PRAYER DESTROYS THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY OCTOBER 03 2022.

SUBJECT : PRAYER DESTROYS THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL!

Memory verse: "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting”  (Matthew 17 vs 21).

READ: Matthew 13 vs 24 - 28:

13:24: Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of God is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 

13:25: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away. 

13:26: But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then tares also appeared. 

13:27: So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? 

13:28: He said to them, 'An enemy has done this. ‘The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’

INTIMATION:

In the passage we read today, Jesus teaches about the activities of the devil in the lives of believers. In explaining the parable in  Matthew 13 vs 39, He said that the enemy who sowed the tares is the devil. The devil is forever busy luring the children of God to his side by oppressing them in order to win them over with his greatest weapon of fear. It takes the resistance of the believer to ensure victory over him. 

Are you faced with challenges? Are certain forces resisting every move you make? Do things seem not to be working for you in spite of all your input? I'm glad to announce to you that the power in prayer is available to you as a child of God, to fight all the oppositions en route your victory and triumph in life. 

Our memory verse is part of the answer Jesus gave to His disciples when they could not cast out an evil spirit even though they had been empowered to do so. (See Matthew 10 vs 1.) Satan was blocking their access to results in ministry. The principal weapon engaged by the believer in victory over Satan is prayer. On it all other weapons revolve.

The potent weapons available to the believer is; faith, hope, prayer, fasting, the Word of God, the name of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Note that all these weapons are enforced in prayer. 

Don't sit there crying and waiting for someone to pity you; rise up and take advantage of this potent powers and free yourself from the hold of the enemy. He is called "the wicked," because he has no feelings of sympathy for you. He is out for you, so you must arise and invoke the powers of heaven to flush him out.

As I said before, many people think that Christianity is a passive religion that advocates waiting for God to act. But you must have an active faith, invoking through prayer the powers engaged in victory. Things don't just happen, they are made to happen. The Scripture in First Corinthians 16 vs 9 says, "For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries."

Being a Christian does not exempt you from warfare; it only gives you an edge over the opposition. Going through rivers of difficulty will either cause you to be drawn or force you to grow stronger. If you go in your own strength, you are more likely to drown, if you invite the Lord to go with you He will protect you. Isaiah 43 vs 1 - 2 illustrates graphically how the Lord protects you:

"But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name;  You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. Nor shall the flame scorch you."

Your redemption notwithstanding, God says, "When you pass through waters....when you walk through the fire..." not, "If you pass through the waters....if you walk through the fire..." Warfare therefore, is inevitable, but victory is guaranteed. God says, "Fear not, I am your Redeemer, I am committed to deliver you and give you the victory." 

The obstacles are real; the victories are also real. Victory is our heritage. As long as you are still breathing, the battle is not over. Rise up and stop tolerating failure and mishaps! Stop putting up with pains, lack and want. If you won't arise, your enemy will prevail. One strategy of the enemy is to make you feel you can't handle the issue. That is a lie. God is committed to your victory, if only you will fight. 

But remember "For though we walk in the flesh! we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down strongholds    (Second Corinthians 10 vs 3 - 4). The foremost of God's weapon is prayer. In prayer all other weapons of God are engaged.

In this world we must live in a physical body. However, this does not mean that our desires are directed toward satisfying the lusts of the flesh. Our warfare is spiritual, and thus, we fight a spiritual war with Satan, though we live in the flesh. Since the Christian’s battle is against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places, the weapons of his warfare are spiritual and engaged through prayers. The power of the Christian is strong against the works of Satan because the power of his weaponry originates from God, not man. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my Faithful Companion. I can do all things through Your building strength in me on the prayer altar. Let my supplications and petitions come to You as a sweet smelling savor that I may obtain the strength to prevail against the evil one, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Absolute, Sovereign, Almighty Love

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Exodus 34:6)

God abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Two images come to my mind:

The heart of God is like an inexhaustible spring of water that bubbles up love and faithfulness at the top of the mountain. Century after century the spring keeps on flowing.

Or the heart of God is like a volcano that burns so hot with love that it blasts the top off the mountain and flows year after year with the lava of love and faithfulness.

When God uses the word “abounding” — “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” — he wants us to understand and feel that the resources of his love are not limited. You can drink at this mountain spring all day, year after year, generation after generation, and it never runs dry.

You might even risk saying that God is like a government that simply prints more money when there’s a need. Inexhaustible, right? Well, there’s a difference. God has an infinite treasury of golden love to cover all the currency he prints. The government is in a dream world. God banks very realistically on the infinite resources of his deity.

The absolute existence, the sovereign freedom, and the omnipotence of God are the volcanic fullness that explodes in an overflow of love. The sheer magnificence of God means that he does not need us to fill up any deficiency in himself. Instead his infinite self-sufficiency spills over in love to us — to sinners — who need him, and the gift of himself in Jesus.

We can bank on his love precisely because we believe in the absoluteness of his existence, the sovereignty of his freedom, and the limitlessness of his power.

TORN BETWEEN THE TWO BY BISHOP TD JAKES

TAKE YOUR PLACE IN PRAYER, AND STAND IN THE GAP!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY OCTOBER 02, 2022.

SUBJECT : TAKE YOUR PLACE IN PRAYER, AND STAND IN THE GAP!

Memory verse: "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22 vs 30.) 

READ: Psalm 106 vs 23:

106:23: Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.

INTIMATION:

Everyone of us has a place in the body of Christ. God created you for a purpose. The big thing of life is to be in the Will of the Father, in communion with Him, and in fellowship with one another. We are in communion with God in prayers. You may think you are not called or set apart to give your life to prayer. No please, you may not have been set apart by the Spirit for that special ministry, but remember what Jesus said in Luke 18 vs 1; "Men ought always to pray and not faint." There are only two ways of getting acquainted; through the Word, and by prayer.

Our memory verse shows the desire of the LORD on His children; to commune with Him; standing in the gap for others, and the world. The wall spoken of here is not made of stones, but of faithful people united in their efforts to resist evil. This wall was in disrepair because there was no one who could lead the people back to God. 

In First Peter 2 vs 9, the Scripture says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 

As believers,we have been chosen by God as His very own, and we have been called to represent Him to others. Remember that your value comes from being one of God’s children. Christ’s victory on the cross has instituted the priesthood of all believers. This was contrary to the practice in the Old Testament times when people do not approach God directly, rather a priest acted as intermediary between God and sinful human beings. 

Christ’s victory—His substitutionary work for us on the cross abolished all that, and that pattern changed. Now we can come directly into God’s presence without fear, and are given the responsibility of bringing others to Him also. When we are united with Christ as members of His body, we join in His priestly work of reconciling people to God:

“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (Second Corinthians 5 vs 18 - 19.)

God is looking for us to take our places, stand in the gap for others, the nation, Church, our families and so on. He needs us to pray, to be in constant communion with Him. Our requests are only made to Him through prayers. There are people who will be utterly lost unless you take your place in prayer. And unless you do your part, men will cry against you through eternity. Do you realize that there are men and women who are defeated and are breaking down in their business, home, and spiritual life because we haven't prayed? Or better still, because you haven't prayed?

In the passage we read today, Moses stood in the gap, served as the Intercessor for the people of Israel, to turn away the wrath of God on them when God considered them as stiff-necked people, and wanted His wrath to burn hot against them and He may consume them (See Exodus 32 vs 7 - 14).

Have you been occupied with your pleasures and your dreams, while men and women, staggering under the burdens you should have carried, are breaking down? The greatest duty that you will ever perform for your family is the prayer duty. And so it is for your nation, your friends, enemies etc. take up your responsibilities NOW!

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the privilege of sonship, and ambassador of Christ. I desire to engage properly in the ministry of reconciliation as your royal priesthood. Endue me with the right spirit to take my place in prayer; communing with You for myself, my family, all believers, loved ones, friends, enemies, and the whole world, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

God Isn’t Gloomy

 

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:10–11)

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). The implication of this text is that God has the right and power to do whatever makes him happy. That is what it means to say that God is sovereign.

Think about it for a moment: If God is sovereign and can do anything he pleases, then none of his purposes can be frustrated. “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:10–11).

And if none of his purposes can be frustrated, then he must be the happiest of all beings.

This infinite, divine happiness is the fountain from which the Christian (Hedonist) drinks and longs to drink more deeply.

Can you imagine what it would be like if the God who ruled the world were not happy? What if God were given to grumbling and pouting and depression, like some Jack-and-the-beanstalk giant in the sky? What if God were frustrated and despondent and gloomy and dismal and discontented and dejected?

Could we join David and say, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1)? I don’t think so.

We would all relate to God like little children who have a frustrated, gloomy, dismal, discontented father. They can’t enjoy him. They can only try not to bother him, or maybe try to work for him to earn some little favor.

But that is not the way God is. He is never out of sorts with frustration or discouragement. And, as Psalm 147:11 says, he “takes pleasure . . . in those who hope in his steadfast love.” So the aim of the Christian Hedonist is not to avoid this God, not to run from him, or tiptoe through the living room lest his gloominess become anger. No, our aim is to hope in his steadfast love. To run to him. To be happy in God, to delight in God, to cherish and enjoy his fellowship and favor.

The All-Satisfying Object

 

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

The quest for pleasure is not even optional, but commanded (in the Psalms): “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).

The psalmists sought to do just this: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1–2). “My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1).

The motif of thirsting has its satisfying counterpart when the psalmist says that men “drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights” (Psalm 36:8 NASB).

I found that the goodness of God, the very foundation of worship, is not a thing you pay your respects to out of some kind of disinterested reverence. No, it is something to be enjoyed: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8). Taste. Taste! And see.

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103).

As C.S. Lewis says, God in the Psalms is the “all-satisfying Object.” His people adore him unashamedly for the “exceeding joy” they find in him (Psalm 43:4). He is the source of complete and unending pleasure: “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

IN PRAYERS WE BECOME COWORKERS WITH GOD AND OTHER BELIEVERS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY OCTOBER 01, 2022..

SUBJECT : IN PRAYERS WE BECOME COWORKERS WITH GOD AND OTHER BELIEVERS!

Memory verse: "We then, as workers with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” (Second Corinthians 6 vs 1.) 

READ: Second Corinthians 5 vs 20:

5:20: Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God we’re pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

INTIMATION:

Through prayer we are coworkers with God; your spirit is contacting the Father. Your spirit is reaching other human spirits through the Father. Through prayer your spirit connects to the spirit of other believers.

In First Corinthians 5 vs 4, the apostle Paul enumerated this revelation in the relationship in prayers when he said, "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,” The apostle Paul was telling the believers gathered together in their meeting that his spirit, and the Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit will be with them in their deliberations.

As indicated in our memory verse, we are workers with Jesus Christ. It is in the realm of the recreated spirit that we become utterly one with Jesus Christ, and entered into the holy priesthood (First Peter 2 vs 9; Revelation 5 vs 10). You can be God's voice, His spokesman, His ambassador, His under-ruler, in Jesus' Name, through the Word in your lips. You become God's Will toward Satan ruled world through your prayer life.

Therefore, in the spiritual exercise of prayer, we become so utterly ruled and governed by the Word and the Holy Spirit that we become masters of demons and of their works. The Word on our lips in prayers is the same as the Word on the lips of Christ. We cast out demons with the Word. We pray for sick folks and the diseases leave them. Weakness is destroyed by the strength of God. The very life of God flows out through our lips. 

Remember what Jesus said in John 7 vs 38 - 39: "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any one thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

Jesus, speaking to the Samaritan woman in John 4 vs 10, used the term "living water" to indicate eternal life. In the Scriptures, John 7 vs 38 - 39 above, the same term referred to the Holy Spirit. The two go together; wherever the Holy Spirit is accepted, he brings eternal life. 

Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence in the believer that comes from our inner life of prayer, and there gushes forth a torrent of the very life of God that speeds on its way to that who is in need. The Holy Spirit is God's promise or guarantee of eternal life for those who believe in Him. It is that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead that dwells in you, and that Spirit will also quicken your mortal bodies (Romans 8 vs 11). 

Our prayers bring the very presence of God upon men, and any circumstances, in any part of the world. In prayer we are cooperating with Him, and He, through you in prayers, is ruling the demons and evil forces all over the world.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for making us kings and priests to reign on earth. Endue me with the excellent spirit of prayer, in communion with You, and working with other believers to rule the world with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!