Dealing with a Deficit Future

Friday 19 May
READ: Luk. 15:11-24
MORE LESSONS: Hos. 10:12

A deficit future is a tomorrow that has been squandered today. There are many people squandering their tomorrow by the type of life they live today and they do not know it. Some of them are even doing it gladly, like the prodigal son. The story of the prodigal son is a lesson on the repercussion of riotous living. The prodigal son had a temporary immediate gain and pleasure, but he paid dearly later in life. The day the young man collected his inheritance prematurely, he left like a hero but then, a little while after, he began to gladly eat with pigs.
When you prematurely eat your evening meal in the morning, it will be pleasant, but in the evening, hunger will teach the lesson that night hunger can be deadly and the night becomes longer! Premarital sex can be pleasurable while it lasts but breeds barrenness and incurable diseases tomorrow. Stealing from your parents can make money available today just as, smoking, drinking and such vices are obviously pleasurable in the now, but the deficit is in the future. Whatever exists in you that will cause a sad, bankrupt future, I chase them out now. Your today will bring a happy tomorrow, in Jesus' name.
For a better tomorrow, stop living a wasteful life today. Begin to create reserves/savings for your tomorrow no matter how small; stop eating everything that comes to you. Reject anything that is sweet today but breeds sorrow tomorrow. Always ask yourself what the eternal result of what you are doing is, what contribution or otherwise is what you are doing now to your future? Thank God, the prodigal son came back to his reasoning; he took a bold step to go back home and found grace. You too can stop today; reason and ask God for help. Our God, the gracious Father of all prodigal children is still waiting to receive you if you can take a positive step today.
I release grace and favour for your recovery. Esau wept to recover but he didn't get it (Heb. 12:16-17) but you will get yours today, if you can seek God with sincere heart. Faith in the promise of God to forgive is the first step to your restoration. Have faith that God will forgive and restore you. Then take a definite step by confessing and asking God for forgiveness. Finally, take steps to correct whatever you consider that you have done wrong. Attach yourself to God’s Word, prayer, fellowship and godly counsellor. God, like the prodigal son’s father, has been waiting for you! Welcome to a new beginning.

Prayer/Action
* Ask for grace to be disciplined and patiently wait for the appropriate timing of God for you, in the mighty name of Jesus.
* Ask the Lord to redeem your future that you have wasted by your past acts, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, nothing You advertised is ever rejected, advertise me to my generation, in the mighty name of Jesus.

How to Find Joy

Thursday 18 May
READ: I Sam. 1:1-20
MORE LESSONS: Psa. 119:165

Joy and progress are not products of sight and wishes, but of knowledge and work. Someone once said to my wife, “The year is new but not a happy one”. The fellow was simply reacting to what he saw around, not what he knows about God. Ecc. 11:4 says, He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. You will never be happy looking around at prevailing situations, and satan will never allow you to see the things that will encourage your spirit, rather, he will show you negative things and will even magnify them beyond normal. So if you desire to have joy and gladness, don't look outside for them but erase and uproot them using God’s Word. Newspapers will never give you joy, because they are designed and marketed by bad news and negative events around the world. The only source of joy is God's Word and those who live by it can never be sad.
The point is this, the knowledge of God's Word and and promises is the only reason why a sick man with terminal illness can be happy, regardless of medical report and physical feelings. The same thing applies to the barren, the ones who are delayed, those with unanswered prayers, the burdened etc. Even as a believer, who is hale and healthy, if you desire joy by the things you possess, your joy will be as temporary as those material things. But if you build the source of your joy on what God's Word has promised you, no matter the negative environment, you will live such a happy life that the people around you will wonder what makes you happy. With Jesus on your inside as your anchor, you can smile at the storm and make your boast in the Lord your God. This is a major difference between the believer and the unbeliever. The believer rejoices in hope while the unbeliever has nothing to look up to outside of physical events
.
The joy of the Lord shall be your strength from today. Whatever be your case and regardless of what negative signs you see cheer up, rejoice in hope, just as Hannah did as soon as the prophet had prophesied on her (I Sam. 1:18). She became happy by what was said to her, not her barren situation. She came to the altar weeping and sad, while she was praying the prophet said to her, Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him. v17 (NIV). Hannah did not only say Amen, v18 says ...Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. - that is practical faith in the Word and v20 was the result; she was not disappointed, so will God do for you.

Prayer/Action
* Father help me to always find my joy in You no matter what I'm going through, in Jesus’ name.
* Father, let everything that makes me sad and sorrowful turn around to bring me joy, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
The strength of sin and error is hereby broken over me today by the blood of Jesus, in Jesus' mighty name.

Picking up the Pieces

Wednesday 17 May
READ: Psa. 126:1-6
MORE LESSONS: Job 42:12

Sometimes our dreams are shattered by lack of fulfilment; sometimes hope is lost to frustration. Many times we work so hard and get nothing and we ask, ‘why’? Sometimes the days ahead look so bright with an early sunrise, only for darkness to take over the horizon again. Often, great and solid promises suddenly disappear into thin air. Life becomes so confusing at such times that everything seems to be in pieces. Nothing seems real anymore; even God becomes so abstract, as if He does not exist. All we see is fear, helplessness, crisis, pain, darkness, and life becomes unbearable.
Many people commit suicide at such times; some go mad and never recover again. Others give in to depression and sit in self-pity, never attempting anything good again. A few others take it up against God and declare Him unfair and unjust. Consequently, they abandon seeking God and worship the creature of God or completely stay away from everything.
However, there are some who take advantage of such situations to rise. They simply decide to pick up the pieces of their life by fighting the enemy of goodness, the devil, using the last spiritual strength left in them. They just can't give up. They know that Jehovah God exists no matter what lies the situations of life attempt to tell.
Don't give up because it's not over yet. The God who turns captivity around is still in control. Seek God, invite Jesus into your life as your Lord and Saviour. Don't join the multitude to do evil. Make your ways right with God, and if you are already in Christ, stay hopeful. Renew your strength constantly in God's promises and like Job your change will come (Job 14:14).

Prayer/Action
* I declare in the name of Jesus that every dark cloud hovering around my destiny be cleared.
* I declare in the name of Jesus that there is hope for tomorrow no matter what I see today.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
This month, I receive the good news of the termination of every satanic agent working against me, in the name of Jesus.

The Favour of the King

Tuesday  16 May
READ: 1 Sam 16: 22
MORE LESSON: Prov. 16: 15

David was a shepherd with no claim to the throne and no right to stay in the palace. King Saul sent to Jesse, David's father, saying, ...Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight: 1 Sam. 16:22 (NKJV). Being called to the palace to appear before the king is a great honour and many people lobby for it. But here was David being begged to come to the palace when he didn't even deserve it by right or birth. David was not qualified for a place in the palace but he was being begged to come and sit in the palace.
The favour of God takes a man from a low position to a high place that he doesn't deserve. King Saul didn't ask David to be brought to the palace because he had laboured enough for it. He said, for he has found favour.'It was divine favour that moved David from the wilderness to the palace. It is your turn to receive unmerited favour. The favour of a king can change a man's life in a moment. When you find favour with a wealthy man, he makes his wealth available to lift you to the next level in life. I pray that you will find favour with kings and men of influence, in Jesus’ name. The best way to find the favour of kings is to be in favour with the King of kings. When you find favour with God, men will have no choice but to favour you.
In the text, David was being begged to come and occupy a position that others would give anything to occupy. Favour gives you a job that others are struggling for but can't get. Favour sets aside qualifications and put in your hands what you are not qualified for. I always say that it is someone who gets something by qualification that can later be disqualified. Disqualification means that someone qualified before but now he is no longer qualified – so, he is disqualified. But when there was no qualification in the first place, there can be no disqualification. It is your time of favour, get ready to get things beyond your qualification, in Jesus’ name.
I declared once in church that whatever you cannot afford to buy will be given freely by favour. Then, testimonies filled the church. People gave a lot of testimonies, including a young man that couldn't afford a car and someone gave him one free of charge. I was even worried for him whether he would be able to maintain the running cost of a car and he replied that since God gave him a car by favour, He would also help him maintain it by favour. That is the truth, when God gives you something by favour, He sustains it by favour. For the rest of your life, walk in unmerited and unlimited favour, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Father, let my season of favour begin now, in the mighty name of Jesus.
* Pray that you will be God's candidate for favour and grace, in the name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I take the shield of faith and I ward off every arrow of disaster and pain in this fifth month, in the name of Jesus.