Tag Archives: Prayer

January 14, 2016 · 5:04 pm

TWO PHEASANTS AND AN EGG

Over the last holiday season, my kids and I got engaged in paying daily visits to 2 birds -a local breed of pheasants- that decided to breed at our backyard. There were two pheasants and an egg, so we christened one of the birds as Mama Pheasant and the other as Papa Pheasant. Each time we approached the new parents, they would make some noise that sounded like a tiny growl to ensure that we did not cross our limits and get too close. This was their way of ensuring that Baby Pheasant remained unharmed till the day of hatching and “manifestation”. Of course we never crossed our limits, not knowing what surprises the pheasants would spring at us if we dared.

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On one of the days, a thought crossed my mind as we were in the middle of our daily visit: the Baby Pheasant inside the egg had no idea of what was going on outside its shell and had no way of influencing the behaviour of Mama and Papa Pheasant. It had no way of begging its parents for protection; it did not have to do anything to earn the right to be protected. Yet it did not have any reason to fear. The parents were under obligation to offer the protection, even if it meant putting themselves in harm’s way – and they never failed. Day and night, they stood at their duty post, unwavering, unflinching and untiring.
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This is similar to the kind of covenant relationship that believers have with God. What an awesome privilege! Our covenant confers a plethora of promises on us. If we can take out time to understand the terms of this covenant in the Bible, we will live our lives in unimaginable peace. Just living, walking and working in the glory of the covenant. We will no longer give prominent place to enemies and fill our prayers with concerns about them. A highly superior version of the kind of protection that the pheasant in the egg got is just one of the benefits that we enjoy as believers.

If we are seated together with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6); if we are dead and our lives are hid with Christ (Colossians 3:3); if He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4); if the name of the Lord is a strong tower that the righteous run into and are safe (Proverbs 18:10); If the Lord is around us as the mountains that surround Jerusalem (Psalms 125:2), If the Lord will not allow the rod of the wicked to rest upon the lot of the righteous (Psalms 125:3) why should we be afraid of enemies. We should rather devote time to mediate on these promises day and night until they are ingrained on the tablets of our hearts. This way, we will be steadfast and unmoveable, working in the sound mind that God has given us instead of walking in fear.

The Bible verses referenced above are just a few of the reasons why we should be bold as the lion, living above fear of enemies. We will discover many more if we will be willing to search the scriptures diligently. We would then be able to treat them the way Jesus recommended in Matthew 5:43 – 48

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy’. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends] how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

 One thing we can be sure of is this: No enemy in the form of man or devil can harm us if we remain under the shadow of the Almighty. It is our covenant privilege.

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April 20, 2015 · 12:17 pm

GOD OF THINGS

I was with a friend recently and he said that the first time he went to the UK from Nigeria, he could not pray because there was nothing to pray for, apparently because everything was working. He did not have to pray for power supply, there were little or no uncertainties to form prayer points. He could actually plan the day and watch things work exactly as planned because there were no slow moving traffic jams to pray against and no unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks to squeeze through.  In other words, all that he needed God for back at home  had been taken care of by the government. So no need to pray!

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Little by little and almost without noticing the change, we have turned our Father of mercy and love; the Creator of heaven and earth; the Sovereign God, the Consuming Fire and the Indescribable God into a God of things! In the same way, our prayers have metamorphosed into a time of reading our wish list out to God. Sometimes we add colour to it by telling Him our true life stories. At other times, we sow some ‘mighty’ seeds and tie the answers to the seeds.

Quite often, when we praise God in our meetings, it’s usually because we’ve been taught that if we praise God for what He has done, we are in line for the answers to the next prayer request. We’ve learnt that praise puts a seal on the answers to our prayers and our miracles. And if we don’t praise Him, the blessings will gradually ebb away. In fact, the louder the shout of praise or the clapping of our hands, the bigger the magnitude of the answer to our prayers.

Matthew 6: 31 – 32 says:

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs”

And Matthew 7: 7 – 8 says:

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

In the light of the scriptures above, what then are we supposed to ask, seek and knock for? The good news is that as Christians, we have Jesus Christ as our perfect examples. We are also immensely blessed with a great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. Their accounts are clearly written in the Bible. We can study their lives by the help of the Holy Spirit; we’ll see what they prayed for and how they prayed. In this way, we’ll never pray amiss again. Start the journey, God’s grace is sufficient.

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November 24, 2014 · 11:42 am

A SINGLE EVENT

I recently bumped into a programme on TV; I don’t remember the title of the preacher’s message, but some things he said just stuck. He asked a simple question: “Who is Jesus?” He went ahead to state that the answer to the question would depend on a single event. In his opinion, a single event can change the way you answer that question. After that single event, nothing in this world would be able to change your answer because you just know that you know, without a shadow of doubt.

The disciples of Jesus slept and woke up with Him every day as they went about the ministry. No matter how strong your argument may be, it will never change what they learnt from Jesus during those days. That is why John could speak with boldness in 1John 1:1

[We are writing] about the Word of Life [in] Him Who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our [own] eyes, Whom we have gazed upon [for ourselves] and have touched with our [own] hands (AMP)

He was so sure of what he was saying because of that single event – Encounter with the Lord.

In my opinion, that single event today is a personal encounter with the Word of God, or put in another way, a personal revelation into the Word of God (definitely inspired by the Holy Spirit). This personal encounter is obtained at the place of diligent study. It is not obtained by talking about the Word. It is not obtained by knowing the Greek translation of some words in the Word.

The truth is that this encounter may not come from listening to the best teachers of the Word. That is why John 8:32 is very instructive.

Then you will experience for YOURSELVES the truth, and the truth will free you. John 8:32 (MSG)

I intentionally chose to emphasize ‘Yourselves’ because this encounter is essentially between you and the Holy Spirit. The teachers and preachers are essential in our walk, however if you must have that ‘single event’ experience that will make your faith to be cast in stone, you must invest in personal study and prayers. If this encounter is missing, circumstances may bend you into doubting what you previously believed and move you into the realm of rationalising the Word.

You will definitely be tried and tested. When those days come, you will be able to say like Job:

Though he slays me, yet will I trust in him… Job 13:15

And like Habakkuk:

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places… Habakkuk 3: 17 – 19

 

It all depends on that single event – Personal Word study. His grace is sufficient for you.

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September 9, 2014 · 11:29 am

ROWING WITH THE ANCHOR

I heard a funny story over the radio recently. A group of rowers wanted to undertake a challenge of rowing to another town in record time. The twist was that they would start the task at midnight with minimal illumination. They rowed as fast as they could all night, without stopping for a break. They had their minds set on the goal and they were not going to let a break cost them the record. At the break of dawn, with the first ray of light, they realized the unimaginable: they had not moved an inch. They were rowing with the anchor still firmly in place. 100% effort, but no productivity. Illumination makes a world of difference. It can indeed magnify your efforts.

By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path. (Psalms 119:105 MSG)

During the days of the stock market boom, quite a number of people that I know had fancy spreadsheets and charts for monitoring stock portfolios. That did not stop their fingers from getting burnt when the bubble burst. Many of the people did not really know the “way” of the stock market. It was just a fun bandwagon to join and everyone got on board blindly.

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With benefit of hindsight, there are many wrong steps we’ve taken that we never would have taken if only we sought answers from the One that knows it all before taking the first wrong step . Many of us are stuck with the wrong partner, wrong job, wrong investments and I dare say many ministers have no business being ministers in the first place. Just becuase of failure to enquire of the Lord.

There are so many pointers in the Bible that encourage us to draw near and ask before leaping, but somehow we always contrive not to.

There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. Prov 16 25 (NIV)

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30 21 (NIV)

“I am God, your God, who teaches you how to live right and well. I show you what to do, where to go. If you had listened all along to what I told you, your life would have flowed full like a river, blessings rolling in like waves from the sea. Isaiah 48: 17 -18 (MSG)

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Borrowing the words of the ageless hymn; “…Oh what things we often forfeit and Oh what needless pains we bear…” because we simply fail to ask in prayer and seek out the way from the Word. No matter what height we may climb to in life, we can never do without studying our Bibles and praying every day, with a view to becoming more like Christ. If this is not your normal way of life, I can boldly tell you that you are missing and you are most likely going to miss that ‘still, small voice’ when it comes to tell you which way to turn at the junction. There is so much light in the Word.

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August 18, 2013 · 1:33 pm

The Fish With The Coin

 I was in a meeting recently, where someone was encouraging us to go out and win souls. On the surface, this was a good encouragement and in keeping with the Great Commission that Jesus left with the church. He said something that triggered multiple reactions in my thoughts. He likened the souls won to the ‘Kingdom’ to the fish with the coin, which Jesus and His disciples encountered in their days. In other words, our prosperity depends on how much souls we can win because the more souls you win, the more the quantity of coins you amass.

Let me share some of the questions that rang though my mind:

“When the early missionaries left the comfort of their countries for the then undeveloped Africa, was there a promise of prosperity in return for their service and sacrifice?”

“What was Paul’s motivation for the missionary journeys he embarked upon?”

“As the early disciples waited in that upper room to be empowered for the preaching of the gospel, did they have prosperity somewhere at the back of their minds?”

“Do our present day missionaries that are placing their lives and the lives of their families in harm’s way have prosperity as their incentive?”

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This question of motives cuts across every area of Christian service, not just soul winning. It may be worthwhile to pause and actually reflect on your own motives for Christian service. While you are on that, think about these verses of the Bible:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2: 10 (NIV)

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelations 4: 11 (KJV)

 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3: 16 – 18 (NIV)

 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Romans 8:32 (NASB)

 My Thoughts:

God created us for His pleasure. Our Christian service is also a part of us that should give Him pleasure. If I experience God’s blessings or not in the course of the service, I will still serve Him. God’s blessings are completely free and there is no way I can pay for all that He has done for me and all that He will do for me. Relating this to the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, the Pharisee came on the platform of all that he had done for God, while the Publican came ‘Just as I am without one plea’. We know the rest of the story. In Matthew 7: 7 – 8, God did not say you should go and ‘labour in the vineyard’ before coming to Ask, Seek and Knock. If I need anything, I can simply go to God as my Father and just Ask. Just my thoughts. My own thoughts.

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