When your Friend Says No

Saturday 28 May
READ: Luke 11:5-10
MORE LESSON: Luke 18:1-7

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

1) Answer to request from dear friends may not be instant, although true friends are not known to refuse each other's request in very difficult circumstance. The passage reveals that there would be times when dear friends could be at a crossroads in attending to one another's needs. Let it be registered in your heart this day that there could be times in your life that dear friends may answer you from within; they will neither come out to see you nor refuse to open the door for you to come into their houses. When you are at such a crossroads, you must manage the situation with wisdom. Some people easily get pissed off, go away angrily from their friend and destroy the relationship while others may plan vengeance against their friend. This passage shows that there is a way to get as much as you want from a friend even if he initially does not intend to grant your request.

2) Sometimes you carry the burdens of others, which become very tasking and humiliating. The friend who was making a request at midnight was doing so because a friend of his came to him at an odd hour. The friend came at a time when he had nothing to set before him. Wanting to meet the need of his friend, he went to another friend of his, and that one answered from within: 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and attend to you’. What do you do when you are humiliated for seeking to help someone? Do you give it up or refrain from pursing the good to a logical conclusion? To what extent can you go in pursuing other people's needs even when you are being insulted?

3) When this friend was refused at first instance, he did not give up. He did not consider his friend's remark as insolence; he kept knocking and pleading. Jesus thereafter remarked that though he would not rise and give 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 relationship is very possible with persistence. 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 or frustrated. Don't give in to compromise; only be persistent in righteousness, So I 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 : Luke 11:9-10.

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

PROPHETIC PRAYER
From henceforth, I shall not labour in vain nor bring forth for trouble, in the name of Jesus.

Combating Satanic Wiles

Friday 27 May
READ: Eph.6:10-16
MORE LESSON: II Thess.2:9-13

Wiles are tricks, gimmicks, deceits and strategies that satan uses to trap people unawares, especially Christians who should know better. God, in this verse, did not say we should ignore these wiles but that to overcome we must be armed against them. Why do we need to be armoured against wiles? It must mean that wiles have effect. Carelessness can make wiles effective against even the strongest man; by wiles satan used Delilah to finish Samson.
One of the wiles that satan uses to overcome Christians is the power of past glories of satan wrapped in ignorance of the truth by Christians, Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part in the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death; that is the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage: Heb.2:14-15. A careful look at this scripture reveals the wiles that satan uses to cheat and punish men, the lie that he has power. Satan HAD the power of death; it was in the past! That power has been taken from him by the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus passed through death, destroyed satan's power through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. So in your life satan's wiles must come to an end because Jesus has won the victory and satan is a liar.
Refusing to walk in this truth and appropriate it leads to damnation, That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness: II Thess.2:12. Therefore to overcome satan's lies, a child of God must be fully armed with the truth of the imputed righteousness of God for all men who have received Jesus as Lord and Saviour, For he hath made him to be sin for us , who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him: II Cor.5:21.They must also be armed with the truth of the defeat of satan on the cross, Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it....: Col.2:14-15. The believer's authority and power over satan and his forces is another truth to be armed with, Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you: Luke 10:19.
These truths along with several others that abound in the Scripture are what a believer must be armed with to overcome satanic wiles in this world. These must be read, meditated upon and even memorised with strong confessions in warfare in order to stay free of satan's wiles. The price that Jesus paid will not be nullified in your life, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* I command all satanic wiles to be abolished in my life henceforth, in Jesus’ name.
* The truth set me free today; I shall no longer be bound.
* Sing a song of victory and confess the victory of Jesus over your life all through today.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, let my profiting begin to appear to all men from today, in the name of Jesus!

Look to Abraham 2

Thursday 26 May
READ: Gen. 17:1-10
MORE LESSON: Rom. 4:1-10; 18-22

Today, we continue on the instruction of Jehovah God to us all, Look unto Abraham. There are more areas of obedience to God which Abraham complied with that are worthy of emulation. He raised altars to Jehovah as he sojourned in the promised land (Gen.15: 9-17). Abraham obeyed God in ensuring a peaceful marriage between him and Sarah (Gen.16: 1-6), Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it: Eph.5:25. He shouldn't have practised the custom of the land in child bearing, but rather should have encouraged Sarah in her discouragement.
Abraham obeyed God in establishing covenant tokens as instructed by God in circumcision of all males in his household (Gen.17:11-27). There are various covenant tokens in Christianity also. If you will walk with Jehovah and have a part in Him, you must obey these tokens as spelt out in the Bible, the manual for the Christian walk. Establish memorials and permanent flow of blessings by following covenant tokens of fellowship, offerings, tithes and vows. Abraham obeyed God in practising hospitality (Gen.18:1-9). This act hastened the fulfilment of God's promise of a child to Abraham. The Christian who is not hospitable contradicts the pattern of love given by God, Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality: Rom.12:13.
He also obeyed God in the ministry of praying for others, including his enemies and his family (Gen.18:23-33). Even God had a testimony concerning Abraham's training of his household in righteousness, For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, that they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him: Gen. 18:19.
Abraham's intercession contributed to the deliverance of Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham obeyed God in the ultimate test of sacrificing his son Isaac to God, but God did not allow the death of Isaac, He gave a ram instead. Abraham gave his greatest love, after God, back to Him, And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me: Gen.22:12.
Abraham obeyed God in ensuring that his child married an Israelite, not Canaanite, Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness?: II Cor.6:14. Be a friend of God by continual obedience to Him and He will make you continue in greatness even to all your generations as he did with Abraham.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, help me walk with You that I might be a blessing to my generation like father Abraham.
* Make a list of areas you will obey the Lord this year and diligently adhere to them by His grace.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
I decree that before this month runs to an end, the power of answered prayer will locate me, in the name of Jesus.

Look to Abraham 1

Wednesday 25 May
READ: Isa. 51:1-2
MORE LESSON: Gen. 12:1-10

There is a clear instruction in today's reading that calls all seekers of God to attention: Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him: Isa.51:2. Abraham is one unique man whose name is a reference point in most religions. Across generations his life before God is a pivotal story in the history of the Jews and Christians. All worshippers of God in these religions are told to follow Abraham’s pattern in serving God. What was the peculiarity of father Abraham that Jehovah God could ask men of all generations to emulate him? Some people have suggested that the reason why Abraham lives on though dead is because he is the father of faith, the friend of God and the centre of the covenant that God instituted with both the physical and spiritual Israelites. I quite agree with all these but the real reason why Abraham's life is still speaking, though he has been dead for thousands of years now is his OBEDIENCE. This characteristic of Abraham is what God asks us to look unto in this great patriarch's life. Abraham had his faults as every man born of a woman has but he uniquely obeyed God.
Genesis chapters 11-25 reveal Abraham's life of obedience to God. We will trace some together so that each one of us will really be able to “look unto Abraham”. He obeyed God when he was told to leave his roots and origin in his father's house to follow God (Gen.12: 1-5). He obeyed God and preferred Lot to himself though he was older and brought Lot his nephew out of Ur. He asked Lot to choose before him the portion of the land he preferred, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves: Phil.2:3.
Abraham obeyed God in paying tithes (Gen.14:20). No wonder he was a prosperous man. Hear the testimony of Abraham's servant about him: And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and men servants, and maid servants, and camels and asses: Gen. 24:35. Do you want to be great? then, follow Abraham's pattern and tithe all that God gives you as income; and you will enter into material prosperity like father Abraham. He obeyed God by believing God's promises to him even in contrary circumstances, And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith giving glory to God: Rom.4:19-20. Will you be considered righteous in God's sight? Then believe the promises of God no matter what you are passing through now.

Prayer/Action
* I receive help from God to emulate Abraham the father of faith.
* Lord, give me strength to live a life of obedience to You.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today, I remove my name and family from any demonic calendar and programme, in the name of Jesus.