A Friend of God

Friday 17 March
READ: Isa. 41: 8 - 13
MORE LESSON: Gen. 18: 17 - 33

In every generation, God seeks men that will break away from the things that preoccupy the hearts of other men and make Him their one devotion. There are always many things calling for the attention of men but a special few always decide to step out of the rat race and pursue God with all their heart.
Abraham lived in Ur of the Chaldeans; a land of great merchandise where people were busy pursuing things of the world and worshipping idols. God called Abraham out to walk with Him and he obeyed. Abraham walked closely with God in faith and became a friend of God. There is a place of relationship where you become so close to God that you are like lovers and friends. It is possible to enter into the exalted relationship with God as His friend. When you are God's friend, He begins to discuss things that are dear to His heart with you. He tells you secrets about people and places, He reveals things in the future that have not yet happened to you. He even asks for your opinion on what He wants to do.
There are great rewards of being God's friend. In Gen. 18, God was on a silent mission to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He didn't tell anybody and wanted to get there and destroy everyone. But then His friend met Him on the way and they started talking. The Lord thought within Himself, ...Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?: Gen. 18: 17. God had to disclose His intentions to Abraham and thus, Abraham was able to plead with God to save Lot and his family. If not for Abraham's relationship with God, Lot would have been destroyed. Being a friend of God grants special benefits to everyone associated with you. Even your children are given a special place in God's heart and He does exceptional things for them that they don't deserve because of His relationship with you. The reason God favours Israel exceptionally and destroyed nations to save them is because they are His friend's children (Isa. 41: 8).
John 15: 14 – 15 says, Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Jesus wants to be your friend; He wants to tell you things that are dear to His heart. However, the price of friendship is love and time. You have to love Him more than any other person or thing in your life. You have to give Him more time than you give other things in your life. This entails studying His Word, spending time with Him in worship, enjoying His presence with other believers, giving sacrificially to Him and obeying His Word.
Oh the blessing of being a friend of God!

Prayer/Action
* Father, bring me into an exalted and intimate relationship with You, in Jesus’ name.
* Father, grant to me today access into the deep things of God, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today, I am moving up, no going down, no turning back, my place is in the highest of all, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Abiding in God

Thursday 16 March
READ: John 15: 4 - 8
MORE LESSON: Luke 13: 6 - 8

God expects fruits from your life. The Bible therefore shows us the secret of fruitfulness; which is, abiding in God. A man will never be fruitful if he is the kind of Christian that is in today and out tomorrow. A little church and a little party will not take a man anywhere. A little holiness and then a little sin will lead to a life of frustration. You must abide entirely in God.
The Bible draws an analogy between a tree and being rooted in God. As long as the branches of a tree are vitally connected to the stem which is connected to the root, every supply reaches the branches. A connected branch doesn't need supplication to the root before nutrient and water flow into it through the stem. In the same way, connectivity to God makes blessings to naturally flow to you. A well connected child of God may not even have prayed for certain blessings but they just flow to him as a natural consequence of his abiding in God.
Abiding in God means abiding in His Word. Abiding in God means a vibrant prayer life. When you pray in the spirit abundantly and enjoy communion with the Holy Spirit daily, some blessings will flow naturally to you that you might not even remember asking for. It is when you pray in tongues, enjoying God and abiding in Him, that you access those blessings. Abiding in God involves serving God with your time by being a worker in His vineyard. When you stay with God and work for Him, you may not even fast and pray for a life partner but as you abide serving diligently, God just locates you and connects you with the person He has for you. Giving tithes and offerings is part of abiding in God. You might love God and continue to give to Him, spend your resources for the expansion of His Kingdom and help others, and you notice that you keep experiencing blessings that you cannot account for by your fasting. God blesses you naturally as you abide in Him.
You must stay in God, with God and for God. John 15:7 says, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Abiding in God is the secret of answered prayers. The reason many people's prayers are not answered is because they are not abiding. They just dash in when they have a need and try to con God's hand by much tears and prayers. If God peradventure answers them, you won't see them again until there is another problem. How do you explain a Sunday-to-Sunday Christian? He is not abiding; he is only visiting. It is time for you to abide in God so that all-round fruitfulness can be yours.

Prayer/Action
* I receive grace to abide in Jesus Christ all the days of my life, in Jesus’ name.
* Lord, because I am connected to You, let there be a flow of Your blessings into my life, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Every spirit of loneliness, discouragement and abandonment, flee from me, in the name of Jesus.

Destroying Jezebel

Wednesday 15 March
READ: 1 Kings 21: 1 - 15
MORE LESSON: Rev. 2: 20 – 23

1 Kings 16: 30 – 33 talks about Ahab, a king in Israel who did more evil than all other kings before him. This was because he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal of the Zidonians. Jezebel influenced and encouraged Ahab to become an enemy of God and to build altars for Baal in Israel. Nine hundred and fifty demonic priests ate at Jezebel's table every day. She killed God's prophets and was set to eliminate the memorial of God from Israel and enthrone the gods of her fatherland. She was a principality and actually the one ruling her husband. Any where a woman assumes authority over the man in the home and is the one that determines what happens and what does not, there is a curse. It is not love for a man to be controlled by the woman in the home, or for the woman to become a dictator. Each has a place in the home and each listens to the other; takes counsel from each other, submits to God and submits to each other in love as the Bible commands. However, the man is the head of the home.
Jezebel promoted immorality anywhere she operated. She had demonic powers and witchcraft and she determined what King Ahab would do or not do. She controlled the land and did what even her husband the king would not dare to do. There was a man called Naboth who owned a vineyard that King Ahab coveted. Ahab asked Naboth to sell to him his vineyard and Naboth said that he couldn't give out the heritage of his fathers. It is right for children to decide that they will not sell the spiritual inheritance that their fathers hand over to them but rather build on it. King Ahab was sad because Naboth would not sell his vineyard to him and his countenance showed it when he got home. Jezebel asked him what the matter was and when he explained. Jezebel said, “Is that all; don't worry, go and eat. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth.” That was the kind of woman that Jezebel was. She sent orders to the rulers of the city where Naboth was and commanded them to stage a plot and murder Naboth. Immediately the rulers received her letter, they gathered the whole land and killed Naboth. She finished Naboth and told her husband to go and take the vineyard for free as the owner that didn't want to sell it is dead.
God raised Jehu the Son of Nimshi to destroy Jezebel according to the written judgment. God used the sword of judgment in the hand of Jehu to destroy Jezebel. Every spirit of Jezebel must be destroyed in our home, church and nation. We must pray against every operation of Jezebel in our midst.

Prayer/Action
* In the name of Jesus, I raise a judgment against every Jezebel that has risen against my life.
* I cut off the influence of Jezebel from my life and home, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Where others are spending sweat, toil, and needless hard labour, I shall spend grace, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Athaliah must Die II

Tuesday 14 March
READ: 2 Chron 23: 1 - 14
MORE LESSON: 2 Kings 11: 1 - 18

Yesterday we considered the story of Athaliah; a woman that held the land of Judah under her control and didn't want to let go. She killed in order to hold unto the throne. It is important to point out, however, that beyond the person of the woman called Athaliah, there is a wicked spirit that works through such people that makes them operate the way they do. The spirit at work in Athaliah is the force of wickedness that makes people to do wrong. Such a spirit makes a ruler do what is evil in the sight of God and makes them force the people to go against God. The spirit thrives in ignorance and darkness; it doesn't want the people under its rule to be enlightened so that they will not see the truth and be set free. The spirit loves to create fear so the people are always afraid to break out of its yoke. This spirit propagates wickedness in the land and brings people under the yoke of wickedness. It was this spirit that was at work in Ahab and Jezebel's family as they led Israel astray. It was this same spirit that Athaliah their daughter introduced into the ruling house in Judah and she corrupted the house of David.
It is necessary to see how Athaliah was dealt with. In 2 Chron. 23, the priests of God arose and decided that they had had enough of her rule. They strategised, prayed and invoked the Covenant of the God of Israel which He made with the house of David. These priests stationed themselves at strategic places and they made the Lord's choice to be king in Jerusalem.
According to scriptures, when Athaliah killed all the seed of the House of David, there was a one year old boy that was hidden and nurtured by the priests for six years. The priest prepared Joash, a rightful son of David, to reign in the land according to the Lord's way. At the right time; they took him and put a crown on his head and declared him king. When Athaliah heard this, she rushed into the temple of God to confront them. Meanwhile, these priests had strategically occupied positions and when she got in, they confronted her, grabbed her and killed her. The Bible says that they carried the sword in God's presence and used it to slaughter the rebellious woman. The sword to kill Athaliah can only be found in God's presence. Until the priests of God physically and spiritually confronted the reign of wickedness, nothing happened.
It is time to end the reign of Athaliah in your life, family and in our nation. The sword of God's presence must be used and as kings and priests, we must arise. Every ruler and ruling spirit that the Lord has not planted over your life, family and nation, is destroyed, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that every force of darkness operating in the seat of power over your nation be broken now, in Jesus’ name.
* Declare that the covenant by the blood of Jesus speak against all evil rule and enemy's activities in your life and family, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I receive easy and un-obstructable access to God and helpers of my destiny today, in the name of Jesus.