PASTOR’S MESSAGE: God is ready to lift you
When
men are cast down, then thou shalt say, there is lifting up (Job 22:29a KJV)
One of the greatest deficiencies of
human beings is their proclivity to de-emphasize what they do not see or
understand. It is often easier, for example, for people to have more faith in
the promise of a rich and well connected physical person, than it is to trust
in the capacity and willingness of an unseen God to come to their aid.
In other words, it is easy to underrate
prayers and to unconsciously make them just another religious activity from
which we expect little yield. To do this would be to miss out on some of life’s
greatest blessings. It was the British poet and philosopher, Alfred Lord
Tennyson who said, “More things are wrought by prayers than these world dreams
of.”
We are still on the first few days of a
new month, and not just any other month, but a month of Supernatural Lifting.
As we march further into it and towards the end of another year, let us not
forget to make prayer a priority in our lives. The resources of God are too
vast for us to confine ourselves to human limitations or to make only tepid
requests of Him.
Now here’s an interesting anecdote:
Among those in the court of Alexander
the Great was a philosopher of outstanding ability but little money. He asked
Alexander for financial help and was told to draw whatever he needed from the
imperial treasury. But when the man requested an amount equal to $50,000, he
was refused – the treasurer needed to verify that such a large sum was
authorized. When he asked Alexander, the ruler replied, “Pay the money at once.
The philosopher has done me a singular honor. By the largeness of his request
he shows that he has understood both my wealth and generosity.”
But our King is by far greater than
Alexander the Great, in fact, He brought him to being. So it is therefore
unimaginable that we live beneath our God-given potentials or that we lower our
expectations in life, when we have full access to all that God has to give
through Christ Jesus. The Lord is more than willing and able to help us, and
yes, He still answers prayers. Speaking through the psalmist and prophet,
David, He said “Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your
inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession (Psalm
2:8).”
The problem has never been with God’s
willingness or ability to give as it has been with our faith and perseverance
in asking. This does not just relate to meeting our personal needs, it also
relates to our place as change agents in a world gone awry. The truth is, we
can turn the fortunes of the world around us through prayer.
All through the Bible we see people like
Abraham, Moses, and Esther standing in the gap and turning around the fate of
whole nations. Even in contemporary history we find people like John Knox, who
changed the direction of an entire nation by praying, “Give me Scotland or I
die.” Of him the Queen of Scotland, Mary, remarked, “I fear his prayers more
than I do the armies of my enemies.”
In 2010, inspired by Knox, a handful of
students at the St. Andrew’s University, Scotland decided to take back their
campus for the Lord. They signed up for a prayer initiative called 24-7 and
committed one-hour of their time to praying for their community. To their
utmost surprise, the room at their first prayer meeting was so packed that they
had to turn people away onto the streets to go pray. They got the revival and
renewal they dared to pray for.
God can and will turn our fortunes
and the fortunes of Nigeria around. But He needs us to continue praying daily,
at least from 12:00am – 12:30am. The Lord will give you grace to do so. You
have an everlasting source of help beyond the natural. Raise your voice to heaven
and raise your expectations; they will not be cut short, in Jesus’ name. We
will see the Nigeria of our dreams come to pass. Generations unborn will be
glad we stood in the gap.
God bless you. Have a fruitful month, in
Jesus’ name.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pastor
Taiwo Odukoya is the Senior Pastor/Founder of Fountain of Life Church based in
Lagos Nigeria. He has been in the ministry for over 30 years. His ministry,
Fountain of Life Church was a ministry God gave him along with his late wife,
Pastor Bimbo Odukoya in the early 80’s. Since the inception of the church the
Lord has been demonstrating His awesome power; bringing healing, salvation,
prosperity and success to all the worshippers. The church which is located at
Ilupeju area of Lagos State always witness tremendous inflow of people who come
for fellowship every Sunday.
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