WORD-FIRED PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY APRIL 21, 2025.

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!

The Key to Radical Love

 The Key to Radical Love

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11–12)

One of the questions I posed while preaching on loving our enemies from Matthew 5:44 was, How do you love the people who kidnap you and then kill you?

How can we do this? Where does the power to love like this come from? Just think how astonishing this is when it appears in the real world! Could anything show the truth and power and reality of Christ more than this? 

I believe Jesus gives us the key to this radical, self-sacrificing love, described in Matthew 5:44, earlier in the very same chapter. 

In Matthew 5:11–12, he is again talking about being persecuted, just like he was when he said in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” What is remarkable about these verses is that Jesus says that you are able not only to endure the mistreatment of the enemy, but rejoice in it. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you. . . . Rejoice and be glad.”

This seems even more beyond our reach than praying for our enemies or doing good to them. If I could do this humanly impossible thing — namely, rejoice in being persecuted — then it would be possible to love my persecutors. If the miracle of joy in the midst of the horror of injustice and pain and loss could happen, then the miracle of love for the perpetrators could happen too.

Jesus gives the key to joy in these verses. He says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” The key to joy is faith in God’s future grace — that is, being satisfied in all that God promises to be for you. He says, “Rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven.” Our joy in persecution is the joy of heaven streaming back into this moment of horror and setting us free to love. So, this joy is the freeing power to love our enemies when they persecute us. 

If that is true, then the command to love is implicitly also a command to set our minds on things that are above — all that God promises to be for us — not on things that are on the earth (Colossians 3:2).

The command to love our enemy is a command to find our hope and our deepest soul-satisfaction in God and his great reward — his future grace. The key to radical love is faith in future grace. We must be persuaded in the midst of our agony that the love of God is “better than life” (Psalm 63:3). Loving your enemy doesn’t earn you the reward of heaven. Treasuring the reward of heaven empowers you to love your enemy.

What Easter Means to Us

 

Afraid to Stray

 Afraid to Stray

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! (Psalm 31:19)

Consider two important truths in Psalm 31:19.

1. The goodness of the Lord

There is a peculiar goodness of God. That is, there is not only God’s general goodness that he shows to all people, making his sun rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), but also a peculiar goodness, as the psalm says, for “those who fear” him.

This goodness is abundant beyond measure. It is boundless. It lasts forever. It is all-encompassing. There is only goodness for those who fear him. Everything works together for their good (Romans 8:28). Even their pains are filled with profit according to Romans 5:3–5.

But those who do not fear him receive a temporary goodness. Romans 2:4–5 describes it like this: “Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Kindness. Forbearance. Patience. Goodness. But it does not meet with the fear of the Lord, but hardness.

That’s the first truth: the goodness of the Lord.

2. The fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the fear of straying from him. Therefore, it expresses itself in taking refuge in God. That’s why two conditions are mentioned in Psalm 31:19 — fearing the Lord and taking refuge in him. “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have 1) stored up for those who fear you and 2) worked for those who take refuge in you!” 

They seem to be opposites. Fear seems to drive away and taking refuge seems to draw in. But when we see that this fear is a fear of running away — a fear of straying from him — then they work together.

There is a real trembling in the heart of the saints. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). But it is the trembling one feels in the arms of a Father who has just plucked his child from the undertow of the ocean. It is the trembling at the terrible prospect of thinking we don’t need a Father.

So, cherish the goodness of the Lord. Fear straying from him. Flee from every sin and take refuge in him. “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you!”

Happy Resurrection morning to our wonderful followers all the world. God bless you all!

DON’T FRET BUT TURN YOUR WORRY TO PRAYER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2025.

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 be 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 your good) will come and settle you down. There is nothing impossible with, nor difficult for God. Therefore, steep your life into 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(s) 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 that You care for me. Give me the grace to 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!

A Future for Failures

 A Future for Failures

“Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” (1 Samuel 12:20–22)

When the Israelites have been brought to fear and they repent of their sin of demanding that Samuel give them a king to be like the other nations, then comes the good news: “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.” Do you hear how backward that sounds — how wonderfully backward? You might expect him to say, “Fear, for you have done all this evil.” That’s a good reason to fear: you have done the great evil of demanding another king besides God! But that’s not what Samuel says. “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.”

He goes on, “Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.”

This is the gospel: Even though you have sinned greatly, and terribly dishonored the Lord, even though you now have a king which it was a sin to demand, even though there is no undoing that sin or its painful consequences that are yet to come, nevertheless there is a future and a hope. There is mercy.

Fear not! Fear not!

Then comes the great ground — the basis and foundation — of the gospel in 1 Samuel 12:22. Why don’t you need to fear, even though you have done all this evil? “For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.”

The ground of the gospel is God’s commitment to his own name. Did you hear it? Don’t fear, though you have sinned, “The Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake.” This should have two effects on you: heart-breaking humility and toe-tapping happiness. Humility because your worth is not the foundation of your salvation. Happiness because your salvation is as sure as God’s allegiance to his own name. It can’t get more sure.

PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY APRIL 19, 2025.

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 you 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 makes 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!