Confidence II

READ: Heb 4: 16
MORE LESSONS: James 5: 16-18
Bible Reading in one Year: Esther 1-3

Some years ago, rain delayed in the city where  our  church headquartered is located. The traditional ruler who was a Muslim sent a mail to the church asking us to pray to God requesting for rain. We prayed and sent back to the Sarki (the traditional ruler) that there would be rain between 5pm and 7pm that same day . We actually gave him time! When the emissary left, I said to myself, Oh my God! What have I just done? After service that day , I did not go home, I stayed in the place of prayer; and the rain began. The point is that you should be bold and confident in your prayers and Jehovah will reward your confidence in Him.

Our first text tells us to come to the throne of grace in the time of need, but it also shows us that it is important how we come. You get answer by coming to God boldly and confidently. Your confidence in God as you pray to Him determines whether you get answer to your prayer or not. Don't pray as if you do not know the ability of the God to whom you are praying. Don't say , Lord the preacher said you can change the matter confronting me and so I have come to see whether it is Your will or not for me to get answer .... That is not a prayer of confidence in God. No confident child walks to his father fidgeting. God loves to see His children great, bold and confident in the place of prayer. However, sin makes a child fear to appear before his father.

The prodigal son is one example of a confident child. Evidently he sinned, nevertheless as soon as he came back to his right mind, he was confident that he had a father who would forgive and he was not disappointed. If you have any wrong doing, confess it, settle with Heaven and take your confidence back. I am sure the Father will not disappoint you. It’s time to live in confidence again.

Prayer/Action 
* Give thanks for the privilege to stand before the King of kings with confidence.
* Ask the blood of Jesus to wipe out anything that can erode your confidence before Him.
* Ask God to reveal to you anything that has been a hindrance to your prayers and take it away.

Confidence I

READ: 1 Jn 5: 14
MORE LESSONS: Gen. 21:1-2
Bible Reading in one Year: Nehemiah 10-13

I want to say emphatically that God answers prayers. If you have been praying to God for anything, I want to give you the assurance that God will answer you. However, there i s a condition given in our text today and once this condition is met the answer to your prayer cannot elude you. According to the first scripture, if you ask anything according to God’s will, He will surely answer you. This means that once you have been able to establish that your request is according to the will of God, when you pray , you are as good as walking in the answer .

The important question that must be answered is, What then is the will of God? As many things as are written in the Scripture are the will of God. Search the Scripture for God's promises; as many of those promises as you lay your hands on are the will of God for you. If it is written in the Word of God, it is God's will for you. The answer must come when you pray according to His Word because God cannot lie about His Word. The promises of a man can fail but the promises of God can never fail. Today I want you to locate what is written concerning you and pray based on that promise, and you can be confident that the answer is inevitable. This is the assurance that I want to give you today that there is certainty of answer to your prayers.

Another certainty is the factor of faith, If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord: Jam.1:5-7.
Today , answer will be your testimony , in Jesus’ mighty name.

Prayer/Action
* Give thanks that you have the God who answers prayer.
* Tell God that since He answered others like Abraham in the Bible, you believe He
will answer you.
* Tell God you have confidence in Him.

Signs of Stolen Glory

READ: Nah. 2:2-3
MORE LESSONS: Jer . 48:12-13
Bible Reading in one Y ear: Nehemiah 7-9

There are many instances in both contemporary and Bible times when people have been robbed of their glory . It is a cheap thing to be robbed of material things no matter how expensive they are, but it is a terrible thing to be robbed of your glory . Y our glory is the key to every other thing in your life, so if you allow it to be stolen you can never be the same again in destiny . In our first text we are told that emptiers have stolen the excellency of Jacob and he is empty . it shall not be so for you. What are the signs of stolen glory?

i. You suddenly become a shadow of yourself because you are empty . Certain things you do with ease suddenly become difficult for you because your ability and strength have disappeared. It is a sign that something is wrong with your glory and that needs an urgent attention. Don't be quiet about it, cry to God for help, stand firm in the place of prayer and take back your glory .
ii. You begin to have constant setbacks. Y ou discover that you work hard but things are not working out. One of the most frustrating things in life is to work hard and have nothing to show for it, it is a sign that the enemies are right behind and before you, wasting your effort.

iii. You are valueless among your colleagues and in the society , you become an object of ridicule and people prefer others to you. Nothing you say ever makes sense to them because somebody stole your glory . Ask the Lord to take away that shame from your life today .

iv . Perennial barrenness in business and in the family . Other people’ s businesses are working but your own is not working. You enter into a business because there are people doing it and they have good returns but the reverse is the case for you. You carry something of value but nobody patronises you. These are signs that your glory has been stolen. You can rise again if only you will call God into the matter, asking Him to bring back your glory

v . You lose self-confidence. A man who has lost his glory is always afraid and not confident. Success in a man's life will be a difficult thing if he loses his confidence because confidence makes many things to work in your life if it is applied. It was with confidence that Esther entered into the king's palace, she was not afraid of death and after applying that confidence, the stolen glory was restored. It doesn't matter how long the enemy has stolen your glory , today , God will restore it back to you.

Prayer/Action
* Pray against all robbers of destiny to stay away from your life.
* Ask that your glory will not go to another.
* Plead the blood of Jesus on your life and work against robbers of destiny .
Take the second text and reject every negative prophecy therein.?

Not Just a Cloud

Text: Gen. 15:1-18
MORE LESSONS: Exo. 19:9
Bible Reading in one Year: Nehemiah 4-6

Glory is a divine currency for getting the good things of life. You need a better understanding of what glory is beyond the religious understanding of glory as a cloud. Glory has passed the stage of being a cloud, it is the manifestation of God such as favour , help, honour e.t.c that makes things happen in an unusual way. Even when glory appeared to the Israelites as a cloud in the wilderness, it was a manifestation by which the Red Sea was parted, the Egyptians were drowned and the Israelites walked on dry land in the sea and ate manna in the wilderness. Each time God was about to reach the people, the cloud descended and God began to demonstrate the very act. And the moment the people saw the cloud they knew that God had descended and something was about to happen. So the manifestation of the glory is a release or sign that God is about to show His power. .

The cloud itself was not the glory; it was the symbol of a presence that made something happen. So the moment you know that there is a release of God's glory upon you, it is a divine manifestation that makes things happen. Gen. 15 is an account of an occasion when God came down and had a crucial discussion with Abraham on His entire plan for him. It started in verse 1 with a vision. In verse 9, Abraham wanted a proof that God would do what He promised and God asked him to prepare a sacrifice on an altar . Then in verse 12, God visited the altar but first a dark cloud fell upon Abraham and God spoke to him. It was beyond a cloud for Abraham because he heard God.

As God visited Abraham, God will visit you beyond the cloud. He will reverse your misfortune. He will clear your doubt and establish His promises for you. In verse 17, the cloud returned in the form of a smoking fire pot. God’s visitation to you will not be limited to one time. You will see the glory . I prophesy to you right now that your destiny will not be over until you taste glory . A life without glory is a wasted destiny . When you lack glory , you can’t enjoy the good things of life. Glory is the thing that makes things happen in your life, it is that very atmosphere that attracts the good things of life to you without struggle; it is the realm of rest. Therefore a life without glory is a dead destiny . Glory is not just a cloud, it is about walking in God’s acts.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to visit you in a special way today.
* Ask that God's visitation to your life will not be limited.
* Pray against hindrances to divine visitation.

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