Obeying All that God Commands (Genesis 7:5)

And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
– Genesis 7:5

That is a simple but significant verse, much like Genesis 6:8, where the Bible tells us that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. We prayed according to that truth. Now, in Genesis 7:5, God commands Noah to build a boat because a flood is coming, and the Bible says that Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

There is a clear relationship between Genesis 6:8 and Genesis 7:5. Certainly, God’s favor accompanies those who obey his Word. It is in obeying God’s Word that we experience the favor of God.

Genesis 7:5 reminds us that God is with us.

We pray according to Genesis 6:8, knowing that favor from God is possible only by the mercy of God. Even that is worth considering carefully. God’s mercy is expressed in his word coming to Noah and saying, “Build a boat so that you and your family can be saved.” God’s Word is an expression of God’s mercy. It is in obeying God’s Word that Noah experiences salvation from God—for himself, for his family—along with blessing and favor from God.

So think about your life today and the mercy of God toward you and toward me in his Word that we have before us. God has not left us in the dark about how to experience life to the full—how to experience salvation, joy, peace, strength, sustenance, and satisfaction that come from God alone. This life is found in abiding in him and his Word, in obeying his Word, and in doing all that he commands us to do.

Do you not want Genesis 7:5 to be true of your life? “And David did all that the Lord had commanded him.” Or insert your own name: “[Name] did all that the Lord had commanded him or her.” May this be true of your life and my life today. As we do this, may we experience the life that God has designed, created, and intends us to live—with him, in obedience to him, walking with him, and experiencing his favor through obedience to his Word by his grace.

Genesis 7:5 calls us to live as disciples wherever we are.

So, God, we pray that Genesis 7:5 would be true in our lives today. Help us, today and tomorrow, to do all that you command us to do. Help us to walk in obedience to your Word. We praise you for your Word, and we thank you for giving it to us. We praise you for the revelation we have of who you are and how you have designed us to live. Help us to read your Word, study it, memorize it, and meditate on it day and night. Lord, help us to learn it, and help us to do it. Help us not merely to hear your Word and walk away forgetting what we have heard. God, help us to obey your Word and, in doing so, to experience life, joy, and peace—all that you have designed for us according to your Word.

And, God, we think about the Great Commission you have entrusted to us: to make disciples of all the nations. We want to do all that you have commanded us to do—right where we live and far from where we live.

A Prayer for the Torgut Mongolians

God, when we think about the approximately seven thousand nations, ethnic groups, and people groups that have yet to be reached by the gospel—including today the Torgut Mongolians—we are burdened. There are about two hundred thousand of them, and the vast majority have never heard the gospel. Ninety-five percent have never heard it.

There are no known believers, no Scripture translations, no Jesus Film, no gospel recordings, and no Christian broadcasts available. They are a gospel-less people. Yet you have commanded us to make disciples of all the nations. So we want to do all that you have commanded us to do.

God, help us, as your Church, to take the gospel to the Torgut Mongolians. Raise up and send out laborers who will take the gospel to them. Help us not to neglect the Great Commission you have given to us.

We pray for the spread of the gospel among the Torgut Mongolians and among every people group in the world. We want to do all that you have commanded us to do in the Great Commission—starting right where we live and going far from where we live. May it be true of our lives what was said of Noah in Genesis 7:5: that we did all that you commanded us to do.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.