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GENERAL, Prayer

Prayer; The Heart Matters

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What is Prayer?

We have numerous definitions for prayer. Whatever the case may be, God requires us to be more devoted than at any other time in recent memory. We pray to know the Will of God. We pray to know how to carry out the will of God.

We also pray to surrender ourselves to the desires of the kingdom for us. There are several definitions of prayer. Some see it as petitioning, while others see it as communing with God, and so on.. Prayer is what the Church really needs at this point.

When God’s move begins, it begins with His children’s prayers. This intercession ensures that God’s work is carried out precisely and without interference from the forces of darkness. Why do we have to pray? This is because we can only gain insight and understanding into what God is going to do through prayer.

According to Colossians 2:3, “all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ,” and it is through prayer that these treasures are revealed to us.

THE HEART MATTERS

This is a photograph of possessive

James 4:3 (New International Version)

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Any prayer prayed for the wrong reasons will be rendered ineffective. Prayer is a sacred duty that must be carried out with the purest of intentions. In the Church, selfishness is the slayer of prayer. It causes God to stifle the much-needed answer.

Prayer for the sake of one’s own selfish interests is a waste of time. According to Proverbs 21, God weighs a man’s heart. He weighs His saints’ hearts; He measures the quality of prayer by the quality of the heart rather than the quantity of words.

If a saint’s motives are not pure, he may say thousands of words before God and leave empty-handed; however, another saint may speak only a few words and leave with the Grace he seeks as a result of pure motives.

Proverbs 15:11: “Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord, How much more the hearts of men!”

We deceive ourselves when we believe God is unaware of the true reason for some of our petitions. God sees our hearts; He hears our thoughts as well as our words. Therefore, before we pray, we must examine our hearts and ensure that our motives are pure. In our prayer, there must be no trace of self or carnality.

FOR HIS GLORY

When we pray, whether in public or privately, the only thing that matters is that God receives the glory. In the place of prayer, His glory and will must be at the center of our desires. In the Kingdom, we are only rewarded for actions that bring glory to God.

HIS BATTLE-AXE

The pure saint must see himself as a battle-axe in the master’s hands, or as a pencil in the creator’s hands. When he prays or fasts, he must remember that it is God who is doing the work through him.

Conclusively, ministers, intercessors, and all members of the Body must keep this in mind. We must not allow the spirit of competition to infiltrate our organization. We must be wary of praying for the sake of showing off.

Faith

The Use of Faith

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A tool is something useful;

it is a thing available to serve a specific purpose. Its level of importance is determined by how much value it has.


We can consider faith a tool; an instrument that is useful in diverse ways.



One may wonder what the uses are, not to worry, they are explained below:




1. Faith is A CURRENCY


Just like one accesses physical commodities with money, faith is used to accessing whatever is supernatural. Faith determines our response to things about God and His kingdom.



It is attached to everything we do in God’s Kingdom; our works and responsibility towards the purposes of God must be mingled with faith, else they will amount to naught.


2. It is an instrument used for GAINING ALIGNMENT


We tread the path of alignment on the strength of our faith in Christ. By faith, we believe in the finished work of Christ. Also, it always prone believers to action. When there’s faith, there are works, so faith validates our work and makes it pleasing unto God.



3. Faith serves as A PARAMETER


God has standards in his kingdom, and for them to be met, there are kingdom parameters that are used to measure our duties. One of these criteria is faith.

He checks not only our heart posture (the intents and purity-state of our heart) but also whether we are faithless.



A pure heart is not enough, God demands faith when we carry out actions. Apostle Paul understood this and so he exhorted the brethren in Rome, thus:



‘‘He that doubteth is damned if he eats because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin’’ Romans 14:23.


His teaching labels the‘ absence of faith’ as a sin. A faithless Christian is vulnerable to sin and attacks from the devil.

His deeds are questionable, not because he is not holy, but because his actions did not take a stance from faith.

Satan easily conquers such a Christian during trials because he does not believe in the word of God.


4. Faith is the FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY


Salvation and holiness are gained only by faith. Salvation begins with complete faith towards the finished work of Christ (they include His crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension).



Christ sustains our salvation through our constant unwavering FAITH in Him.

Although sinful activities in the world make piety tough for the children of God, we can remain exceptional from the patterns of the world when our faith in Christ is consistent.

This is where we give due diligence in responding to the salvation we once received.


2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.



Walking by faith is a deliberate action, it is a conscious response to our new nature by carrying out the responsibility that is befitting of a born again.

It is on this basis that we grow in grace and the Knowledge of God’s word.

Our faith sets us on the advantage of becoming approved of God, both in words and deeds.


2 Peter 1:5-7: “And beside this, giving all diligence, ADD TO YOUR FAITH virtue; and virtue knowledge. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity’’


Brethren, it all begins with our faith, we gain all these virtues as a bonus for exploring faith.



That’s amazing! The usefulness of faith has proved to be all-encompassing–just like have been stated earlier in the first series of this subject.


Stay with me as we unveil more sequels that faith holds for us.


God bless you, abundantly.




David Chikwado Caleb

Health and Lifestyle

Rejoicing in Grief

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Apart from the fact that depression eats its prey silently, it a way of subtly camouflaging itself as a seemingly peaceful state of mind, which is in reality, the exact opposite.



Romans 8:1 says ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’




Depression is not deep thinking, but meditating on the mistakes, ill-luck and unfortunate things that happened to one; not to spur one to positive response, but to bound such a one’s mind with the mind-set that he was born to fail.



Depression is a negative force. Like a magnet, it doesn’t come alone, it attracts negative results, output and circumstances to itself.



The way out?


Philippians 4:4

“Rejoice in the Lord Always. Again, I will say, Rejoice”


Finding a reason to appreciate God is a sure way to escape from the fangs of depression. Depression cannot dwell in the heart of a grateful soul.


Instead of regretting and feeling like a failure, give thanks to God in faith and hope that things will get better.



2 Samuel 12:15: “After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord made Bathsheba’s baby deathly ill.”


2 Samuel 12:16: “David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground.”


2 Samuel 12:17: “The leaders of the nation pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.”


2 Samuel 12:18: Then on the seventh day the baby died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He was so broken up about the baby being sick,” they said. “What will he do to himself when we tell him the child is dead?”



David committed adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, and as a punishment, God struck the child of their cohabitation with a deadly sickness.



David wept, fasted and prayed for the healing of his child. He prayed that God would preserve the life of his child. Still, the child died.


Such an occurrence is capable of destabilising even the most hardened of hearts. David lost his precious baby to the sickness.



But my interest in this study isn’t that David lost his baby, but what David did after the loss.



2 Samuel 12:20 Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and ate.


Instead of weeping and cursing God for a child that was gone, David worshipped God and put on the garments of devotion to the sovereignty of God.


Thus, we learn that we might not be able to control everything that happens in our lives, but we can always determine our response to that situation.

There are certain things that our prayer might not have been able to prevent, such as the casualties from the Covid, or the Lockdown, but we can decide that in the midst of all these, we will remain grateful saints.


David never went into prolonged depression despite the loss of his child. Thereafter, God gave him another child who became richest and one of the wisest Kings of Israel.


Beloved, don’t be dismayed, because God will surely give you double of what you lost.



Instead of regretting, rise up, believe those wonderful things He has promised you and hold unto them.





Give thanks, rejoice, sing songs of worship and change your atmosphere from one of mourning, to one of rejoicing.

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