RHEMA From Heaven

DON’T JUST PRAY

Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”

Any Christian who wants to make progress in this life must learn to pray well. Most people pray to be seen praying, without any purpose. Matthew 6:5 says “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward”.

There are people who take prayer casual. They engage in it with no understanding or spiritual insight. One can say that such people pray traditional prayers but expect supernatural results.

For you not to just pray, you must first and foremost know and understand the situation you are faced with and the kind of prayer to make. You see, if you just pray for praying sake you will not get much result from it. You may rather end up with unbelief and frustration.

Thus you must study and understand God’s word before you can make the most out of your prayer life. It is possible to have your prayer request granted. But you must first engage God’s Word to help you pray. There are times we make declarations in our prayers based on the authority we have as believers. Also, there are times we must also humble ourselves and make requests for God to intervene in matters weightier than us.

So you see, the approach to your prayers matters. Be determined to make your prayers avail much in the realms of the spirit by learning how to pray. Don’t just pray, pray well.

Read: Ephesians 6:18

INFLUENCE YOUR WORLD

Matthew 5:14 “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid”.

As Christians, God has also called us to influence and to impact our world. Your presence as a Christian must be felt everywhere you go and at all times. Being a Christian must make you a pattern to be looked up to. Thus, you must not be in the dark.

The prophecy of Isaiah sounds this clarion call better. See Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising”.

This mandate raises Christianity beyond going to Church, reading the Bible and attending prayer meetings. This is not to say that Church Service, word study and prayer meetings are irrelevant. Rather they are ways by which God equips the believer to make him a burning and a shining light in the world.

Know that God wants you to be a positive influence in the world. Don’t just exist. The power of God in you must affect the lives of other people. It is this power the world is waiting for you to manifest. “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19). You must manifest in order to take away poverty. You must manifest to cast out demons and evil spirits. You must manifest to demonstrate God’s power and glory. You must manifest it to lead others to the Lord.

Don’t sit and fold your arms for evil to prevail. As light, you must dominate your world.

Read: Matthew 5:13-16

YOU HAVE SUPERIOR POWER

1 John 4:4 “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.”

Every child of God has been endowed with a superior power to combat all satanic and demonic activities. Luke 10:19 says “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you”.

You have been strategically positioned and graced by God to win any spiritual battle or contest. Never look at the contrary forces that want to hinder your progress to give up. You have what it takes to bring down every work of darkness against you.

God has made available the name of Jesus for the believer to use to overcome the power of the enemy. Philippians 2:10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth”.

Another weapon that makes the believer superior is the blood of Jesus. This blood speaks better things for us. The blood does not only cleanse our sins but also puts us in a position of vindication. It speaks of good health, prosperity and favour. “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24).

As a Christian, you must understand and appreciate the fact that your life is not at the mercy of the devil. Isaiah 54:17 emphasizes this truth. It says that “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord .”

Rise up to the occasion and engage your faith in the word for victory on every side. In fact, you are well able to overcome any attack of the enemy. Don’t run from pillar to post when the wicked one shows up, rather pray and stand on the word to undo all his works.

Read: 1 John 4:4

UNFORGIVENESS MAKES PRAYER UNFRUITFUL

Mark 11:25 “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses“.

Prayer is important and it always produces tremendous results. Nonetheless, you can make your prayers unfruitful by unforgiveness. You have no business praying when you hold things against people in your heart since your prayers won’t be honoured by God. No matter what “justifiable” reasons you may give to keeping an offence, that will not change God’s word.

Anyone who wants to pray and to see things happen afterwards must learn to walk in love, and never keep offences. You must understand that unforgiveness will not put your heart right before God. Mark 11:25 says “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses”.

The Holy Spirit always operates through mediums like righteousness, peace, joy, love, etc. As choked gutters prevent water from flowing, so does unforgiveness hinders your prayers or better still hinders your fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

Don’t keep offences if you want your prayers to be heard. Don’t miss God’s purpose in this area lest you will pray, spin and whine and still have no results to show for it.

Your prayers can bring awesome things, but first put your heart right before God by forgiving people who wrong you.

Love one another, forgive one another and never hinder your prayers.

Read: Mark 11:25

WORK WHEN THE SEASON COMES

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”.

The Bible teaches that there are designated seasons and times for everything in life. Jesus knew about this and thus said in John 9:4 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work”. Jesus knew that the season he found himself demands that he worked by teaching and preaching.

You see, the time and season you find yourself must inform your actions. There is a season to sow, and there is also a season to harvest.

Discern the season that you are in as an individual and act accordingly. If you do nothing when a particular season comes, you will miss greatly.

Sow or invest when the season comes. Sow holistically. Both in spiritual things and in the natural.

Also, when the time of harvest comes, work to take delivery of your “goodies”. This is the wisdom that makes you live a balanced life.

But in all this, you must allow yourself to be guided by the wisdom in the word of God and the Holy Spirit. It will cause you to function properly in every season. Never miss the good things in your season, it can cost you.

Be a strategic seasonal worker.

Read: Hebrews 12:17

FAITH ACTS ON THE WORD

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”

The Bible says faith is the substance of things hoped, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). When it comes to faith, it is first and foremost “believing” before “seeing”. Meaning that in the exercise of your faith in the word of God you don’t “see” to believe as some people have erroneously subscribed to.

You see, there is no need to have faith after seeing. You have faith for what you don’t see in the natural and not what is right before your eyes. Living by faith involves taking hold of unseen realities before they manifest physically. Thus, anytime you walk by faith, you see the reality of God’s word and you act on it although the physical evidence may be contrary. Abraham’s life reveals this outstanding truth. He was old and also had a wife who was past childbearing or had a dead womb but still believed the word of the Lord that they would have a child.

See Romans 4:19-20 “And without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God”

The example of Abraham teaches that people who walk by faith do not operate with their natural senses. They allow God’s Word to guide them. The word of God is one major area we can draw our substance of hope from. Daily meditation boosts your belief and confidence that you can do it.

Keep acting on the word by faith and you will see results in every area of your life- health, ministry, marriage, finances, career, etc.

Read: Hebrews 11:1-6

DON’T BE LATE FOR SPIRITUAL APPOINTMENTS

Exodus 34:2 “And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount”.

Lateness or being late for spiritual appointments is one practice that won’t serve your interest. Not only that, even being late for events, and other important engagements never makes you an excellent person. Think of a student that is always late for a class, or a worker who is always late for work.

To make it in life, you must learn to treat every meeting with God or any spiritual appointment with all seriousness. Meaning you must not show up late for church services, bible class discussions or any meeting that is designed to build your spirit, soul and body. You see, such appointments or meetings are strategic meetings that will bless you but it is also subject to you showing up and showing up at the right time.

There are many people who miss their blessing because they don’t keep to the timings of their appointment. Some come late and others never show up at all. You must come to the point of seeing every service of your Church as an appointment with God.

Prayer meetings, worship and praise meetings, teaching and preaching meetings are all appointments with God. You ought to take them seriously. When you treat these appointments with contempt; you will definitely miss God’s blessings.

The Bible in John 20:24 talks about Thomas’ lateness to the appointment Jesus arranged with His disciples after his resurrection. He was late for a service that would bless his life. Finally, he ended up with unbelief when told that Jesus was alive.

God once made an appointment with Moses and his instruction was straight forward, “come in the morning”. God was specific about the hour and the moment. See Exodus 34:2 “And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount”. You just don’t get blessed in Church. You must show up for the full time of the appointment for that to happen.

Always know that every Church meeting is an appointment with God that will bless your life.

Read: John 20:24-29

TRUE HELP COMES FROM GOD

Psalm 46:1
“O God our God, a very present help in time of trouble”

Help is one thing none can do away with in that whatever your status, level of achievement, colour or race, you will one day need it. Nonetheless, where you turn to for help in the time of need can make or unmake you.

When it comes to getting help, you can miss it, get into sin and error when you receive help from the wrong source and the wrong people. Help as it is must give you rest but getting help from the wrong people shall give you unrest instead. This is because the ordeal you will go through before and after the help, will sometimes be unhealthy for your Christian life.

For instance, seeking help from mediums, shrines or cults will end up polluting your spirit and destroying your faith in the Lord (1Kings 11:4-6). Also getting help from people who have ulterior motives will put you into a prison in disguise.

As a Christian, you must make God your first point of call in times of trouble. Hebrews 4:16 says “So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help” (CEV). This tells you that, it will take God to touch the hearts of people to help you sincerely.

Learn to depend on God for help. Remember, making men your source of help will bring you disappointment and frustration.

As you receive this divine help, learn also to help others.
Help!

Read: Psalm 121:1-8

WISDOM, KEY TO BUILDING THINGS

Proverbs 23:4 “Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;”

Great things happen when people avail themselves to be guided by wisdom. Any time God’s Wisdom becomes functional in your life, you automatically become a builder in life.

The wisdom of God in a person’s life gives him or her the know-how to start awesome things in life. Wisdom teaches you how to accurately and practically apply what you know and also teaches you how to build and establish things. In fact, it’s a principal thing that must be sought for.

Wisdom will teach you when to act and what to do at any particular time. Proverbs 24:3 says “Through wisdom is a house builded; and by understanding it is established”. You see, wishes never build anything. You have to be guided by wisdom to get things done in life. You don’t only need dreams.

Anything that you want to build will only happen when you have the wisdom for that. Wisdom ensures the success of whatever you build or want to build. Proverbs 24:3 teaches that “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established”.

Today, many have experienced catastrophes in life simply because wisdom was undermined. The Bible said of Jesus that He did mighty things because of wisdom. See Mark 6:2 “ And when the sabbath was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?”

Wisdom always produces great results. Let the wisdom in God’s word guide you in your daily life.

Read: Proverbs 23:4 and Proverbs 4:3

PRIDE BRINGS A PERSON LOW

Matthew 23:12 “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted”

Pride will never give you any best outcome in life. Although people who are proud do so in order to be recognized and to be accorded some honour, they rather lose it all.

Pride is simply exalting yourself above standards. Our opening text puts it straight. “Whosoever exalts himself shall be abased…” Pride is like one lifting himself up from the ground. It’s like making yourself what you are not.

Those who live in pride forget that God is the one who can make and unmake people thus they become full of themselves. It is important to know that pride can’t give you a place of honour and recognition like humility. You don’t have to live in arrogance and “self-exaltation” before you can be honoured in life. Don’t forcefully give yourself a “false standard of living” just because you want to show off.

These features of pride always rest in the heart. No wonder some say pride is something you are in your heart before it comes out. It is deep-rooted and you are the only one who sometimes is privy to that. Thus you can deal with pride by scrutinizing what is in your heart with the word of God.

Allow God’s word to impart you with the wisdom and the grace to be humble. Constantly pray not to be proud and deter yourself from any behaviour leading to pride. Not only that, be ready to receive instruction and counsel which is a safeguard to keep you humble.

Before you give in to pride know that “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit”. You see, pride will rather bring you low”

Read: Matthew 23:12