TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER 2023)
“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 260TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
It’s been our season of schooling in the things of God, and He has been faithful in unveiling truths to us – standards we must bear or raise in an evil infested world that we live in. He is not just teaching us, but He is also manifesting Himself in our lives, as our refuge. All this year, He has shielded us from storms and ill winds of the evil one. He has not allowed the weapons of those the enemy swayed against us to cut us down. To Him belong the glory!
If we should sit down to count His mercies and loving-kindness towards us, there will be no words to express them in full.
September has indeed been a September to remember for many of us. To Him belongs all the glory in Jesus precious name. AMEN!
Today, we will be refreshing our minds on 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. You will soon realize that people who pray once a while, will only see God once a while in their lives. 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 not to be coming.
It also means, we are designed to be praying always. So, if we do not pray always, we are malfunctioning and living contrary to our original design. We need help from the Holy Spirit to function properly. When a product malfunctions, it will become damaged. That explains why the lives of many are ‘damaged.’ Yes, so many lives are damaged because prayer has become impossible. And when we say prayer, we are referring to righteous prayers. Prayers that the Holy Spirit makes possible.
WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALIVE AND WELL IN OUR LIVES, WE WILL FIND OURSELVES PRAYING ALWAYS.
We will find ourselves praying always because His job is to enable us to function properly. But when His works are quenched, or if we are not discipline enough to allow Him to blaze our lives with His presence, prayer will become difficult. If the Spirit is blazing your life, you will discover that prayer is a supernatural business transaction. It is not a religious act but a kingdom act. You will come to the realization that prayer is one of the most beautiful ways God’s Kingdom citizens, engage in kingdom affairs with their Heavenly Father. You will understand 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 we 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)
Most of the prayers we do in Church today, fall into either of the two kinds of prayers stated above. That is why we do not see successful supernatural participation in God’s kingdom affairs take place by our many prayers.
If you understand what prayer really is, you will realize that many of us in church today have not been praying, we have just been talking. Prayer as a Kingdom, or supernatural business transaction, has to be understood. Yes, we have to come to the revelation of prayer, as an enablement for participating in God’s kingdom affairs on earth.
WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT WE CANNOT INFLUENCE EARTH WITHOUT RIGHTEOUS PRAYERS.
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 RIGHTEOUS prayer. A man of God once said, “more work is done through prayer, than through work itself.” With righteous prayers, you can push your prosperity from heaven to the earth. What you have not laid hold on through prayer, you cannot lay hold on through even hard work.
Again, 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 are one beautiful 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, especially in the morning of their lives, always live blessed lives all the days of their lives, and have a way of returning in the evening of their lives with uncommon results from the LORD.
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. I pray that someone catch the revelation and come into the performance in Jesus precious name! This scripture made it clear that there is a role we must play in accessing the hidden riches of secrets places. That role is to cultivate the spiritual habit of putting God ahead of us through righteous prayers.
IF WE DO NOT LET HIM GO AHEAD OF US THROUGH RIGHTEOUS PRAYERS, HE WON’T GO AHEAD.
If we do not put Him ahead, if we decide to go ahead without letting Him go ahead first, we will come head on collision with things that only He can deal with – namely gates of bronze and bars of iron. Consequently, paralyzing our lives. 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 daily. Make that your spiritual discipline as you enter each day of the remaining months of this year. 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 season of life, all the enemy has positioned to happen to us may happen. It is not the will of God that we move into a day, week, or month without first shaping that day, week or month to agree with God’s will through righteous prayers. Get all teachings we have had on prayers if you have not. You need to refresh yourself, so that the rest of this year will be spent on your prayer knee.
With righteous prayer, you can shape your future in the present. With righteous prayers, you can control what happens on earth and align it with what God is done for you in Heaven. It’s my desire that you submit your soul to the message of this devotional, and begin a prayer walk immediately into the last days of this year! Amen.
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