’s amazing how much we forget the message of the Gospel in our everyday lives. One of my favorite points this study makes is that the Gospel is not simply the “door” to access salvation, but rather the path we are to walk every day. As we are growing more in our awareness of God’s holiness, we should be simultaneously seeing the magnitude of our brokenness – and therefore the cross is the most important thing because we realize our need for it.

Last Night, our lesson was titled "Mission." The article we read discussed how often we know the various things we SHOULD be doing as Christians - but this "should" never provides the motivation needed to actually do whatever it is. The author stated that, once we truly believe the Gospel, we are compelled to do these different things as a response to what God has done for us and what He promises in His Word. As an exercise, each person was asked to identify something that they know they should be doing but have not been motivated to.

For me, I realized that I should be spending more time in prayer for others around me - yet I don't. I want to. I crave that time with the Lord in order to lift up those around me, yet I don't make time for it. I pray for what's going on in my life and what directly affects me, but if I am not going to be able to personally experience the results I guess I hold it at a lower priority. I realized that heart issues behind this have to do with selfishness in how I spend my time once I am home for the day, as well as how much I value other people and how I love them. Fear is also a factor, I think - it's hard to pray for certain issues because I am afraid God will ask me to do something I don't want to do, so I often avoid praying in such a way that I might be convicted. Not only does it hurt me and my personal growth, but it affects those that I could be praying for.

At the end of the exercise, you are asked to repent of specific heart issues and list what promises you can hold onto in faith. I think that, if I valued intercessory prayer more, I would make time for it - I need to believe that God hears my prayers and moves, even if I can't personally see the results. I also need to believe that people are worth it; I want to love them enough to give them my time, even if they don't know I am praying for them. If I can truly believe these things, and if the Gospel is active in my life, then I won't have to force myself to spend time on my knees for others - it will be a natural overflow of what God has done for me and what I want to see for the people around me.