WORD-FIRED PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY OCTOBER 15, 2022.

SUBJECT : WORD-FIRED PRAYER!

Memory verse: "Is not my word like a fire?” says the LORD; “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" (Jeremiah 23 vs 29.)

READ: First Kings 18 vs 32 - 38:

18:32: Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench around the altar large enough as would contain two seahs of seed.

18:33: And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

18:34: Then he said, “Do it the second time,” and they did it the second time; and he said, “Do it the third time,” and they did it the third time.

18:35: So the water ran all around the altar; and he filled the trench with water.

18:36: And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are Lord God in Israel, and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.

18:37: Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their heart back to You again.”

18:38: Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

INTIMATION:

There is what is called Word-fired prayer. That is, prayer born out of the fire of the Word. It is the Word of God that ignites a fire in your heart and pushes you into fervent and effectual prayers. That is why you find that after hearing a powerful, Word-packed message, people are fired up to pray heaven-touching prayers.

In the passage we read today, the prophet Elijah knew whom he believed; that His Word is a consuming fire. He challenged 850 pagan prophets brought by King Ahab to Mount Carmel to match wits and power with Elijah. He challenged the people to take a stand; “And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Baal, follow him.” (First Kings 18 vs 21.) Although the prophets of Baal prepared their burnt offering, and called their god, raved all afternoon, but no one answered them. Their god was silent because it was not real. 

Then Elijah prepared his burnt offering on the altar he built according to the passage we read, and called on the True God of the whole heaven and earth—the Consuming Fire: “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are Lord God in Israel, and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. (First King 18 vs 36.) God answered him: "Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench." (First Kings 18 vs 38.)

So, it takes fire on the altar of your heart to draw down fire from heaven. The story is told of John G. Lake, a great man of God in his days. Almost half of his family members had died of one plague or another and on April 28, 1898, his wife lay dying of the same plague. A fellow minister who was with him encouraged him to accept her death as God's will, and in utter hopelessness, Lake threw his Bible against the wall. It fell to the floor and opened to Acts 10. As he walked over to pick it up, his eyes fell on verse 38, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him."

Those powerful words were fired into his soul and it dawned on him that God was not the author of sickness; the devil was responsible for his wife's condition and since he was a son of God by faith in Jesus Christ, then God was with Him, just as He was with Jesus. He turned to Luke 13 vs 16,  "And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" That ignited another fire in his soul, because he realized that God could use him to heal his wife. So, with all boldness, he entered her room and declared with a loud voice that his wife would be healed at exactly 9.30 a.m. 

And at that hour, he knelt down by her side, laid hands on her head and prayed. The power of God came upon her and in a few seconds, she shouted, "Praise God, I am healed!" She was immediately healed of the paralysis and all the other ailments that had drawn her so close to the brink of death.

When you pray Word-fired prayers, you can't miss drawing fire from heaven. Meditation is one of the ways of fanning up the fire in your heart. As you spend time brooding over the Word, the Holy Spirit sparks off a fire in your soul, which enhances a hotline communication with heaven, to ensure your victory.

God's Word ratified by the Blood of Jesus, is His Will. It is unchangeable, irrevocable and endures forever. If you go with a will to a court of law, that court is under obligation to honor it. It doesn't matter if the deceased made a mistake in it or not, as long as it is his will, the court is mandated to enforce it. So, when you approach the throne of grace on the basis of the will of God, you are justified, and God is obliged to step into your case. That is why every ‘word-weak’ Christian is a prayer failure. The strength of the Word is what determines the strength of the response from heaven.

Prayer: Abba Father, let Your words be the constant meditation of my heart, and let my prayers be fired by Your words coming from my heart packed full of Your words at all times, that I may lead a triumphant life in You and Your Word, in Jesus’ mighty Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Plan for Prayer

 

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. . . . These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:7–8, 11)

Prayer pursues joy in fruitful fellowship with Jesus, knowing that God is glorified when we bear fruit in answer to prayer. Why do God’s children so often fail to have consistent habits of happy, fruitful prayer?

Unless I’m badly mistaken, one of the reasons is not so much that we don’t want to, but that we don’t plan to.

If you want to take a four-week vacation, you don’t just get up one summer morning and say, “Hey, let’s go today!” You won’t have anything ready. You won’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned.

But that is how many of us treat prayer. We get up day after day and realize that significant times of prayer should be a part of our life, but nothing is ready.

We don’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. No time. No place. No procedure. And we all know that the opposite of planning is not a wonderful flow of deep, spontaneous experiences in prayer. The opposite of planning is the same old rut.

If you don’t plan a vacation, you will probably stay home and watch TV. The natural, unplanned flow of spiritual life sinks to the lowest ebb of vitality. There is a race to be run and a fight to be fought. If you want renewal in your life of prayer, you must plan to see it.

Therefore, my simple exhortation is this: Let us take time this very day to rethink our priorities and how prayer fits in. Make some new resolve. Try some new venture with God. Set a time. Set a place. Choose a portion of Scripture to guide you.

Don’t be tyrannized by the press of busy days. We all need midcourse corrections. Make this a day of turning to prayer — for the glory of God and for the fullness of your joy.

PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY OCTOBER 14, 2022.

SUBJECT: PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS! 

Memory verse: "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14 vs 13.)

READ: John 14 vs 12 - 14; 15 vs 16; 16 vs 23:

14:12: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes In Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to My Father.

14:13: And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14:14: If you will ask any thing in My name, I will do it.

15:16: You did not chose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.

16:23: And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever ye will ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

INTIMATION:

Praying in the name of Jesus is handing over our prayers to Him, He takes over! This is awesome! All you have asked in prayer is then in His care. It is no longer your burden as long as you do not repudiate it by a wrong confession. He is our standby. When Jesus says we can ask anything in His name, our asking must be according to God’s character and will. 

Jesus is the will of the Father revealed to mankind. And because He is the will of God, whatever we ask in His name in consonance with God’s will and it will be granted us. God will not grant requests contrary to His nature or His will, and we cannot use His name as a magic formula to fulfill our selfish desires. If we are sincerely following God and seeking to do His will, then our requests will be in line with what He wants, and He will grant them. 

Jesus and His name is One. The right to pray in His name means that we represent Him, and are acting in His stead. When you pray in the name of Jesus, it is as though Jesus Himself is praying. Therefore, the believer praying is partnering with Jesus, and agreeing with Him. The agreement of you two make things come into being, or come to pass in line with His promise of the agreement of two: “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18 vs 19.)

One may say, "Jesus is not here physically." But let us look at the conversation between the Pharisees and Jesus when they accused Him of being a witness of Himself; “Jesus answered and said to them, Even If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I came from and where I am going....It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true....I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” (John 8 vs 14, 17 & 18.) The Father, who is not present in the physical, bears witness with Him. Jesus, though not present in the physical, but is in you through the Holy Spirit and bears witness with you when you pray in His name.

Now look at this, Jesus is the Word, He has been there from the beginning, He has been with God, all things were made through Him and for Him. Jesus and the Father is One. Jesus said, "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me." (John 14 vs 11.) Jesus is the express image of the person of God (Hebrews 1 vs 3), "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2 vs 9). When you have held up Himself (the Word) to Him in prayer, "He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself" (Second Timothy 2 vs 13). 

When you pray in His name, you are taking Jesus place. You are acting as Jesus would have acted. You are doing the Father's own Will just as Jesus did it in His earth walk. You and Jesus are one. You act for Him. Your will and His Will are harnessed. They make a very beautiful and wonderful unit. 

The Scripture says in First John 4 vs 4, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." Satan is in the world and the ruler of it. Jesus said, "I have come into the world." We are in the world, and Jesus is in us through His Spirit—the Holy Spirit, and He is greater than Satan, the ruler of the world. And "as He is so we are in this world" (First John 4 vs 17). It is for this reason that "You are of God." It goes to say that we are greater than the ruler of the world. That is the reason we are overcomers, and are of God because He lives in us. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for what You wrought for us in redemption through our Messiah Jesus Christ. Thank You for given us a blank cheque to ack in His name that our request will be granted to us, in Jesus’ Name I have given thanks. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

God Heals by Humbling

 

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him.” (Isaiah 57:18–19)

In spite of the severity of man’s disease of rebellion and willfulness, God will heal. How will he heal? Isaiah 57:15 says that God dwells with the crushed and humble. Yet the people of Isaiah 57:17 are not humble. They are brazenly pursuing their own proud way. So, what will a healing be?

It can only be one thing. God will heal them by humbling them. He will cure the patient by crushing his pride. If only the crushed and humble enjoy God’s fellowship (Isaiah 57:15), and if Israel’s sickness is a proud and willful rebellion (Isaiah 57:17), and if God promises to heal them (Isaiah 57:18), then his healing must be humbling and his cure must be a crushed spirit.

Isn’t this Isaiah’s way of prophesying what Jeremiah called the new covenant and the gift of a new heart? He said, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. . . . I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).

Isaiah and Jeremiah both see a time coming when a sick, disobedient, hard-hearted people will be supernaturally changed. Isaiah speaks of healing. Jeremiah speaks of writing the law on their hearts. And Ezekiel puts it like this: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26)

So the healing of Isaiah 57:18 is a major heart transplant — the old hardened, proud, willful heart of stone is taken out, and a new soft, tender heart is put in, which is easily humbled and crushed by the memory of sin and the sin that remains.

This is a heart that the lofty One whose name is Holy will dwell with forever.

MAKING INQUIRIES IN PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY OCTOBER 13, 2022.

SUBJECT : MAKING INQUIRIES IN PRAYER!

Memory verse: "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." (Jeremiah 33:3.)

READ: Second Samuel 5 vs 17 - 20:

5:17: Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David King over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.

5:18: The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

5:19: So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

5:20: So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there, and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

INTIMATION:

To inquire is to ask, but it is more formal than asking. It entails showing an eagerness to find out or learn. It is to earnestly ask or investigate and receive information. Ordinarily, we are full of prayers of petition, calling on God to intervene and do something about our situation. But we have, more often than not, ignored the place of enquiry in our prayers, and that actually gives us access to God's ways.

God is “All-Knowing,” the end of any matters are known to Him from the beginning (Isaiah 46 vs 10). You must make enquiries from Him, if you really desire the way out of your predicament, for all about you is known to Him from the beginning. Prayer of inquiry gives us access to the secret and hidden things of life. The Bible in Jeremiah 6 vs 16 says, "Thus says the Lord: "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls...." 

The Bible, in Matthew 7 vs 7 - 8, says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds  and to him who knocks it will be opened." Jesus said "everyone," that includes you, and I, nobody is excluded. These are the assurances of Jesus on our inquiries in prayer.

God has instructed us to inquire from Him. Prayers like, "Oh God, come and do it for me" is the prayer of babies; but, "Lord, what must I do?" Is the prayer of sons. As long as you remain a child in the kingdom, always asking for things to be done for you, and crying in the face of every situation, the glory never comes near you. It is sonship that attracts the glory, and responsibility is what makes a son.

There are times you are faced with a dilemma of not knowing what next to do in life or which way to turn. These are the cross-roads of life. In prayer of inquiry, God shows you what to do in order to get what you are looking for. It then becomes your responsibility to put to work what has been revealed to you.

King David won all his battles because he was a man of inquiries. The passage we read today demonstrates David’s lifestyle of inquiring from God in his moments of great decision-making concerning his life. Before David went to battle, he inquired of God first, asking for His presence and guidance. And in almost every new situation, David prayed for guidance from God. 

David, as a man of inquiries, never suffered any defeat or injuries as a warrior. He had access to divine instructions by prayer of inquiry, and it made a world of difference in his life. One instruction from heaven can deliver you from a lifetime of struggle that you will no longer suffer injuries in your life.

Responsibility is the price you pay for greatness. There is what you must do to commit God to listen to you. You have your part to play and God has His; He will never play yours for you. He said, "Draw near to Me and I will draw near to you" (James 4 vs 8). It is your drawing near to Him and making inquiries that provokes His drawing near to you with answers and instructions. 

Don't watch your life drag on endlessly. Determine to see the end of that problem. Make inquiries by getting into God's presence and with your entire spirit, approach Him for an answer. Do not be in a hurry, be set to get an answer and take delivery of His higher ways, which will put you above whatever situation you are in. Whatever way you are missing it, He will reveal it to you when you go before Him to inquire. You worship before Him, speak to Him and wait for His response, celebrating in tongues until the answer comes.

Too often we wait until we are in trouble before turning to God. By then the consequences of our actions are already unfolding. Do you ask for God’s help only as a desperate last resort? Instead of going to Him first! Like David, you may receive incredible help and avoid serious trouble if you inquire patiently from Him first. 

New developments offer us new challenges as well as new risks. We should seek guidance in each new situation because this will help us avoid unseen dangers. Don’t assume that God’s way of working in your life will always be the same. If you seek God’s leading in new circumstances, change won’t appear as a threat but as an opportunity to let God work in new ways.

Prayer: Abba Father, Your ways, and taught are higher than ours. Before You all things lay bare, as nothing is hidden from You.  Show me the path of life, and lead me in all things, thereby making me a victor in all situations, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Master Servant

 

so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)

To me, the Bible’s most astonishing image of Christ’s second coming is in Luke 12:35–37, which pictures the return of a master from a marriage feast like this:

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.”

To be sure, we are called servants — and that no doubt means we are to do exactly as we are told. But the wonder of this picture is that the “master” insists on serving. We may have expected this during Jesus’s ministry on earth, since he said, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). But Luke 12:35–37 is a picture of the second coming, when the Son of Man comes in the blinding glory of his Father “with his mighty angels in flaming fire” as 2 Thessalonians 1:7–8 says. Why would Jesus be portrayed as a table waiter at the second coming?

Because the very heart of his glory is the fullness of grace that overflows in kindness to needy people. This is why Ephesians 2:7 says he aims “in the coming ages [to] show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

What is the greatness of our God? What is his uniqueness in the world? Isaiah answers: “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4 RSV). There is no other god like this. He never relinquishes the role of inexhaustible benefactor of his ever-dependent, happy people.

DON’T FRET BUT TURN YOUR WORRY TO PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 12, 2022.

SUBJECT : DON’T FRET BUT TURN YOUR WORRY TO PRAYER!

Memory verse: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4 vs 6).

READ: Matthew 6 vs 25 - 33:

6:25: Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

6:26: Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

6:27: Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

6:28: So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

6:29: And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

6:30: Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

6:31: Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' Or 'What shall we drink?' Or 'What shall we wear?'

6:32: For all these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you needs all these things.

6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

INTIMATION:

Do not worry or anxious for anything, rather turn your worry to prayer. Anxiety is being uneasy with fear, worry, crave or desire regarding something, In our memory verse, the Scripture tells us not to fret or worry about anything. Instead pray concerning anything that makes you fret. Imagine not worrying or being anxious for anything! It seems like an impossibility; we all have worries on the job, in our homes, in our business, at school, etc. Worry or anxiety in itself can change nothing. Take the required action of committing all things in prayers to the Owner of the whole world. The reason we worry or burn with anxiety is because we have not trusted God and His promises enough. 

Commit everything in the hands of God in prayer. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. There is nothing impossible with, nor difficult for God. Therefore, steep your life in God’s reality, put Him first in your life; let Him fill your thoughts with His desires, take His character for your pattern, and serve and obey Him in everything.

In turning your worries into prayers, locate in the Scriptures the promise of God relevant to your situation, and put Him into remembrance of His promises (Isaiah 43 vs 26), He hastens to perform His Word (Jeremiah 1 vs 12.) Then rest assured you will receive your petition because you have prayed according to His will. The Scripture says, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked Him.” (First John 5 vs 14 - 15.)

In the passage we read today, Jesus tells us to stop worrying about those needs that God promises to supply. God knows you have those needs (Matthew 6 vs 32), and He is well able to supply your needs. Worry has its negative effects on us; it may damage your health, cause the object of your worry to consume your thoughts, disrupt your productivity, negatively affect the way you treat others, and reduce your ability to trust in God. Worry immobilizes, but genuine concern moves you to action.

Worry is distinct from planning. Planning for tomorrow is time well spent, worrying about tomorrow is time wasted. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference. Careful planning is thinking ahead about goals, steps, and schedules, and trusting in God's guidance. When done well, planning can help alleviate worry. Worriers, by contrast, are consumed by fear and find it difficult to trust God. They let their plans interfere with their relationship with God. Don't let worries about tomorrow affect your relationship with God today.

Carrying your worries, stresses, and daily struggles by yourself shows that you have not trusted God fully with your life. It takes humility, however, to recognize that God cares. Many a time we run away from God because of our sin, thinking that struggles caused by our own sin and foolishness are not God's concern. But when we turn to God in repentance, he will bear the weight even of those struggles. Letting God have your anxieties calls for action, not passively. Don't submit to circumstances, but to the Lord who controls circumstances.

Prayers: Abba Father, my trust is in You for I know You will never leave me nor forsake me. Daily You have loaded me with Your benefits. My soul blesses, and rejoices in You. I put my cares upon You, knowing You care for me. Give me the grace commit all things concerning me to You in prayers, and not to fret about anything, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!