TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 13TH February 2022)
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 44TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
It has been 44 days of His mercies, power, compassion, teachings, protection, preservation and all that has made our lives what it is today. God is ever merciful and kind to all sinners, but He has a special regard on those who fear Him.
We give Him the glory; as a Father pities His children so he pities us. He has a history of being a very present in time of trouble. He has a history of being a Father of the fatherless, a defender of the defend less, a refuge and a strong tower. We have seen all of those sides of His and are ready to see more.
We have been looking at matters of Righteous prayers and all related truths. Prayer is 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. Prayer is one way we breath in the presence of God and breath out the pressure of life.
Yes, a life of Righteous prayer is a life that is spent breathing in the presence of God on the prayer knee, and breathing out the pressures of life. It is one way we go to God to present our request to Him. It is a great way of touching heaven to Change earth, and something that we should not send someone to participate in on our behalf.
You can send someone to bring food for you, but you cannot send someone to the prayer room on your behalf to bring to you the blessings you need, except the LORD beckon on him or her to stand in the gap for you and get things done.
THE ENGAGING OF PEOPLE TO APPROACH GOD ON YOUR BEHELD IS A NONSENSE ACT THAT WILL NOT BLESS YOU AT THE LONG RUN.
The truth remains, none can enjoy the depth or best of God, until we all learn to approach God’s Throne individually and collect the blessings that exist there. That is why everyone of us must learn to go to God by ourselves. If you do not know how, please get a Church that imparts people to know how and become part of it.
How do you feel if your best child cannot approach you directly but send the maid or other Children to you? It is absurd and nonsensical. It is therefore important that we do not engage in such when we are dealing with GOD.
From the standpoint of original intent, God never designed prayer to be sent to Him by the hands of intermediaries. He designed it to be released from a heart that cries out for or to Him directly. We can ask people to join us in prayer but we must learn to pray without intermediaries.
Our devotional text presented the prayer Jesus prayed and the invitation He passed to us, the human race. It was an invitation to come to Him for rest. 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.”
He did not say “send someone to come to me on your behalf.” He said come unto me yourself. One way we come to the LORD is through righteous prayers. You go to Him personally through prayers.
I have never seen people who send others to go to God on their behalf having rest on every side in life. They could have relief but rest has always been difficult to come by. I have always found them depending on people, sowing seeds here and there, running after this and that person and doing even the unthinkable to have people pray for them.
YOU SET YOURSELF UP FOR DECEPTION IF YOU ARE THE TYPE THAT DEPEND ON OTHERS FOR PRAYERS.
It is better to receive grace from God to pray for yourself through a human vessel than to always depend on the human vessel to be praying for you. One day the vessel may lie to you and you will not even know it. That is why most prayer people bring “God say” to others and they believe, while God has not even spoken.
When people pray for you, there could be miracles but it will never help in enhancing your personal walk and knowledge of God.
The blessing of talking to God personally and seeing Him answer powerfully will be missing in your life. One of the major catalysts of spiritual growth is the blessing of praying personally and seeing God answer you. It has a way of adding to the building of your faith in God.
People who depend on others for prayers will have their trust or faith built on those praying for them instead of GOD. And that is dangerous. It has a way of making their hearts depart form the LORD. The Bible says,
Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD.
For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. Jeremiah 17:5-6 NKJV
It is better to go to God in prayer, and calling those who have a higher grace to join you like Hezekiah did to Isaiah, than to sit there and be sending them to GOD on your behalf. Sending prayer points every where and asking people to stand with you in prayers is not always helpful. The wrong person may receive that point and even become a hinderance to your breakthrough.
It is very clear that when you depend on someone for prayers, your trust will shift to that person. When your trust shift from God to man, the man who you now trust will become your object of worship. That is how men of God become object of worship for people, with even their photos treated as miracle agencies.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE CHURCH TODAY, IT IS FULL OF HERO WORSHIP.
So many preachers are deities to their members because of these things. The dangerous lack of spiritual independence, especially in prayer matters, has promoted so much of hero worship in the church. It has also promoted the use of mediums and souvenirs in prayers.
You see people using water, salt, pieces of clothes with photos of their idols they call prophets or papa on it in prayers. You see real occultism in practice. Satan will always find a way to express himself in your prayer life if you follow this trend we see today in Church.
If you want to operate in the fire of Righteous prayers, going to God yourself will be required.
One major reason I find people sending others to pray for them is the feeling that they cannot be heard by God but the people they send to God to seek Him on their behalf can be heard.
Well, I will advise that you pray or go to God yourself first and if He did not hear you, sit down with him or those who know His ways better to find out why and deal with the why. Then you go, get up and go back to Him in prayer, He will hear you. When he hears you, your faith will be strengthened and you will no longer need anyone to go to Him on your behalf.
As we bring this to close, I want to submit that, there are situations that we may find ourselves that we cannot go to God in prayer for ourselves; situations like sicknesses or completely spiritual decay.
That is why the Bible says if we are sick, physically or spiritually we should call for those in position to go to GOD on our behalf for Healing. And we are to follow them or participate in the prayer session or sessions. We are not to sit down there watching while they pray. Then when we are restored, we go back to seeking God for ourselves.
However, in matters of physically illness I have come to discover that when one become mature, he or she can still go to GOD directly to find help in time of need when they are sick. The person will not be able to depend on anyone for prayers.
God is not against we praying for ourselves, He is against unending spiritual dependence that leads to we trusting in and worshiping men instead of Him. We must all learn how to enter the most Holy Place to meet Him individually. We must all learn how to personally enter the Throne of Grace to obtain mercy and find grace in time of need. That is why He has placed His holy apostles and prophets to help us out.
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