TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 14TH February 2022)
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.
For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:22-28 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 45TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
Slowly but peacefully and hopefully we are eating up the set days called 2022. God’s grace, mercies, and power have been the secret of our sustenance and we will remain hopeful and peaceful about the year.
So far, a lot have been released into our lives from His throne. With a High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, its been as easy as He made it possible to let Him know what we go through in the flesh and watch Him respond to us swiftly.
This month, we have been on a 28-Day journey of truth on Righteous Prayers. The vision is to kindle or re kindle, as the case may be, the flames and faith for Righteous prayers.
We have come to understand that without a prayer heart, it will be impossible to come to the prayer realm in God’s kingdom.
When we say a prayer heart, we are talking about a prayer spirit, or a human spirit wrapped with the prayer mantle. This time, the mantle of righteous prayers.
A heart that is to be wrapped with the mantle of righteous prayer need to be cultivated or created. That is why we have been looking at cultivating a prayer heart (or prayer spirit).
It us very important that we understand these heart matters because prayer matters are matters of the heart.
We have seen the keys to apply when cultivating a prayer heart. The first is to free the heart from strange fires and evil flames. This is about making the heart pure enough to carry the prayer mantle.
GOD DOES NOT DROP MANTLES ON FILTHY HEARTS. GOD DROPS MANTLES ON SANCTIFIED HEARTS.
In other words, there is no mantle in God’s kingdom that is for filthy lives. Mantles in God’s kingdom are grace dimensions that are for sanctified lives.
If you see a filthy life carrying any mantle, it is either a desecrated mantle or a counterfeit from the pit of hell. There was no filthy life in the Bible that carried any mantle in God’s kingdom.
Judas Iscariot, whose life was filthy and desecrated missed the mantle because of his desecrated life which was revealed when he betrayed the LORD.
The mantle did not come upon the apostles before the cross. It came upon them after the cross when they were in the upper room. It came along with the release of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. But thank God, Judas was not there.
The Bible said “Satan entered his heart” and he left to do his bidding.
God does not drop mantles on desecrated lives because they will yield to Satan and betray His kingdom. Desecrated lives can easily carry Satan in their hearts and do the work of God if given a mantle, thereby bringing terrible destruction to kingdom purposes.
That was why Elisha had to be tested, tried and approved while with Elijah. It lasted for 20 years, which later sanctified and made him ready to carry the prophetic mantle he got at the end of Elijah’s ministry on earth.
Though we do not need to stay that long for the prayer mantle, we just need to make sure there is purity and righteousness in our hearts.
God will never drop the prayer mantle on any with Satan in their hearts. None can carry a heart of righteous prayers with Satan in the heart. The spirit of grace and supplication can not share a heart with Satan. That must be understood!
If you see anyone who is Satanic in prayer, they are not praying under the mantle of Righteous prayers. Do not forget, prayer is not a monopoly of the Kingdom of God. It is not a domination of kingdom citizens.
AGENTS OF SATAN PRAY, EVEN WITH MORE FIRE SOMETIMES THAN WE IN GOD’S KINGDOM CAN DO.
The fire that propels us to pray in God’s kingdom does not make us act like religious lunatics or like the agents of the devil do. Look at the Prophets of Baal for example. The Bible says,
“So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with ]knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.
And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.” 1 Kings 18:28-29 NKJV
Though some so called Christians pray this way, in the kingdom of God we do not do prayers that way. Righteous prayers are not prayed with that kind of demonic fire or frenzy.
They are not even prayed with the fire of carnality. We do not cry aloud, or cut ourselves with knives, prophesy until we lose our strength for God to hear us. We pray with a prayer mantle or heart like Elijah did and get the result. The Bible says;
“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 Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.
Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
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. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!” 1 Kings 18:36-39 NKJV
You see how simple it was when Elijah took over the stage. He never cried, shouted, cut himself with knives, or do any of what the prophets of Baal or some believers do today to get God’s attention. He already had His attention even before He prayed hence doing none of such.
WITH A PRAYER HEART OR MANTLE, YOU ALREADY HAVE GOD’S ATTENTION BEFORE YOU PRAY.
That is why in God’s kingdom, we do not pray to get God’s attention, we pray because we already have His attention. It is in the kingdom of darkness and religious cults that people pray to get the attention of the demons or deities they serve.
As demonstrated by Elijah, it is different with us in God’s kingdom. We already have the attention of our King and maker even before we pray! That is why, if your prayer is aimed at getting God’s attention, it is either you do not have a prayer heart, or you are not part of God’s kingdom.
If you are part of God’s kingdom and carry a prayer heart, your prayer will never be to get GOD’s attention. Your prayers will be effective and fervent but no screams, tormenting of the flesh, demonic or fleshy prophecies or shouts like the prophets of Baal.
Your prayers will be as calm and powerful as Elijah’s. The Bible says in the book of James;
“…..The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. James 5:16-18 NKJV
Having a prayer heart is therefore very important to having results in prayer. It gives you a calmness, a boldness and an authority in prayer as you approach the Throne of Grace to do things on earth as written in Heaven.
Sadly, so many Praying Christians today, do not have a heart of righteous prayers. That is why they act like the prophets of Baal during prayer session instead of Elijah.
Some leap around and shout “fire,” others shout and inflict pain on their flesh, many others prophesy or tongue lash GOD to get God attention, and many more do even much more than the prophets of Baal did to get GOD’s attention.
Some even speak in Godless but classical tongues, others go on fasting sprees, and raise what they call altars of sacrifice, to get GOD’s attention to solve their problems. But Elijah never did any of that.
They broken-down altar he repaired or raised was symbolic of a heart that must be in order for it to connect GOD through prayer.
IT WAS ALSO SYMBOLIC OF A BROKEN-DOWN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, BECAUSE AT THAT TIME ISRAEL HAD NO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
They had relationship with Baal.
Do not forget, God is releasing the Spirit of Elijah in our age and time. Not to call down fire to consume enemies but to bring down the fire of sound doctrine from the holy scriptures, in other to return hearts back to the one and only True God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
Prayer hearts will be needed. Which brings us to our devotional text. There is so much in our devotional text that cannot be unpacked here because of our focus. But a major highlight in it says;
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. “
God’s promise in this scripture is for men and women of good will in all generation. He promised to cleanse us from our filthiness and idolatry by sprinkling the clean water of sanctifying truths and Spirit upon us.
He also promised to follow that up by giving us a new heart and a new spirit. Then he said, He will seal everything by putting His Spirit within us and causing us to walk in His ways. That is super!
IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW THAT NOTHING IN GOD’S KINGDOM HAS BEEN APPROVED TO BE DONE IN THE FLESH. AND NOTHING WILL BE APPROVED TO BE DONE IN THE FLESH!
There is no approval in the office of the Godhead for living the Christian life in the flesh. There is no approval for giving, singing, preaching, fasting or praying in the flesh. The Bible is clear that everything in God’s kingdom is not by might or by power but by His Spirit.
Everything, including prayers!
Now, we have stressed the importance of having a prayer heart. We have said it will take a prayer heart to pray effective and fervent prayers that make tremendous power available. We have also outlined some ways we can use in cultivating a prayer heart because no one is born with it.
We have said its through purity or righteousness and meditation in the word
The next key lies in the scripture of our devotional text. This one is powerful because it helps even those with spiritual situations that will not allow them to cultivate a prayer heart through the keys we have mentioned. And that key is “having a new heart and a new spirit” from the LORD!
A prayer heart can be cultivated only when spiritual situations are right. Where they are not right, God would overrule certain things and help us. He will create in us a prayer heart or spirit, so that we can call upon Him and get things done on earth as written in Heaven.
So, in case you are out there wondering how you can cultivate a prayer heart through meditation and all that, there is good news for you. God can create one for you!
The water of His Holy Spirit, His living and sanctifying truths can be sprinkled upon you to give you a new prayer heart or spirit. All you need to do is to worship in a Church where that happens.
A new heart and a new spirit can only be created by divine encounters with the LORD. The life of apostle Peter comes to mind at this point.
You see, the apostle was not a man of righteous prayers before he became an apostle of Jesus Christ. God created a prayer heart in him on the Day of Pentecost. He would later become one of the most used apostles in the realm of prayers.
He rose Dorcas from the dead like someone waking another from sleep. He suspended Simon the sorcerer in the air who was going about destroying the faith and eliminated him from the firmament of God’s redemption plans for mankind by a heart of righteous prayers. But he and other disciples were in the upper room for ten days seeking the LORD before He gave him and others that heart.
If you cannot cultivate a prayer heart, seek the LORD to create it for you. Seek Him with the whole of your heart and you will find Him. When you find Him, He will give you a new Prayer heart or a new prayer spirit. That is the word of the LORD for us today!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD…. Jeremiah 29:11-14