Benefits of Praise

Saturday 4 November
READ: Acts 16: 25 – 26 
MORE LESSON:  2 Sam. 6: 14 – 15

It was praise that brought Paul and Silas out of the prison. There are numerous benefits in praise. The Bible said that when Paul and Silas praised that there was an earthquake, the prison doors were opened and every man's chain was broken. They experienced those three benefits in one action of praise. Strange miracles happen when you praise.

Many times the reason we do not achieve maximum benefit from praise is because we are too careful in praising God. We do not want to be too out-of-place, so we do not go all out in praising God. David was not careful in praising God so He became the man after God's heart. When the Ark of the Covenant was being brought into the temple, David praised God and danced so much that some people were getting embarrassed for him. But personally, he was not embarrassed about praising God. These are times we must throw away caution when it comes to praising God: we must praise God anyhow.

Praise is not just something one does in the bedroom or in the Church; it is the day to day expression of gratitude to God. Praise is an attitude and it shows in our interaction with people and our environment. A praise giver is always excited about God and people; he has a grateful spirit and always expresses thanks at every opportunity. A lot of people praise in church, but their attitude and expressions in everyday life negate all the benefits that the praise in church would have brought to them. Praise must be total; in your closet, in church and in everyday life. If you must get maximum benefit from praise, then you should note the following points.

1. You must not make praise only a secret affair but also a public one. God is impressed by your praise when you make it public. If you give secret praise, you get secret result. To get outstanding and public results, you should give public praise.

2. Praise must come from the heart. Real praise is not a lip service; it should be a heartfelt expression.

3. Praise must be all involving. You can't praise God and not be physically involved in it. You don't praise aloof and you don't think praise. You do it and engage yourself in it. Do not praise God while your mind is on other things.

Praise has untold benefits. Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely: Psa. 147:1.

Prayer/Action
* As k the Lord to release upon your life the spirit of praise.
* Ask God to help you to be more conscious of His presence than your environment when you praise.
* Declare that your life will always show forth the praises of God.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Satan, your hold on me is broken this month, in the name of Jesus.

Beauty of Doing

Friday 3 November
READ: Eccl. 10:18 
MORE LESSON:  Jam. 2: 17 – 26

A building that is not in use and which no one is staying in decays with time. Anything that is not put into use becomes dilapidated. The Bible likens a believer to the building where God lives (1 Cor. 3: 16). Therefore, like a building, disuse will make a man's life become dilapidated. Idleness and slothfulness cause a destiny to decay. For a man to amount to anything in life, there must be action. Only men of action enjoy the beauty of life.

Anywhere that there is no motion, there is demotion. A destiny decays when there is no movement.  The easiest way to lose value is to do nothing. If a man wants to fail in life, all he has to do is to do nothing. When faith lacks action it is merely an empty boast. James 2: 17 says, In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (NIV). A man who confesses faith and prays but does nothing will soon die of starvation.

Anything that has decayed is usually thrown away and destroyed. The key to not becoming discarded or destroyed is to do something. As it is written, By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through: Eccl. 10 : 18.

Life celebrates men of action. A man who adds value is valued and can never become discarded. As every man values and preserves his best possession, so does God also value people who add value in His Kingdom. Therefore, a man of valuable actions is honoured by God. There are people who are dead but the fruit of the valuable actions they took while alive is still speaking today.

Matt. 28:19 contains the Great Commission which is the responsibility placed on the Church. The first word in the Great Commission is 'go'. 'Go' is a verb; it is an action word and requires motion. Therefore, you cannot amount to anything in the Kingdom unless you take the action of going. Jesus was always on the move when He was on the earth. He was always doing something. Church title has no meaning unless you take actions that meet up with the responsibility placed on you. The responsibilities include bringing others to Christ, witnessing for Jesus, serving in the Church and blessing lives. Empty chairs in the Church and innumerable sinners on the streets, show that we are not taking enough actions. By the grace of God, you will no longer be a motionless Christian. There is beauty in going as commanded by Jesus. There is beauty in doing as admonished by the Word of God. Your life is beautified as you take Word-inspired actions. 

Prayer/Action
* Declare that as you put your faith to work, God will work wonders in your life.
* Pray that God will make you the doer of the Word.
* Pray that God will take you beyond lip service to serve Him actively.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
It's a new day, a new season, a new glory; all old things have passed away, in the name of Jesus.

Prison Breaker

Thursday 2 November
READ: Acts 16: 25 - 34
MORE LESSON:  Psa. 114: 1 – 8

Two great men of God were locked up in a jail. It is surprising that despite the anointing and power these apostles carried, they could still be beaten, arrested and imprisoned. There are times when life wants to mess you up even though you carry grace and you are serving God passionately. It was there in the prison, where it looked like all hope was gone and nothing was working for Paul and Silas, that they applied a timeless Kingdom principle that can never fail.

Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God.  It was praises that brought about the deliverance of the day. The Bible says that when they praised; And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed: Acts 16:26. Praise brought an earthquake, shook the foundation of the prison, opened the prison doors and loosed the chains of the people. Praise is the real prison breaker!

It is said that when all fail, try praise. Well, why wait for all to fail first? Try praise right now! Praise will open strong doors and break barred  gates. According to Psa. 22: 3, God in His Holiness inhabits the praises of His people. This means that when we praise God, He comes to dwell among us. When you praise God in the midst of any circumstance, He comes to dwell in the midst of that circumstance. When God inhabits a place, you can only imagine what would happen in such a place. The Bible says that even mountains and seas flee before the presence of God. So when His presence comes into your situation, the problem disappears. God inhabited the prison that day due to the praise of Paul and Silas and the prison could not stand the glory of His presence. Therefore, the prison started to shake and tremble as the chains of the people also began to melt like wool in fire. Your praise brings God into your situation and, oh, great things happen when He comes!

Therefore if you are in trouble, bring God into your trouble by your praises and the trouble will melt at His presence. Bring God into your struggles, needs, problems and challenges through your praise and when  He comes to inhabit the praise, all contrary situations will flee His presence.  Praise breaks prisons and destroy yokes, so make praise your lifestyle. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him: Psa. 67:5-7.

Prayer/ACTION
* Pray that the presence of the Lord in your life will fling every prison door open.
* Ask God to step into every negative situation you are going through.
* Pray that you will never praise God without seeing the manifestation His presence.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
My sun will rise in November never to set, the dark clouds will give way for the sun to shine and my destiny will celebrate, in the name of Jesus.

Contending for your Promised Land

Wednesday 1 November
READ: Deut. 2: 24   
MORE LESSON:  Josh. 10: 14

In Deut. 2:24, God told the children of Israel that He had given them the land of Canaan, but then He told them to contend in battle for the possession of the land.  Many times God has made promises to us and what we need is to act and contend for those promises. A lot of believers love praying for promises, which is not bad, but there are times that what you need is to act and not pray. The Lord had already given the land to Israel so the land was theirs to take. However, no amount of speaking in tongues would deliver the land to them without their effort; they needed to cross the Jordan, carry arms and go into battle for the land. The good thing is that it was not a battle that they could lose as the Lord of host Himself had already given the land to them.

Our victory had been guaranteed before the war even started. The reason we have not possessed the land is because the Lord is waiting for us to do something. A lot of people claim they are waiting for God when God is actually waiting for them. It is when you take action that God will have something to act upon in order to intervene in your battle. When Israel conquered Jericho they only shouted and the walls came crumbling down. This shows that it was not their power but God's intervention that gave them the victory. They needed to do something; They needed to walk round the city seven times and they needed to shout. When the walls came down, they needed to go in and take the spoil.

Any sermon that makes you think you will do nothing but pray for you to possess your promised land is incomplete. After prayers, you will need to contend for your possession. No one ever bagged a degree by prayers alone, you will need to read your books and contend with difficult exams. You will have to get down to work and go after the deals for you to succeed in business. You will have to contend in battle to possess what God has promised you.

However, in every situation the Lord always wants to take all the glory.  So He will not allow you to do it in a way that there is no intervention from Him. Joshua eventually possessed the promised land, according to Josh 10:42, . . . because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. The final victory was the combination of what Joshua did and what God did. Your victory will be a combination of what you do and what God does but what He does will be much more than the little you do so that He will take all the glory at the end. Work, pray and trust God; testimonies will come.

Prayer/Action
* Raise a standard of God against every power opposing the promise of God in your life, in the mighty name of Jesus.
* Declare that the promises of God for your life will begin to manifest now.
* Decree judgement on all giants on the way, in Jesus’ mighty name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, my heart rejoices in the gift of the eleventh month, it speaks of Your faithfulness Oh God, thank You Jesus, in Jesus' name.