Take your Place

Sunday 8 April
READ: I Kings 18:20-40
MORE LESSON: Matthew 6:21-24

Today it seems like the reigning ministry is the prophetic. We have more prophets rising every day, exhibiting all manner of 'powers' and they seem to be taking over the cities. They go to newspaper houses and give prophecies, and journalist, as well as political leaders are running after them to ask them what tomorrow looks like. There seems therefore to be a lot of confusion as to who is fake or original.
In the days of Elijah, the counterfeits were discovered with ease. They had been ruling and reigning, carrying unholy oil around, prophesying and doing wonders. You know fake oil also does wonders but they are temporary wonders. God spoke to Elijah, and he gathered the children of Israel alongside the 400 prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel to differentiate the fake from the original because there was also confusion just as we have today.
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word:1 Kings 18:21.
Israel could not differentiate between Baal and Jehovah; so he asked them to make a choice whether to follow Baal or Jehovah, and they answered not a word. Their backsliding was so deep and they were in such a confusion that they couldn't answer.
In the days of Moses, one day he stood up and said, “Choose ye whom to serve”, and they said, “We will serve the Lord our God” because revival was still on. When Joshua took over, he also said, ...choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell...: And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve...: Josh. 24:15, 24.
But in the days of prophet Elijah, because genuine prophets had gone underground due to fear, the fake men took over the centre stage. They were referred to as the prophets of Baal while Elijah was referred to as the prophet of Jehovah. Elijah believed he was the only one left and he asked that God should kill him. Then God told him there were seven thousand prophets who had not bowed to baal in hiding. The problem was that, though they had not bowed to Baal, but they were hiding their identity. When a man is given a gift and he hides it, that gift does not exist because buried gifts don't produce result.

Prayer/Action
* Commit yourself to the Lord as His servant who will stand for Him no matter what.
* Pray that you will not fall into deception of false prophet.
* Ask the Lord to, by His grace, keep and sustain all His true prophets in our land.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Every messenger of hell working to make me a perpetual spiritual dwarf, I command you to lose your hold over me now, in the name of Jesus.