Prayer and Obedience Isaiah 66:2

1Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.



God has done wonderfully in His creation. He created the earth and the heavens as well. There is nothing that can begin to compare with the wonder of His creation! However, God is concerned with one thing; He says, “I am looking for a man with a poor and contrite spirit who trembles at My Word.”

When we submit our hearts to the Lord and we draw near unto Him He draws near unto us. God blesses this kind of life! When we read this passage this morning, we want to read “poor and contrite spirit” because we can interpret those words the way that we want to. We can say, “I have that kind of spirit and that kind of heart.” However, Isaiah defines what God is looking for in that kind of spirit in the next phrase. He defines the person who has this contrite heart and spirit as one who “trembles at God’s Word.”

Isaiah goes on to say, “3 But those who choose their own ways, delighting in their sins, are cursed. Their offerings will not be accepted.” Our lives are really very simple. We can do things God’s way or we can do them our way. When we choose God’s way over our own way, our lives reflect the benefits of doing what God’s Word tells us we ought to do. When we fail to do what God’s Word tells us to do and we choose our own way instead, our lives reflect those decisions as well and the Bible tells us that we are cursed. Our lives are the product of the decisions that we make. We have to live with the decisions that we make.

This is why prayer is so vitally important. Prayer helps determine the direction that our decisions will take. Prayer is the beginning of a contrite spirit and heart. Obedience to God’s Word is the product of our prayers. Obedience follows prayer. Without prayer, obedience is almost impossible! James tells us that faith without works is dead. Obedience to God’s Word and His will for our lives is impossible if it is not first born and bathed in prayer.