When your Friend says ‘No’

Sunday 9 August
READ: Luke 11:5-10
MORE LESSON: Luke 18:1-7

There are three lessons to learn about relationships from the Scripture reading today.

1. Getting answers to requests from dear friends may not be instant. Although true friends are not known to refuse to grant one another's requests in very difficult circumstances, the passage reveals that there could be times when dear friends could be at crossroads in attending to needs. Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'? (vs. 5-11). Let it be registered in your heart this day that there could be times in your life that dear friends may neither come out to see you nor even refuse to open their doors to let you in. When such happens, you must manage the situation with wisdom. At such times some people may easily get discouraged and go away angrily to tell others nasty stories about their friends. Others may react by destroying the relationship or plan vengeance against their friend.

2. This passage shows us the way to get as much as you want from a friend who is reluctant to grant you your request. Sometimes you carry other people’s burdens in the way the friend in this passage did in order to meet the need of a friend to his friend who visited at an odd hour. The desire to meet his friend’s need, moved him to go to another friend who answered from within, and gave excuses. What do you do when you are humiliated for a good deed you sought to do for someone? Do you give it up or refrain from doing the good? What extent can you go in pursuing other people's needs even when you are being insulted?

3. When this friend was refused his request at first instance, he did not give up. He did not consider his friend's remark as insolence; he stood there knocking and pleading. Jesus thereafter remarked: Though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs: Luke 11:8.

When you persist on your request, you will get as much as you need. Whatever you may not get based on relationships is made very possible when you persist. Know for sure that the toughest of men will give in to your request in the face of persistence. This was the message Jesus passed across in Luke 18:1-5. Next time someone says, ‘no’ to your critical request, don't be perturbed, rude, frustrated, or compromise; only be persistent in righteousness. As Jesus admonished in Lk. 11:9-10, I also say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, help me to persist in righteousness until my answer comes.
* Father, help me to be a true friend who stands for others in their critical hour of need.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
This month, every power in custody of my original glory and every thief of glory shall surrender them by fire, in the name of Jesus.

You can be Forgiven Now!

Saturday 8 August
READ: Rom. 3:9-28
MORE LESSON: John 3:16-18

And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance: Lk. 5:31-32. This verse is good news for sinners. God has not withdrawn His offer of forgiveness for sin. However, many people who are still living in sin don't seem to see themselves in need of salvation.

This is evident when you hear people say: 
-My good deeds outweigh the bad ones.
- I'm not as bad as some people.
- Usually, I'm a good person.

What such comments imply is that their shortcomings don't jeopardize their standing before the Almighty God.

Imagine a person was brought to trial for several charges of stealing and he appealed to the judge by saying: “Don't forget, my good deeds outweigh my bad ones. I am not as bad as many others”. It is sure the offender will be judged according to the offence, not according to previous good deeds. If justice must be done, someone must pay, and that should be the offender unless another person is allowed to bear the penalty instead. That is exactly what Jesus’ love did for sinners, which we all are For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: Rom. 3:23.

Don't let false reasoning keep you from the one who died and rose again for you. He is waiting for you to admit your need for salvation and ask for pardon. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness: 1John 1:8-9.

Beloved, God will forgive you right now as you bow your heart and ask Him for forgiveness. You can pray like this; “Lord Jesus, I ask for pardon today. Please forgive my many sins; I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Make me Your own, write my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life and give me the joy of salvation now, in Jesus’ mighty name, I pray”.

Prayer/Action
* Father, forgive my sinful life-style, in Jesus’ name.
* Today, I receive the grace of God to obey Him in all things.
* Lord Jesus, wash me, clean me and live in me.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, in the name of Jesus, I declare that I shall not lose my inheritance in destiny and another man will not take my place.

Isaac's Success Key II

Friday 7 August
READ: Gen. 26:12
MORE LESSON: Ruth 1:1-5

Yesterday, we emphasized that investing in productive ventures is a major secret of prosperity. It is not impossible that some persons may have tried investing in one venture or the other and there was nothing to show for it. For such persons, just asking them to invest may never appeal to them. They may want to know one or two more secrets of Isaac’s success and why they have failed. The following points from today’s Scripture passage contributed largely to Isaac’s success.

1) Isaac received word from the LORD about the place he invested in. God specifically instructed Isaac to stay in Gerar and promised to bless him. (vs 2 and 3). There was famine in the land of Canaan, occasioned by drought. The right thing for a herdsman to do was to migrate to where there could be water for his animal, and Egypt where you have the delta of the River Nile was the nearest. While Isaac was contemplating going over to Egypt, he sought God's face. God then instructed him to stay in Gerar and promised to bless him. Isaac did not only hear God, he obeyed and terminated his match toward Egypt. Some people plunge themselves into businesses without seeking the face of God on where to start it. They base their judgement (their feasibility studies) largely on certain permutations and combinations induced by human wisdom. As promising as that may be, you still need to seek the LORD's face and hear from him.

(2) Isaac took his time to settle in Gerar before he began to invest. Though how long it took him was not stated in the passage, there was obviously a period of time between when he began to sow and when he received a hundred fold increase. What transpired within this period? Isaac subdued the powers of the land and put them under his control. The highest authority in the land put a restraining order that anyone who touches him or his family shall die (vs 11). At that point, no power in the land could stop him, then Isaac sowed in the land and prospered (v12).

Some people have invested hug resources in a land they have not subdued spiritually and others entered territories they had not subdued on their knees to start ministry. Therefore, they have very little to show for their labour because the negative forces in the land will not let them prosper. Your venture in that location is not thriving not because the location is not the best for it but because there are forces which a higher authority must put under check on your behalf. The Philistines would have killed Isaac if the King had not put a restraining order on him. Arise in prayer and fasting! Also go to your Church Pastor or any other genuine spiritual father in the land. A word of prayer from that leader may be all you need. Like Isaac, begin the investment, continue and, become very prosperous, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, please speak to me as I wait upon You for instruction over what to invest in.
* I renounce every human permutation that makes me rush into ventures without hearing from You.
* Lord, put a restraining order over the forces of my land that I may prosper abundantly therein.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
In the name of Jesus, what belongs to me will reach me this month and I shall celebrate.

Isaac's Success Key I

Thursday 6 August
READ: Gen. 26:1-25
MORE LESSON: Prov.22:29

The Bible passage today tells the story of a man who began to prosper, continued prospering until he became very prosperous, so much so that his enemies envied him. How did he begin? What did he do to grow and sustain his prosperity? The story about Isaac's prosperity is very often used by preachers to take offerings and tithes in Church. While it may not be out of context to use the passage to encourage believers to sow into Kingdom work, we must also come to terms with what Isaac really did to enter unlimited prosperity. Isaac actually invested his time, labour and material resources in a productive venture. Then Isaac sowed (planted) in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him: Gen.26:12.

One of the fundamental secrets of financial and material prosperity is being involved in productive ventures. The man who produces what others consume will always increase financially. You must stop being a consumer only; get engaged in providing goods and services. You must immediately get involved in producing goods or providing services that others can come to you for.

There was famine in the land. The Philistines who were the original dwellers were idling away, while a stranger came and re-opened all the wells his father Abraham once dug around the territory to irrigate his crops and water his animals. I guess he was producing fruits and vegetables which an average Canaanite was longing for. In a short while, Isaac took over the market and there was no need for importation of fruits and vegetable from Egypt to Gerar. The buyers were the same Philistines because they loved to eat such.

Friend, what are the things your community cannot do without? These are the things to sow in the land. Even if others are already doing it, join them to produce more. For example, the market for sachet and bottle water can never be saturated because people must drink water. Eateries can never be too many in a city that has a working class population. Only be more innovative, and the customers will switch over to you. Isaac did not give in to the jealousy, intimidation and harassment of the indigenes who engaged in an unhealthy competition with him over the wells he dug nor did he pack up the business. He simply relocated each time the competitors came to harass him, and soon, he wearied them. So, the man began to prosper, continued herein until he became very prosperous. Do you want to enter into prosperity? Start investing your time and resource into productive ventures.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, inspire in me the resourceful spirit that will enable me to always meet the needs of others. 
* Ask the LORD to lead you into a productive venture that you can invest in from today,

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father cause me to have an encounter with your glory and may this month befilled with evidence, in Jesus’ name.