Stirring the Heart of God

Thursday 4 February
READ: Gen. 22: 1-18
MORE LESSON: Gen 22: 9 - 18

God will do great and mighty things for a man who will stir Him up. There are things you do that stir God to action on your behalf. When you touch the heart of God, you will see His hand move on your behalf. 2 Chron 16:9 says, for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him . . . . God is willing to show Himself strong on your behalf, but there are things you need to do to stir Him up.
The following are things you can do to stir God to action on your behalf:
1. Praise Him: praise moves God. When you want to stir God to action concerning your matter, you need to give Him heartfelt praise. When your situation is adverse and you still give God quality praise, you will see His hand move for you. Always be grateful and thankful for whatever the Lord has done in time past before you make the next request. Don't complain about what you have not got, praise Him for what He has done for you in the past and then praise Him in advance for the things you don't have yet.
2. Pay your vows to Him: if you make a pledge out of faith to God, and you pay your vows and pledge even though it is not convenient, you have stirred the heart of God and committed Him to action. Psa. 50:14 says, Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify Me.
3. Make sacrifices: when you live a sacrificial life towards God and His Kingdom, you will move Him to action for you. When God saw that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son for Him, He was stirred to bless him with an irrevocable blessing (Gen 22: 15 – 18). When Solomon sacrificed one thousand sheep to God, God showed up that very night to impart uncommon glory on him. You can stir the heart of God by your sacrifices.
4. Live in righteousness: Enoch walked with God and he was no more for God took him because he pleased God. You can touch the heart of God by righteous living; righteousness stirs God up and sin turns Him off. In our world today, you may have to pay a price and do without some things in order to maintain your righteousness with God but when you decide to stand firm for righteousness despite the cost and price, you will stir God up to bless you.

Prayer/Action
* Father, by sacrifice Abraham entered into irrevocable blessing, lead me into such sacrifice that will work for me an uncommon glory.
* Father, let not my praise and my life of devotion to You go unnoticed by Heaven, let it attract your attention to my destiny.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
In this second month, I overthrow every force working as a road block to my moving forward in 2016, in Jesus’ mighty name.

Loving God

Wednesday 3 February
READ: John 14: 23 - 24
MORE LESSON: Mark 12: 30

The secret of endearing the heart of God to do great and mighty things for you is to love Him. God has so many special packages that are reserved only for His lovers. When you love God with all your heart, mind and soul; you will walk in uncommon grace, access and blessing. There are general benefits for every born-again person but there are realms of favour, anointing, blessings and defence that God reserves for those that are addicted to Him in love, service and sacrifice, As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him: 1 Cor 2:9.
Jesus puts it this way in today's text; If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him: Jn 14:23. This means that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit agreed together that whenever they find a genuine God-lover, they will come and rest upon and live with him. That is God's perpetual presence guaranteed for every lover of God. God's presence is the secret of miracles, signs, wonders, blessings, favour, protection, defence and wealth. So loving God brings all these into your life.
There are ways to prove that you love God:
1. You keep His commandments. According to John 14:15, If ye love me, keep my commandments. The proof that you love God is that you keep His commandments.
2. Spend time with Him. Another proof that you love God is that you always want to be in His presence. Observe true lovers in courtship and see how they just want to be together and you will know whether you love God or can't wait to jump out of His presence to go to other places.
3. Seek God and not just His gifts. When a man is offended at God each time he has not received something, He really is not seeking God, he is merely seeking something from God. The prove that you love God is that even when He has not given you what you ask Him, you can still keep His commandments, even if it is painful. Friend, when you convince God that it is Him you really long after and not the things He gives, He will open His unlimited treasure to you.
4. Give to Him. Giving is evidence of love; when you love someone, you are always looking for an opportunity to give to Him. Anyone complaining about tithes, offerings and Kingdom seeds doesn't really love God.
5. Live for Him. A true lover of God does not live for himself; He lives to do God's will and give Him pleasure.
I beseech you that you've had enough of living for yourself; now live for God.

Prayer/Action
* Father, help me to prove my love for you by my complete obedience to Your Word, in Jesus’ name.
* Father, shed abroad Your love in my heart and make me a true lover of Christ.
* My love for God shall not grow cold, in Jesus’ name.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
In the name that is above every name, no man born of a woman shall be able to stand as a barrier to my destiny from this day on, in Jesus’ mighty name.

Practical Praise

Tuesday 2 February
READ: Psa 50: 10 - 15
MORE LESSON: Psa 147: 1-7

Praising God is the expression of gratitude to God for His goodness. Praise begins from the heart and flows unrestrained to God. When you give God praise, you should practically involve the totality of your being; spirit, soul and body. Praising God should be a way of life for you whether in public or in private. You must learn to praise God in all situations; even when you have hopes that are not yet realised. You must praise God with who you are, what you have and every part of your body.

I went for an occasion sometimes ago and a drummer began to play the talking drum for me. In my part of the country, it is customary for a drummer to use the talking drum to praise and then you spray him with money. The man played so well to praise me that before I knew it, I had begun to respond to the rhythms of the talking drum without premeditation and my hand was spontaneously going into my pocket to bring money out to spray the man. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who cautioned me and reminded me that I have a principle against such; then I withdrew. After the programme, I quietly went to the drummer and put some money into his pocket. The drummer stirred at me until I almost lost consciousness of myself. If I as a man can be praised up to the point of bringing out money, how much more God?

Beyond using our body to sing, dance and praise God, we must also give our substance in praise to God. God has given us so much and out of it, He expects us to bring something to Him in gratitude. The substance to be given in this case is not limited to money. We can give anything that God lays on our hearts to give. The gift must be from the heart and it should be something we value. God is not a beggar to whom you throw your crumbs. Each time you want to give your substance to praise God, remember you are giving to the God who made everything, including you and what you are giving Him.

However, don't ever say you don't have anything to give God; you must have something no matter how little. It is comforting to know that the little you have is not too small to give to God. God doesn't despise the tiniest gift of a man who does not have much. Remember how much Jesus appreciated the widow who gave a dime (Mark 12: 41 – 44). God is interested in your praise. Give Him practical praise in singing, dancing, thanksgiving, tithes, offerings, sacrifices and your giving will be a memorial before God.

Prayer/Action
* Father, grant me an attitude of praise in all situations, in Jesus’ name.
* Father, I shall no more deny you Your praise in my life, in Jesus’ name.
* I replace every ungrateful attitude with attitude of thanksgiving, in Jesus’ name.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Jesus, on the authority of Your accomplished work on the cross of Calvary, I declare my destiny a barrier breaker, in the name of Jesus.

The God of all Possibilities

Sunday 31 January
READ: Luke 1: 37
MORE LESSON: Mark 9:23

I want to share a testimony with you so that you may start believing God even in impossible situations. I once went to a popular city in Nigeria to preach and I had a word from the Lord to break the yoke of delay on the lives of people who had grown of age for marriage and it was not forthcoming. I made the call for people to come out; among them was a lady who was a bank manager and about forty eight years of age. The Lord gave word of knowledge that precisely hit her life to the detail; I prayed over them and left. Unknown to me, a Major in the army was also at that meeting who was not married and was trusting God for marriage. I don't know how the remaining happened, but three years later, I was invited to join them in marriage.

The lady was fifty one years old at that time. When I returned after another year or two, she had no child. I asked her what was wrong and she replied, “Don't you know my age when I got married?” I told her that I don't care about her age because it is not written in the Bible that there is an age when somebody cannot have a child. I prayed for her and left. I went back about two years later, unknown to me, she had got pregnant but the pregnancy had lasted for one and a half years. In the midst of the service, the power of the Holy Spirit fell on her and the baby in her womb that had not moved for months started kicking. She rushed to tell me that the baby in her womb which had not kicked for so long had started kicking. I said, ‘Ok since it has started kicking, I change his date, I give him now the normal nine months’. Months later, she gave birth to a baby that had stayed two years plus in the womb. When the baby was born, she weighed less than 1 kg and they could not bathe her because any contact with her skin would make it peel. But to the glory of God, that girl is a big girl now. The woman conceived again after the age of 54 and gave birth.

I have seen God do raw miracles that I can't ever deny His power. I have undeniable proofs that what a man needs to prevail in destiny is God. He can do the impossible for you and break all natural limitations. Your miracle is next today, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* With God nothing shall be impossible for me today, in Jesus’ name.
* Father, gain glory for Yourself over the situation men called impossible in my life, in Jesus’ name.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Take a special seed of thanksgiving today and announce that this year shall be greater than the past and filled with thanksgiving in the name of Jesus.