TODAY’S DEVOTION (Saturday 31ST October 2020)
“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held — to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.” Isaiah 45:1-3 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 303rd DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
When I look at this scripture, I see how real our God is. I see Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today and forever. Yesterday He walked with Cyrus the Persian but today He is working with Cyrus the American. Forever, He will keep His covenant with Israel and the Church.
It’s been our season of schooling in the things of God and November will be our month of Prophetic Apostolic Training Schools (PATS) 2020. I hope you are getting ready even as we come to the end of this month today!
A lot of Christians have not been schooled in the things of GOD.
Many have been schooled but very few in the things of GOD. That is why we have crisis in our hands, as humans. But all through this seasons, God has been faithful in unveiling truths to us. He has been giving us standards to bear or raise in an evil infested world that we live in. Glory to His great name.
This season, He is not just going to teach us, He will also manifest Himself in our lives as our refuge. He will shield us from storms and ill winds of the evil one. He will not allow the weapons of the enemy to cut us down. His faithfulness will continue to keep us.
We are in the threshold of the year and it’s important that a Child of God begins a New year from the Throne of Grace. Because of that we will be looking at some truths about prayer today; truths that will impart into us with “the Spirit of Prayer.”
God designed prayer to be a daily affair since it’s the only way that we can communicate with Him. But many pray once a while and that is not good for us. I grew up to discover that People who pray once a while will only see GOD once a while in their lives.
But you can agree with me that we do not need GOD once a while, we need Him all the time. That is why Jesus said in Luke 18:1
“that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,” (NKJV).
In other words, we are designed to pray always and not lose heart even when answers seem far but sure. That was the creator in Jesus speaking. It means, if we do not pray always we are malfunctioning and living contrary to our original design.
AND WHEN A PRODUCT MALFUNCTIONS IT WILL BECOME DAMAGED. THAT EXPLAINS WHY THE LIVES OF MANY ARE ‘DAMAGED.’
Let me show you something about prayer; prayer is a supernatural business transaction. It is not a religious act but a kingdom act. It is one-way GOD’s Kingdom citizens transact kingdom business with their Heavenly Father. That is why Jesus said,
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Matthew 6:5-7 NKJV
If you look at this scripture carefully you will realize that what most believers do in Church today is not prayer. There are four types of prayers but here you find two; the prayer of the Hypocrite (who love doing publicly what God wants done privately), then the prayer of the heathen or occult men and women, (a prayer type that involves vain repetitions, simply driven by the paradigm that says “you will be heard for your many words.”)
That is why we do not see successful supernatural business transaction take place by our many prayers.
Many of us in church today have not been praying we have just been playing. Prayer as a Kingdom or supernatural business transaction has to be understood. To start with, we cannot influence earth without prayer.
One way we cause the Spirit of God to rest on places is to participate with Him through prayer. Everything God is, and has is only available to mankind through prayer.
A man of God once said “more work is done through prayer than through work itself.” With prayer you can push your prosperity from Heaven to the earth. That is why, what you have not laid hold on through prayer, you cannot lay hold on through even hard work.
And when we say prayer we are not referring “the fall down and die” and “enemy killing prayer.” That is Charismatic madness.
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT RIGHTEOUS PRAYERS.
People fail in life because they try to get through work what they have not secured through righteous prayers.
Righteous Prayers is one way you put God ahead of you to go break the gates of brass and make the crooked places straight for you before you get there. That is why people who put God ahead of them through righteous prayer before moving out to face the day always return in the evening of their lives with results.
A major highlight in our devotional text says,
‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.”
This is a wonderful promise from the LORD to us as we prepare to enter a new month.
I pray that someone catch the revelation and come into the performance in Jesus precious name! But there is a role we must play – the role of putting God ahead through righteous prayers. If we do not let Him go ahead through righteous prayers, He won’t go ahead. And if we go ahead without letting Him go ahead first, we will come head on collision with things only He can deal with – namely gates of bronze and bars of iron.
The treasures we need and the hidden riches of secret places will remain a dream. But if we let Him go ahead, through the prayer knee, things will be different.
What is the message this morning?
The message is simple – put God ahead of you now before you enter the month of November. You can do it successfully through righteous prayers.
In the world we live in today, if we do not discipline ourselves spiritually enough to let GOD go ahead of us through righteous prayer, especially into a Fresh Month, all the enemy has positioned to happen to us may happen.
With prayer we can secure a future in the present. With righteous prayer can control what happens on earth. Righteous prayer is a corporate activity between Heaven and earth.
It’s my desire that you submit your soul to the message of this devotional and begin a prayer walk immediately into the New Month that starts tomorrow!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Romans 8:26-30 NKJV