TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 8TH DECEMBER 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 342ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
It’s been our season of schooling in the things of God since God opened the portal of the Cry of His Spirit by our hands. It’s been precept upon precept. We give Him the glory for all that.
What we have learned this year alone, can take care of us for the rest of our lives. God have been so merciful.
If we should sit down to count what His mercies and loving-kindness towards us has done in our lives this year alone, there will be no words to express them in full. We trust Him for greater days ahead!
We are in the threshold of the end of the year. It’s important that a Child of God begin such a season with prayer. Yes, seasons of prayer and time with the word of the LORD.
Many pray once a while and that is not good for us. Jesus said, we should pray always. That is why, people who pray once a while, only see GOD once a while in their lives. In these last days, we do not need GOD once in a while. We need Him all the time.
Again, we are expected by the LORD to pray always, and not lose heart even when answers seem far. That is the creator’s expectation of us. You will malfunction terribly in life, if you live contrary to this prayer design of GOD.
Do not forget, when a product malfunctions, it will not be long, it will become damaged. That explains why the lives of many are ‘damaged.’
Let me show you something about prayer; you can get more of what I want to show you from our ETERNITY INSIGHTS RESOURCE CENTER here in Nairobi.
Prayer is a supernatural business transaction. It is not a religious act. True prayer is a kingdom act.
YOU WILL FIND PRAYER A VERY POWERFUL WAY OF TRANSACTING WITH GOD TO SUCCEED AMONG MEN.
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 most of what we do in Church today is not prayer.
There are four types of prayers, but in the passage you find two types. You find the prayer of the Hypocrite, (who love doing publicly what God wants done privately), and the prayer of the heathen (or occult men and women).
The prayer of the heathen is a prayer type that involves vain repetitions, driven by the paradigm that says, “you will be heard for your many words.”
We do not see successful supernatural business transactions take place these days by prayers. The reason is because, most Christians either pray prayers of the hypocrite or that of the heathen.
Yesterday, we shared truths about depending on God. One of the major things people who depend on God know how to do is to pray. But just praying will never change anything. You must pray with revelation knowledge of what true prayer is.
True prayer is a supernatural business transaction with God, that involves the use of faith as the currency, and release of blessings or outbreaks of GOD as the results.
One of the major things you must understand about true prayer is this, none of us can influence earth without true prayer.
True prayer is one of the most powerful ways we cause the Spirit of God to rest on places, people, and their problems, in other to bring everything into the obedience of Christ.
IT IS THROUGH EFFECTIVE AND TRUE PRAYERS THAT WE PARTICIPATE WITH THE ALMIGHTY GOD IN THE THINGS HE INTENDS TO DO ON EARTH.
Understand that everything God is or has, is only available to mankind through effective and true prayer. True prayers are heart felt Spirit enabled prayers. I call them “righteous prayers”.
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. Then use hard work to make it real in your life.
What you have not laid hold on through effective and true prayer, you cannot lay hold on through any kind of hard work.
True and effective prayer, is not “the fall down and die” or the “enemy killing prayer.” I repeat again that true and effective prayers are righteous prayers. They are not hate-driven or spiritual ignorance salted prayers.
It is true righteous prayers that we turn things around in our lives or the lives of others.
So, do not attempt to lay hold through hard or smart work, what you are yet to lay hold on through effective and 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 year.
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.
If we go into a new year, without letting God go ahead of us, we will come head on collision with things only Him can deal with; things described in Bible terms as the gates of bronze and bars of iron. They will over power and overwhelm us completely.
The treasures we need, and the hidden riches of secret places that ought to come to us, will remain a dream if we do not know how to put God ahead of us through prayers.
If we put Him ahead through prayers, He will indeed go ahead of us, and make things to be different, instead of difficult.
The message today is simple – put God ahead of you now before you enter the new 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 year, all that the enemy may have positioned to happen to us will happen.
Friend, it is not the will of God that we move into a day, week, month or year, without first shaping that day, week, month or year to agree with God’s will through righteous prayers.
With effective righteous prayers, we can arrest our future today.
With righteous prayers, we can control what will happen on earth. With righteous prayer, we can act in unity with Heaven concern earth affairs.
It’s my desire that we submit our souls to the message of this devotional, and begin a personal +prayer walk immediately into the New Year.
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