Following Procedure

My Belief

When I fly for my airline there are lots of procedures in place that must be followed in a specific way before we can takeoff for any destination. These steps must be accomplished in order and may not be rearranged for any reason. When pilots first get to an aircraft they go through a series of safety and power up checks known as a receiving check. We then proceed on to many other checks including “pushback”, “Taxi”, and “Before Takeoff” checklists. These progress in a logical order that can not be sequenced differently. Once all checks have been accomplished in their perspective order a high level of safety has been achieved and we are ready to begin our takeoff run.

God has put his own set of “procedures” in the Bible for us to accomplish before He can answer our prayer. He says that we must come before him humbly and ask for forgiveness for all of our sins before He can listen to our prayers. God, exclaims that our sin separates us from Him and we must ask for forgiveness before He will proceed to hear us. I love the way that Jesus described this process to his apostles right before He was crucified. He came to wash Peter’s feet and Peter refused to let Jesus lower Himself to do so. Jesus then explained that unless Peter let Him wash his feet, he could have no part of Himself. Peter then said if that is the case then wash everything on me. Wash my head, hand and feet. Jesus then told him basically that those who are saved are already clean, they just need to wash their feet. As Christians we have been washed in the blood of Jesus, but we are still SINNERS! We get our “feet” dirty every moment of everyday. We must begin speaking to the Lord by asking for forgiveness and allowing him to “wash our feet” again.

Scripture

Isaiah 59:2 (ESV) 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Psalm 66:18 (ESV) 18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Application for Life

I sin all the time. Think about what a sin against God is? Every time I have a lustful thought toward the hot girl on the beach, get pissed at the guy on the beltway, or let a bad word leave my lips, then I have sinned against a perfect and Holy God. Every time I pray I must first start by asking the Lord for forgiveness for all the junk that has crept into my life. This clears the channel of communication between the Lord and myself and allows me to pray according to His will!