Reviving the Faith of our Fathers

Text: Hebrews 11:32-37
MORE LESSONS: 1 Sam. 17:1-32
Bible Reading in one Year: Psalms 25-27

The first text tells us about the fathers of faith and the exploits they did. I pray God revive the faith of our fathers in our day. The fathers were not quitters in the face of challenges. They didn't quit their confession of faith or deny God even when they were to be thrown into fire. Though their lives were at stake, they were strong in their faith; they believed God, standing and fighting for Him. My prayer is that God will revive the faith of our fathers in the Church in our generation.

The fathers of faith did exploits by faith. In I Sam. 17:4-8 we see the example of David when Israel was confronted with the challenge of Goliath, the 'boko haram' of their day. The same way we have this Goliath challenging the Church of Jesus today, so also Goliath challenged the children of God. Everybody was afraid but they looked up to the God of Heaven who was able to deliver them from the great Goliath (verses 21-27).

There are many Goliaths confronting the Church today. I don't know how many people still come to church in your assembly. There are people that have not come to church for the past one year because of the harassment of the Goliath of our time. Goliath challenged the God of Israel, he challenged the power of the God of Israel, but God raised a man, David. Where are the Davids of our day? Where are the Davids in the Church today that will rise to the harassment of Goliath, the enemy of the Church? You know David was not up to 20 years at the time he came to the limelight but he was anointed.

Probably he was anointed by Samuel around seventeen years of age, at that time he was still keeping the sheep of his father. But when he heard the harassment of this Philistine, he stood up and faced the challenge.

Where are the people who are going to confront the harassment of the enemy of the Church today? And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine: v32. God needs men with such faith to challenge the Goliaths of our time.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that this generation will catch the fire of revival, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray and cast out every spirit of fear and intimidation among believers today, in Jesus’ name.
* Receive grace to stand when your faith is tried/ tested by the fire of the enemy.
* Receive courage to stand the trial of your
* Oh Lord raise men of faith in our time like David, Gideon Barak, in Jesus’ name. faith like our fathers of old, in Jesus’ name.

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Shout Down the Walls

Text: Joshua 6: 1-20
MORE LESSONS: 2 Chron. 13:15
Bible Reading in one Year: Psalms 22-24

Bible history tells us that the wall of Jericho was a massive structure upon which chariots could conveniently ride side by side. It had the shape of a cuboid and its height was about the height of a four storey building. It was a huge wall indeed and yet the children of Israel must pass through for God said He had given them the land. So Joshua sought the Lord and He gave him the strategy on how the wall would be destroyed.

There is a strategy in God by which your walls will come crashing down but you have to seek Him to find the strategy. The Bible says the Israelites shouted, and the wall came crumbling down. In the same way you can bring down your wall by a shout of what God has promised, a shout of your expression of confidence in what God can do about that situation. It was not just a shout, it was a shout that was inspired by the Word of the Lord of hosts.

The Israelites themselves did not believe that a shout could bring down a wall so mighty but it did; and friend, if it happened before, it can happen again. God wants you to shout down your opposition, your adversary, that is, the devil, as the Bible encourages, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you: Jam. 4:7. You must, by reason of your submission to God, get radical and resist the devil and he will flee from you.
The only language the devil understands is a radical shout from the mouth of a child of God. The devil hates it when you confront him with confidence and boldness. The Israelites kept marching round the walls for seven consecutive days according to the Word of the Lord. They didn’t give up doing what the Lord commanded concerning the wall of opposition before them. And on the seventh day, they shouted, submitting themselves to the will of God.

They were opposed and denied passage into Jericho for seven days, but they were tenacious about it. You must learn to stand your ground until the walls come down. It may take time according to your assessment but the wisdom of God is to teach us how to fight battles. He could have by the breath of His nostrils pulled down the walls but He chose to fight using the people and if it took many years for the walls to be built, one should not expect it to crumble in one day, else the victory would not be appreciated. So what is that wall of limitation confronting you and denying you entrance into your glorious destiny? It is time to shout it down by the Word of the Lord, shout against it by the boldness and confidence you have derived from the Word of the Lord, Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, ...God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before ...Judah: 2 Chron. 13:15.

Prayer/Action
* Today I confront every wall of limitation with a shout of triumph, in Jesus’ name.
* “The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon”; let it break every ancient wall against my going forward, in Jesus’ name.
Lift your hand to Heaven and shout hallelujah! Then give thanks to God for the fall of your Jericho. ?

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Your Word is your Victory

Text: Job 22: 28- 29
MORE LESSONS: Mal. 3: 16- 18
Bible Reading in one Year: Psalms 19-21

Your word is your life. Jesus says that the words that He speaks are Spirit and life. Hence if with the Spirit of Christ in us we say things that others in the world say then we would have the same results as theirs. But as for me, when men are being cast down, yet shall I arise and say.... That was what Job said, that when the casting down is going on, I will stand up, and I will say.... So the power over being cast down is in your tongue. What you say about your situation, how you say it, and what you believe and do at the hour that things appear tough and difficult are vital; they can determine what happens to you in that situation.
You ought to be careful what you say even after you have gone through a difficult time and you are waiting for result. For instance, when I was in school and we finished writing a tough paper, some students would not go home immediately after submitting their exam scripts, they would hang around waiting for others to come out so that they could discuss the exam. Their expectation was for you to tell them that the examination was not good.

But if you made a mistake and said it was okay, they would say, Ah, ok? Professor! And then you became an object of ridicule for declaring positive. But hear this friend, even examinations already written can turn around because of your spoken word. Next time the enemy roars at you, roar back at him; roar God's Word to him, roar your confidence in God and your faith to him. Don't ever go down agreeing with the enemy over your situation, testify what the Word of God says. Keep saying, I have conquered you, I am stronger than you, and I am more than a conqueror. Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. I am more than this challenge, and with God on my side, I will overcome it.

I can run through a troop, I will prevail; I can leap over a wall. Keep saying the Word, keep confessing it, even if the matters are not yielding, keep on expressing what God has said about the matter. Don't listen to your situation, listen to God's Word, listen to the promises of God, listen to what God has said ahead of any situation, for before the start of the problem, God has pronounced its end from the beginning.
So keep repeating what God has said in faith and confidence and it shall be to you as you say. Always bear in mind that your words go to God's hearing and He will do according to what He hears you say. Y our word is your victory. Speak God's Word always, no matter what.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to anoint your words for victory.
* Pray that every negative word you have ever spoken about your destiny be annulled and cancelled.
* Open Psa. 1:3-4 and confess it on your life and family.

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Birthing a Glorious Destiny

Text: 1 Sam. 1: 9-18
MORE LESSONS: Luke 22:40-44
Bible Reading in one Year: Psalms 16-18

When you go through I Sam. chapter 1 you see the take off of a destiny. The chapter begins with several characters but attention is on one particularly. The whole of the book from beginning to the end speaks about a man whose mother was barren, and the mother decided to go to God in Shiloh and pray alone at the altar until the priest took notice of her. The priest thought she was drunk with wine because it was after a feast and he asked her, but she answered ...I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD: v15, and the priest blessed her .

That woman is Hannah, and the child that came out of that encounter with God is Samuel. Chapter one ends with a testimony in verse 27, for this child I prayed...., so the life of Samuel began as a testimony; he was a product of prayer, and the mother was a testifier all her life. There is a glorious destiny that you must also give birth to. But it will not come on a platter of gold, rather you get it on a well orchestrated, deliberate, conscious and desperate prayer. Though Hannah's words of prayer were not documented in chapter one, in chapter two the Bible says, And Hannah prayed, and said...: v1. Some theologians have argued that 1 Samuel chapter 2 was a song, but the woman actually said it was her prayer. When you go through it, you will find how Hannah prayed.

There is so much to learn from this because prayer should not be a mere request. The only way to bring order to prayer is to consider how men and Jesus in the Scripture prayed and got results. Then you will begin to learn to pray by praying the way they prayed. Look at the Lord’s Prayer in Matt. 6:9-13, you will discover that it is organised, orderly and inspired prayer.

Praying is not just standing up from sleep repeatedly shouting Jehovah, I ask You, Jehovah, what? If you will pray prayers that will birth a glorious destiny , you can take such prayers as the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane where, although He was in agony , ... he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground: Lk.22:44. It was few words but it got Heaven’s attention and an angel had to be deployed immediately to the earth to strengthen Him. That was destiny birthing prayer. Learn to pray the way men and women who received answer from God prayed when destiny was involved, and answer will come.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to train your hands to war so that the bow of steel may be broken by your hands.
* Pray that God will give you grace to pray until something happens.
* Ask God to make your feet like hind’s feet, set upon high places.
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