(Sunday 12th July, 2009)
[For a printable version click here.]
Quotable quotes:
Lu 14:16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: v 17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready .v 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. v19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. v20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.v 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
What we have asked of the lord is going to come to pass. I am strongly convinced that the blessings will certainly come. Begin to prepare the substance of your faith. The lord as He releases His blessings upon us and answers our prayer is sending a warning: Blessings, riches, wives, husbands, children, careers etc, if not handled properly can cause our hearts to depart from God. Let us be willing to lay our lives upon the altar and when he knocks, may we be willing to open.
…Bro. Hubert Manilla
CONTRIBUTIONS
BRO ISSAC: GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
Ro 5:17 “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ”.
God has released a lot of grace to us this morning; let us be encouraged to receive this strength God has poured forth upon us. It will carry us through the time of the storms, which will surely come upon the face of the earth. We should realize that no matter the intensity of what we are going through or the pressures that we face, the Lord has promised not to leave us alone. I WILL NOT LEAVE THEE NOR FORSAKE THEE. ( Heb 13 v 5 ). So don’t give up when darkness is at its height. The devil may come knocking, saying, “good I have gotten them into a tight corner”, but I can tell you when the pressures are intense, God will send grace for us to be at our best. Can you imagine a situation were a man will not have enough money to buy common pure water, is that not sufficient a state to discourage any man? At such times know that the grace of God is abundant, for it is grace that will carry you through that hour of darkness, that hour of lack. PRAISE GOD. Be encouraged to prove to the devil that he can not pull you down no matter how hard he tries.
Let us have faith to know that this is the birth of a new dawn for the Church. Today is a day of victory. Be encouraged to deposit the burdens that you have in your heart at the feet of Jesus this morning and I know the Lord will move on our behalf. The Lord always answers prayer. He could give a ‘no’ or a ‘yes’. From your own perspective, you may feel that a ‘no’ is not an answer, but brethren let us be encouraged to submit to the Lord and view His answers from His perspective; our heavenly father knows what is good for us.
As we examine the book of Matthew; we find some dynamics of how God intervenes in situations when we pray. As human fathers when our children request for some thing, surely even if we do not have the resources to meet the need immediately, our minds begin to work, to see how we can meet the needs of our children. Though God may not think like us, because He has His own timing, the truth is once the request is made, there is a process that comes into play. Many of us feel that we have unanswered prayer; let this word encourage our hearts to realize that there is nothing like unanswered prayer with God. God always answers, but he answers from the perspective of what will be of benefit to us. He will not give you what will destroy you and He will give at the right time.
Mt 21:19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
V 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, how soon the fig tree is withered away”!
From all indications the tree did not wither immediately. We confirm this thought from the book of Mark. .
Mr 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet
v14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it” .
V20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
v 21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. v 22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God”.
We take it that Jesus uttered the words in the evening and it was in the morning that they realized that the fig tree had withered, in other words time passed over the words He (Jesus) prophesied. The point to note is this, once the word was uttered by the Lord some process automatically came into motion, something began to happen to the tree, so also your with our prayers. Now watching with the eyes when the words were uttered nothing happened, not even a leaf fell off. But Praise God time passed over it and the fig tree withered. All saw the manifestations of the words spoken. Brethren, the prayers we bring before the Lord are not ignored. Once we ask, God begins to move the heavenly resources to make sure that he meets that need. None of it falls to the ground unanswered. Hallelujah! Mt 21:20 “And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
v 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
v 22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Hallelujah! Brethren it says whatsoever. We must not feel anything is too big or too small to ask. Some of us might say “oh I do not need to bother God to do this,I can do it myself”. The song writer says EVERYTHING, BRING TO GOD IN PRAYER, Hallelujah. Let’s look at the rendition of the same thought in the book of Mark. Mr 11:22 “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
v 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
v 24 Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”. We must not doubt for the man who doubts is like the wave of the sea, he is unstable.
We receive, when we believe.
Be careful what you utter before the Lord
Every utterance we make must be taken very seriously. Because every thing we say before the Lord He takes record of it. This is why those who come before the Lord and say “kill my enemies”, are not doing right. We must not engage in such prayers, because when the anointing is there and you begin to speak, the WORD IS HONOURED. Either the devil takes it and begins to work on it (if it uttered in unrighteousness) or GOD takes it and begins to honour the words that are brought before Him in righteousness. Sometimes we get worried saying “oh why has God not answered me”? But we should realize that all the things we bring before the Lord every one of them God gives heed to. As we ask, He begins to work on them, but remember time will pass over it.
Time passing over our prayers should not be seen as a delay; God is at work. He will come and that right early. He knows when to meet you at the point of your need. Let us cease from worry brethren. The devil uses time to disturb us, causing us to be impatient. Impatience puts us out of position with God, but if we can be patient, watching and waiting on Him, staying with Him, working at His own pace, we will discover that time is insignificant in the light of what He will do for us at the appointed time. No wonder the psalmist said “I will wait upon the Lord”. (Ps. 37 v 9)
There is no need to fear the devil, don’t believe the threats he spins at you, just keep praying. If things are bad now, be encouraged it cannot be for long. Hallelujah! Because this is the time the oppressed are set free AMEN. Some times indeed we are pressed beyond measure. It is at such times you should run into God in fasting and prayer. You find that you come out of such experiences stronger and more resilient for the Lord. The place of strength that we have is coming into the presence of the Lord and putting our trust in Him. Don’t allow the devil to use the passage of time to tell you that God does not answer prayer. Remember time is nothing before God. The man said a day with Him is as a thousand years 2 Pe 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”. Time is only a faculty of our present life; it is only our thinking for the present time. I believe the disciples must have wondered in their hearts when they noticed the fig tree had not withered. But Jesus new that the moment he spoke the word some process had set in and the tree began to die at that very moment. TIME IS IMMATERIAL BRETHREN. Don’t imagine for example that if you are 45 years old and you are not yet married that you case is a lost one. Oh no! Look unto the Lord, for He can yet bless you. Abraham believed and he bore a son in his old age. God can prove men’s reasoning wrong, for He is a miracle working God.
Ps 126:1 “When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
v 2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
v 3 The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad”.
Brethren we should identify with this psalm. The Lord has done great things for us, were for we are glad. The very moment that we utter our words before the Lord; the very moment we tell Him about an issue, problem or challenge we face, God begins to work.
He begins to turn the captivity. (Every hindrance standing on our way can be termed a captivity). Let us be encouraged to pray continually “oh God turn again our captivity”. Brethren weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. In God there is evening and morning. There are times of darkness but it follows with times of breaking forth; a time of weeping and a time of joy, the time of barrenness and a time of fruitfulness. God knows the time. TIME IS IN THE HAND OF THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. He dictates how the clock of our lives tick.
When we make requests before God He sets things in motion. You may not see it at once, but when we pray our words reaches the Lord and things begin to work in our favour. This happen from the first day we pray God is not sitting there racking His brain saying “oh how can I meet the need of this my child, what can I do”? Brethren God owns the universe; a cattle on a thousand hills are His. Hallelujah! What happens is that He waits, and at His own time, in His own way He meets the need. Once the need is put before Him, He puts the mechanics into place to answer the prayer. He alone has the authority and prerogative to answer prayer. That is why it is foolish to threaten any man by saying “if I pray for you, you will see” How foolish! You are only a carnal man; you have no control over how God answers prayer. Let us not be weary in offering prayer to God. Tell Him of the challenges you face, do not give up, talk to Him about the small thing and the big things, your prayers will be answered.
Have hearts void of offence
When our hearts are void of offence God answers us. Jesus said that when you stand praying, forgive so your prayers are not hindered. Make sure your heart is free. For when you harbor grievances there is a clog in your ability to minister to God. Let’s be like little children that easily put aside offence. This is one good quality children have, they do not bear grudge. Mum scolds them and the next moment there are in mum’s arms; the tears are forgotten. OFFENCE DOES HINDER PRAYER. If your fellowship with your brother is no longer as fluid as it used to be, deal with it by going to talk things over with him.
Let us examine the account about Daniel and the prince ofPersiain Daniel Chapter 10. Daniel began to seek the face of God concerning the Israelites and their time of captivity. He read from the books that seventy years where determined for them to remain in captivity, so he was wondering why they were still in bondage, even after the stipulated seventy years. The bible says he began to pray. You know what? Daniel did not get the answer immediately.
Da 10:10 “And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands”
v 11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
v12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words”.
Daniel kept praying and the Lord sent the angel to encourage him. The prince of thekingdomofPersiawas the one who withheld Daniel’s prayer. You may be in a situation similar to this and you may be asking where is God? Does He no longer answer prayer? Are His hands short, that He can no longer save? Daniel did not realize that a war was being waged in the heavens on his behalf. Brethren, there are many battles that are being fought for us which we may not understand, but be encouraged at HIS TIME HE MAKES ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL. IN THIS HANDS HE HAS THE KEYS OF OUR LIFE TO BE MADE FREE.
We should not be troubled neither should we be anxious. Be persuaded of this fact; He has the keys of hell and death. He has said to Peter (and to the church) I give you the keys of hell and death. The bible says; He is the one that lets; He is the one to whom no one can say “what doest thou”. If He opens a door no one (even the host of hell) cannot shut it. This is the God we serve. Our God is in control, be encouraged. The Lord is speaking to the people that are bound as it where, the Lord is speaking of the answers that have been hindered. The word of the Lord has gone forth; THE PRINCE OF PERSIA HAS BEEN DEALT WITH. AMEN. By the authority of Christ, when we pray and make declarations the doors are open, the answers are realized and we will receive. The Lord has given us victory, the night hour is over.
BRO. SAM: WHEN RICHES INCREASE SET NOT YOUR HEART UPON THEM.
Lu 5:1 “And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
v 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. v3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
v 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
v5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
v 6 And when they had this done, they includes a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake”.
Let’s take note of two key words here:
TOIL: To toil refers to a situation where you work and work and there is no reward.
V 5, says they toiled all night.
NIGHT: The night hour is that time of testing and trails. That period when it seams nothing is happening and you have done all.
Note that these were professional fisher men, they knew the right time to fish, yet all there previous knowledge failed them. They had toiled all night and they caught nothing. Jesus saw their hopeless situation and what did He do? He asked of them the use of their ship ( i.e what they had in their hand ). He went ahead and used their ship as a base to Minister God’s word to the people who had gathered. When he had finished, He said to them drop, your net in this particular place you will get a catch. Of course Peter was wondering at such an instruction, he was a seasoned fisher man and they had already toiled all night. By his human reasoning, he knew that there could not possibly catch any fish. He knew that Jesus was not a fisher man, can porter jet watch his response to Jesus; rather than submitting to his own reasoning, he yielded to the master and received the miracle of a bountiful harvest. It is when you come to the end of yourself, that the Lord takes over. PRAISE GOD! It is not a matter of what I can do, it is a matter of what He, GOD can do.
This is what makes the difference. With God, it is indeed evening and morning. That time when things are difficult, (the night hour) when it looks as if nothing else can be done, in spite of the fact that you have done all that is necessary, hold on! The night time will soon be over and Jesus will come into the situation. Yes, the devil my tempt you through men saying “this is the right time for you to marry! put aside the principles the lord has taught you! say yes to the unbeliever that has proposed ,since no Christian has come your way! They may say. If you do not marry now, old age will over take you”. But hold on brother, sister and remember what is important: obey the voice of the master! Peter must have had good reason to doubt but all the same he said, “NEVERTHELESS AT THY WORD”, we will obey. What ever may be your situation, or troubles, what ever toiling of the night has taken place, remember there is the breaking of the day. Brethren weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.
What is the key principle to learn here: after you have done all, yield your ship to the master instead of complaining? Peter could have reacted differently; he could have given up and resorted to complaining. This is our attitude many times. We complain, we feel we have served God these many years and we do not see where the blessings can possibly come from. But brethren let us yield our boat to the master, he knows how to bless. God is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love, you don’t need to be reminding God “look at what I have done for you”. He will give good gifts. When we ask for our daily bread, He will give because we have yielded our selves to him. The Lord will increase and bless us with all that we need that pertains to life and Godliness (money, husbands, wives, children etc} but He counsels us WHEN RICHES INCREASE SET NOT YOUR HEART UPON THEM. Beware lest the blessings of the Lord take you away from God, rather let the blessing of the Lord provoke in us a desire to worship and submit to the master just like peter did.
Lu 5:7 “And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
V 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
v 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had take”:
Peter fell at the feet of the master and worshiped. He recognized his weakness and Jesus accepted him and also blessed him with a ministry v10 “And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men”. What ever material blessings the lord gives you is a pointer to the spiritual blessings he will yet give you. And if you take the physical gifts and begin to run riot with it, then you lose the ultimate, which is the spiritual gift.
Nother important point to note. Peter was able to drop ALL and follow the master? At the appointed time, can you likewise drop ALL and follow the master? This is the key brethren. Let us search our hearts; that which I am asking from the Lord, am I asking that I may consume it upon my lust? Yes, it may be a genuine request but we must separate our lustful desires from that which is expedient. The Lord will certainly bless us, for it is the dawn of a new day, but beware lest these blessings cause you to depart from God.
BRO OGAN: BE READY
Brethren indeed as Christian we are a blessed people. Outside these blessings which have been ordained for us, let us be quick to remember the Lord is coming again and we should be ready. Let your eyes be on the source and giver of the gift and not on the gifts.
Lu 12:34 “for where your treasure is there will your heart be also
v35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; v36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
v37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them”.
Despite the blessings the Lord showers on us, may we make room for Him, may the grace to prepare and to open IMMEDIATELY HE COMES KNOCKING come upon us today. Let us ponder over the thought in our hearts; if the Lord comes knocking will you be able to quickly leave the fish and go after the master just as Peter did?
Lu 12:46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
v 47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
v48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
BE READY BRETHREN.
PAYS TO REMEMBER…
TESTIMONIES
BROTHER MOSES: THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU
The Lord is good and His mercies endure for ever. I quoted for a job; we were invited to do presentations which I did with several others. I continued to keep a tab on my contact in the company and the man in charge told me that my presentation was the best, but warned “I can not guarantee you will get the job” because according to him. I had not held the ground” (which can be interpreted to mean you have not bribed those involved). My reply to him was I COMMIT ALL TO GOD. Later I got to hear that the contract had been awarded to someone else, (the brother of my contact man) I felt so bad. I was sorrowful because my wife and I had earnestly fasted and prayed to get this job and it was a very lucrative contract. Brethren can you believe the person who was assigned to write the letter of award, for the man the contract was awarded to, refused to write the letter. She rather lodged a vehement complaint to the General Manager, and what was her complaint? That it was unfair that the job was taken from me, who had the best proposal and given to another. Praise the Lord! The Managing Director investigated the issue and issued an order that the letter to the man be stopped and the contract awarded to me instead. IT WAS A GREAT MIRACLE.OUR GOD IS SO GREAT. Not only did I get the contract but the company made a firm commitment to maintain their agreement with me as long as the company exists. Also the value of the contract was increased by almost 40%. I was so overwhelmed. The lord is sorting us out brethren. He is indeed going to establish His people. Promotion does not come from the east or west but from our God. PRAISE GOD WITH ME BRETHREN.
SIS BELEMA: GOD IS FAITHFULL
I want to thank God for seeing me through my two years ‘A level course’. There has been a lot of traveling to and fro and the Lord granted journey mercies. I thank God for the prayers, the text messages, the encouragement of all the brethren. By Gods grace, I should be moving on to University in September. Please pray for Gods guidance for me in my university placements.
BRO BOMA: ON THE MOUNT OF THE LORD IT SHALL BE PROVIDED
I am glad to be back after having completed my National youth service in far away Sokoto. I like to share a scripture with us: Ge 22:14 “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen”. The Lord gave me this scripture as I was to leave for Sokoto. Over time I pondered over this scripture and I asked myself, “if Abraham had gone to another mountain, may be one closer one not so far away (mount Moriah was 3 days journey) what would have happened”? And I realized that Abraham would have killed Isaac. Because there wouldn’t have been any provision of a lamb for him, if he had gone to another mountain. Because on Mount Moriah the provision was made. Where God sends you, that is where He has made provision for you. Hallelujah! God proved this to me in Sokoto. I got provision for my experiences in Sokoto in many areas. I got a word for my life in several dimensions; I got many blessings and acquired more skills. You can see that I can now play the saxophone and this I learnt in under 4 weeks. (I assure you it is not easily to learn to play the sax in a short time, but the lord was indeed gracious). I also have a clear direction for my future. Imagine some one just walked up to me and said “I got this suit for you when I traveled”. Infact the one I have worn today is one of such gifts. Those of us born to Christian parents tend to take the things of God less seriously; its like things are handed over to us on a platter, much unlike those young Christians whose parents are unbelievers. So this time was really a time of standing and fighting in the Spirit for myself. There was no Mum and Dad. I had to decide for myself what sacrifices to make for the lord. There was no one to cajole or ask me to do. I had to find God for myself. I truly was blessed with the experiences. God made great provision, infact I felt like staying back but I had to return home. To think that I actually left Port Harcourt for Sokoto with the mind to run back at the slightest opportunity, but the lord was equal to the task. He set baits (fellowship, wonderful brethren who became close friends etc) all around me and kept me well satisfied and provided for. So those of you who may be going off to one place or the other, or those concerned about what career path to choose, please remember in the mount ( the place God has sent you) of the lord there is provision. Well you could go some where else; of course the mercies of the lord are always available, BUT IT IS BEST TO GO WHERE THE LORD LEADS. God is good. He does not change, He will always do what he says he will do.