Week Five Obey God Above All Others

Mid Session Review

We began this journey by committing to investing time in working through the Get Free booklet,  attending the group sessions on Fridays, and meeting with our Get Free partner during the week. We also received a live demonstration of Get Free prayer where we learned to take active and specific steps to give up the burden of sin in exchange for God’s peace and truth.

In Week One, we learned to deal with sin, saw what it means to put God first, and became aware of our pride and arrogance. As we learned the importance of forgiving, we also experienced the freedom from forgiving. Furthermore, we identified any addictive behaviors that keep us in bondage and exchanged them at the cross for true freedom.

In Week Two we learned the importance of taking the time to be with God, where we find rest for our souls. When we invest time to be with God and to listen to our thoughts, we can uncover any anger or hateful thoughts towards others that we may have buried, or become aware of the constant self-accusation we have come to live with as norm. Finally, we are reminded that being grateful helps us stay positive and joyful.

In Week Three we learned about our identity as God’s beloved children, and with that, the authority that empowers us to impact the world. One way we can impact the world, both positive and negative, is through the words that come out of our mouth. We took active steps to better use words to create a positive and encouraging environment and experience for others.

In Week Four we read Bible passages that describe God as both our father and our mother and uncovered any spiritual heritages that may have been destructive. We also became aware of how our relationship with our parents may have shaped our spiritual development. We practiced Get Free prayers to renounce any negative patterns we may have developed, and embrace God’s truth instead.

How has the Get Free experience been for you? What are your highlights? What did you find most helpful, and what was challenging for you? Take a minute to reflect on this and share your experience with others!

Input - Why We Find It Hard to Obey God

One of many unique characteristics of us human is that God gives us the freedom to choose. On one hand, God gives us commands and expects us to obey them, on the other hand, he also gives us the choice to obey, or not. So then the question we want to ask ourselves is, why don’t we obey God’s commands? If God’s commands are good for us, why would we choose to put something else? Here are some possible reasons: maybe we have been misinformed – we don’t have the knowledge or training to choose to obey God’s commands above others – we have been taught by the world and were not even aware that we are choosing other things above God’s commands. Or Maybe it’s simply too hard to do things God’s way – we’d prefer to take the easy way out. There is a spiritual battle between the good and evil going on inside us all day long – and if we are not engaged in the battle, the evil is more likely to win each time. There are two other reasons I want to focus on here.

(Make it interactive by asking the participants to give reasons why it is hard to obey God)

a. We don’t trust God

We don’t trust God to take care of us or provide for us. We feel like we have to do everything ourselves, we have to try to control our future otherwise we won’t get what we want. Why is fortunetelling and horoscope so interesting?

Psalm 24:4 Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. NIV

Psalm 44:6-8 I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. In God, we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever. NIV

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. NIV

If this is the reason you don’t obey God above others, how do you overcome it? Get to know him! Learn to trust God. You can’t trust someone you don’t know…

b. We are proud and independent. We think we know better than God. We prefer making up our own law to follow than obeying God because we had some success in life, we make ourselves the king of our lives.

2 Chronicles 26:16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. NIV