TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 2ND JULY 2024)
At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:25-30 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 183RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
It has been 183 days of experiencing God’s mercies, Kindness, deliverance, power, compassion, teachings, protection, preservation and all that has made our lives what it is today.
Asking us to be grateful is the least we can say to ourselves. We owe Him a lot of gratitude, and much more than gratitude!! Indeed, He has been a Father who pities His children to us.
It is the pity of a father that makes him understand the children when they do some things wrong, and forgive instead of judge or punish them. It is the pity of a father that makes him choose chastening over judgment, when dealing with his children. That is what God has been to us!!
As our Heavenly Father, He has a history of being a very present help in time of trouble. He has a history of being a Father of the fatherless, a defender of the defendless, a refuge and a strong tower.
We have seen all of those sides of Him, and will still see more. We started this month by telling ourselves what the LORD will want us do; living every day of the month from the prayer knee.
Yesterday we saw that a glorious life in a wicked world, is a child of the prayer knee.
Today the LORD has more truth on Prayers for us. I hope we are ready!! It is impossible to do something that you lack sufficient revelation in. It takes revelation knowledge to obey God. It takes revelation knowledge to worship God in spirit and in truth.
IT TAKES REVELATION KNOWLEDGE TO COME INTO THE REALM OF RIGHTEOUS PRAYERS.
You see, righteous Prayers are one thing that we do on a personal level but is full of amazing results that can touch even those who were not there while we were praying. That is why men always ought to pray and not faint.
As we have already seen, Prayer is one way we breathe in the presence of God and breathe out the pressure of life.
Yes, a life of righteous prayer is a life that is spent breathing in the holiness, power, glory, victory, and presence of God, and breathing out the power of sin, Satan, or the corrupt world that might have infected us, and the pressures of life; all on the prayer knee.
Breathing in what is God, and breathing out what is not God on the prayer knee, is what keeps the righteous spiritually fit and faithful. It is what keeps us pure and sanctified.
For instance, if the power of sin infects your soul, you will begin to fall into temptation and not be able to resist any sinful desire. If the power of Satan infects your soul, you will become depraved in mind, and oppressed in your soul, thereby coming under spiritual attacks.
If the power of the corrupt world infects you, you become mindful of the things of men instead of the things of God. However, Jesus made it clear to us that if we pray always like He did, these spiritual infections; the infection of sin, Satan and the corrupt world, can be expelled out of us.
The Bible made it clear that we breathe in these infections when we stand in the ways of sinners, sit on the seat of the scornful, or follow the counsels of the ungodly. Also, we breathe them in, when we come under the power of the gods of this age that seeks to entice us, drive us through the pathways of pleasure, and etc.
There are a thousand and one ways we breathe these spiritual infections into our hearts, leading to a life of sin, spiritual laziness, spiritual oppression, sicknesses and diseases, financial hardship, drunkenness for some, hate and unforgiveness for others, loss of prayer fire, and all the ills that befalls the believer.
BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO BREATHE THEM OUT, THAT WAY IS THE WAY OF INTENSIVE RIGHTEOUS PRAYERS.
Not prayers you pray against your enemies or whoever. But prayers you pray denying the flesh what it wants, and feeding your regenerated spirit what it needs. That is why you give yourself to the ministry of the word or faith building righteous truths, while on the prayer knee.
During that process, the Spirit of Christ will go active, helping you to breathe in the divine, and breathe out the sinful, corrupt or demonic. That was why our fathers saw prayers as their way of breathing in and out spiritually, to stay alive in Christ and the pursuit of His ways and will.
If we do not see prayers as our way of breathing out these spiritual infections that takes people to hell, in time and eternity, we will not understand why Jesus said, “men always ought to pray and not to faint.”
Jesus Himself would not have fulfilled why He was here when He came in the flesh, without practicing the spiritual principle of breathing in the divine and breathing out the sinful and corrupt, always through prayer.
From what I saw in Genesis chapter 6, I believe strongly that if Jesus had not spent each day of His human life, breathing in the divine and breathing out the demonic, He would have become corrupt like the angels God sent in the days of Noah to teach men righteousness.
The Bible made it clear that before the flood of Noah, when men became very wicked, God sent a number of angels to teach the men of that generation righteousness. He gave them human bodies so they could survive in the material world. But they began to desire the beautiful women of that age.
Do not forget, people were naked then; the women inclusive. So, it was easy for them to become enticed. As a result, they began to sleep with the women and give birth to Nephilim, leading to more corruption. The Bible says;
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6:5-8 NKJV
THE SAME GRACE NOAH FOUND WAS WHAT JESUS FOUND ON DAILY BASES THROUGH THE PRAYER KNEE.
Grace is found in the throne of grace when we obtain mercy on the prayer knee. That is what the Bible teaches. It is when we kneel before God, giving our hearts to prayer and the ministry of the word, denying our flesh all it craves for, that we obtain mercy.
When we obtain mercy, we find grace; the grace to breathe in the divine and breathe out the sinful, ungodly demonic, oppressive, and etc., making it possible for us to stay fit spiritually and faithful to God, no matter how corrupt our environments are.
That was why Jesus was always fit spiritually and faithful to God when He put on flesh, but the angels of the generation of Noah were not. They never maintained contact with where they came from through prayers.
They cut off from the world they came from, and began to absorb the corruption of the environment God sent them to change, thereby becoming sources of wickedness instead of righteousness.
If Jesus had done the same, there would have been no salvation. He would have corrupted Himself with the women of that age and given birth to what would have been bigger than the Nephilim because He was God step down.
What is the import of all these? You see, the Bible teaches that, “Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.” The way He lived as the Son of man, is the way we are to live as sons of God; after Salvation.
If we do not live that way after salvation, we will go back to our old ways and become corrupt and eternally damned again. The Bible teaches that our spiritual states will become worse than when we were unsaved.
Therefore, it is very important that we live our days breathing in the divine and breathing out the corrupt through righteous prayers. It is very important that we live our days as believers, breathing out what is not God and breathing in what is God.
Yes, through the spiritual breathing process of righteous prayers, we can breathe out all of the spiritual infections that destroy men’s lives, and breathe in all the Heavenly treasures that beautifies men’s lives with the Holiness and prosperity of God in a wicked world.
Out of our lives and breathe in the holiness of God, the victory of the cross of Jesus Christ, and the grace to be mindful of the things of God when we kneel before God in righteous prayers. Our devotional text presented things we get when we successfully breathe in the divine and expel the satanic, demonic and sinful. He said;
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
I believe the LORD has spoken to us. It is important to begin to live each day of this month, breathing in all you want from God and breathing out what you do not want.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV