The Heart, not the Message

Sunday 25 June
READ: Luke 8:4-15
MORE LESSONS: John 8:31-36

A friend once asked me why there are so many churches and powerful preachers in Nigeria, yet unrighteousness abounds. Before I could give an answer, he concluded, I think there is something wrong with the messages that are preached. It is either the preachers are not preaching the right stuff to change the people or the messages lack power to convict men of sin, righteousness and judgment. My friend may be right, but I also think there is something more as the Scripture reading explains. The sower planted the same seeds at different locations, but what influenced the different performances was the nature of the land.
Those which fell by the way side were trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured the seeds. Some fell upon a rock and as soon as they sprang up, they withered because there was no moisture. Some fell among thorns and were choked up by the thorns that sprang up with it. Yet others fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bore fruit a hundredfold (Luke 8: 4-15).
In the explanation of the parable, Jesus says the seed is the Word. No one can doubt the potency of God's Word. If the Word fails to produce result, it is not the inefficacy of the Word or of the sower, but the land, and in this case it is the heart of men that influences the performance of the seed. It is unfortunate that some listeners in church have the hearts that are
vulnerable to birds of the air. Such hearts are those that wonder about when preaching is going on.
They hardly hear anything in church. Even if they hear, the Word does not get home with them. The enemies of their souls simply pick everything. Others have hearts that cannot stay upon God's Word for a season. Although they hear and even respond to altar call, when their flesh demands for things contrary to the Word they hear, they easily submit to their flesh. These are believers who cannot resist temptation because they are not deep rooted in the Word. Some believers have hearts full of the cares of this world. Although they seemingly love God, they also love the world. They are those who use the Word as a cloak for covetousness. You never can be a friend of the world and please God in anyway, as the Scripture cannot be broken (1John 2:15-17). The cares of the world will stunt the growth of the Word.
It was the same seeds that fell on fertile ground and produced fruit in thirty, sixty and hundred folds. Anytime God's Word finds a fertile ground, the fullness of its potential will manifest. God's Word is perfect, converting the soul. It is a lamp to the feet of men, and a light to the path of them who believe. Make your heart ready today for God's Word, and the preaching you hear daily will produce positive effect in your life.

Prayer/Action
* Bind the forces that destroy the seed of God's Word in you.
* Decree that your heart will be receptive to God's Word.
* Pray that you will not miss any Word of God meant for you, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
In my life, work and family, I reject backward motion and lack of testimony, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Another Repentance

Saturday 24 June
READ: Psa. 119:11
MORE LESSON: Jn. 5:39-47

Aside from repenting from our sins and iniquities, there exists yet another kind of repentance that we all must experience in our faith walk. It is repentance from sheer unbelief, which in the life of a Christian is one of the most grievous offences one can commit. This is so because we know that the Word of God cannot lie yet out of logic and personal perspectives we develop reasons to doubt the Word of God.
Every believer has the Holy Spirit, and it is He who empowers us to believe God’s Word until we receive what it promises. It is one thing to have the Word of God in your head (logos) and it is another to have the Word in your heart ( rhema). King David who was a man after God’s heart made this clear enough when he said of the Word of God in Psa. 119:11 that it must find its way into our hearts. For it is from our hearts that the abundance of life flows.
The Word of God is not a logical book and cannot be approached as such. It is spiritual wisdom and can only be interpreted by the Spirit of the One who inspired its writing. We are not even mandated to understand everything that the Word of God delivers to us at first contact because we just might not; we are rather instructed to believe it. This is the difference; faith. We must exercise our faith in God’s Word, both individually
and corporately. Faith is the prerequisite for getting the best out of God’s Word.
The litmus test of true maturity in the things of God is actually a measure of the difference between the scriptures we know in our heads and the ones we have received into our hearts and lives. Our head knowledge must be mixed with faith in our hearts so that we can get the results that the Word talks about. The Word in the book cannot do us good until it becomes the Word in the heart. Sin is figurative of all the works of the devil, so the psalmist was saying that the Word of God in his heart was his defence from the powers of darkness. Oh, how powerful is the Word of God in our hearts!
Enough of confessing your feelings, pains and your negative situations. Away with sense knowledge and approach to things; away with our traditions. It’s time to make heartfelt faith proclamations from the Word that is stored up in our hearts. It’s time to confess the Word of God by faith and see the power of God at work in and through us.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to help your unbelief, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God to open the Word to you everytime, in the name of Jesus.
* Promise God that you will always obey His Word.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Rain of mercy and help from Heaven fall on me and my family this year, in the name of Jesus.

Praise on Credit

Friday 23 June
READ: Rom. 4:17-22
MORE LESSONS: Rom. 4:20

A friend of mine recently told a story that touched me very much. He had been asking the Lord for a car and the fact that his wife was pregnant made their need more urgent, especially in case there was an emergency. After some days of intensive and fervent prayer, he heard the Lord say He had granted his request and gave him the names of two persons who would soon send the money to him. Soon after, he checked his mails but there was no message for him. He returned home disappointed and began praying again; he was concerned that the wife's EDD was a few days away and there was still no car. He kept praying.
Then the two persons called to say they had sent him some money. As he and his wife began to praise and worship the Lord, God rebuked him for praising Him only when the two men called. My friend believed his friends more than God; the car came but with a rebuke. This is unlike Father Abraham of whom the Bible records, He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God: Rom. 4:20.
We believe what we see in the physical more than the spiritual promises of God. The implication is that we trust men than the Almighty God and His Word. Learn to trust and give thanks to God while you wait, that is giving thanks on credit. It is celebrating God's promise thereby provoking Heaven to action. Unknown to my friend, the money came as soon as God said it but his change of address caused delay. If you give God praise on credit, you get your results early. Learn not to stagger at God's promises but give Him glory while waiting like Father Abraham did.
One thing that helped Abraham to give thanks while waiting was his being “fully persuaded” about what he was asking God for. The new living translation says, He was fully convinced...: Rom.4:21 (NLT). When you are fully convinced that God has answered, it is easy to thank Him in advance. Never ask God for what you are not sure He will do. Ask with faith and proof your faith with thanks after the request but if you will follow Jesus’ style, give thanks before asking (John 11:41), that is praise on credit.

Prayer/Action
* Ask the Lord to forgive your unbelief, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask the Lord to bless you with a grateful and appreciative heart.
* Bless God for all you are expecting Him to do for you today, in the name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Let the power of unprecedented, unexplainable help locate me this month, in the mighty name of Jesus.

The Problem of Worry

Thursday 22 June
READ: Matt.13:18-23
MORE LESSON: Lk.12:22

Don't worry’ is easy enough to say, but it’s not so easy to do when unpaid bills stack up or a crisis looms or the future looks bleak. Worry can overwhelm and brutalise a person; it's a hard emotion to suppress. There is hardly any man who has never gone through worry before. Even the disciples of Jesus were once worried about their future and Peter expressed his fear, ...See, we have left all and followed You: Lk. 18:28. Worry is a powerful emotion that grips a person tightly in times of crisis and he wonders, What about tomorrow? What if this happens? What if that happens? If we don't have enough, we worry that it might be stolen or taken away. Man is indeed a phenomenon! Some people are terribly worried about the fact that they are too young; they want to get older, but worrying won’t change anything or help anyone.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus talks about the seed that was choked out by the worries of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. The seed of the Word of God never brought forth fruit because it was strangled by worry. It isn't only those who are well off that are plagued with the problem of worry, it also bedevils those who have very little but who are always worrying about what they don't have. Whether for lack or
abundance, the effect is the same: it chokes you and strangles you spiritually.
Here are a few reasons why you must not worry:
1. Most of what we worry about never take place.
2. Worry has never been a problem solver.
3. Worry does not make things better but worse.
4. Medical science says worry can shorten a man's life.
5. Worry is anti faith and anti trust in God.
What to do with worry:
1. Take all matters to God in prayer and leave them there.
2. Cast all your cares upon the Lord.
3. Don't fear the future, rather pray about the future.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus: Phil.4:6-7.
Remember, worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, rather it empties today of its strength.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to forgive your worry and anxiety, in Jesus’ name.
* Tell God that you shall be more committed to His Word and promises, in Jesus’ name.
* Bind everything that causes you to worry, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Every spirit of diversion of glory, I destroy you by the fire of the Holy Ghost today, in the name of Jesus.