Practising Praise

Tuesday 1 November
READ: Eph. 5:20
MORE LESSON: 1 Tim. 2: 8

You must learn to give praise and you must learn to practise praise ahead of situations of life. Most things we do in life are learnt; we learnt how to walk, talk and read. Giving praise does not come naturally; it has to be learnt. The Scripture urges us to give thanks always. There is no season or location for praise; praise is for all times, at all places and in all situations. The Bible wants us to lift up holy hands everywhere (1 Tim. 2: 8). This should be done in praise and worship of God. You should learn how to praise and worship God, and even learn and practise how you will give your testimony before it shows up.
Everything that one wishes to excel in must be learnt and perfected. Praise also must be practised ad perfected in your life. You should practise praise so much till it becomes a natural part of you. Let the expression 'thank you Jesus', 'Blessed be the name of the Lord', 'Praise God' become statements that are so much part of you that you often say them even unconsciously. That results only from a life that has practised and perfected praise.
The following points should be noted:
1. If you must practise praise, you must willingly decide to do it. Praise is a decision; it is not an impartation. You don't need any one to lay hands on you before you praise God. All it takes is for you to decide to do it.
2. Praise is a process, so it must be learnt. No man masters a skill without learning it. Just as with all skills, you learn praise by doing it repeatedly and often, both when you feel like it and when you don't. Praise God all the time.
3. Praise cannot be learnt without doing it. Praise is not learnt by merely reading books on praise. The only way to learn how to pray is to pray. Similarly, the only way to learn how to praise is to praise. Furthermore, you don't learn praise to add to your CV that you are a praise singer; you learn praise so that you can praise God. You learn praise by praising Him. So begin to praise Him all the time.
4. You must praise God in church and out of church. Do not limit your praise of God to a particular location; do not exempt yourself when the praise of God is going on in the church. Men lose a great deal when corporate praise and worship is going on and they stand aloof. You must praise God in your secret place and in church.
5. You should learn from others when they praise. When somebody is praising God by your side, join him to praise. When people are dancing in church, don't just watch, do so as well.
6. The ultimate in life only comes by praise.
Praise the Lord!

Prayer/Action
* Confess as the psalmist that your heart is fixed for praise.
* Declare that God’s praise shall continually be in your mouth.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, I give You the glory for making me see another new month, and for the goodness You have packaged into it, in Jesus' name.

Worship the King II

Monday 31 October
READ: Acts 1: 12 -15
MORE LESSON: John 2: 5

Only Jesus, the King of kings, deserves our worship. Only Jesus can save and only Jesus should be worshipped. No saint, apostle or prophet should be worshipped; not even the disciples of Jesus, His father or His mother. The worship of any other than Jesus is idolatry, no matter how closely related the person is to Him. If the worship is not to Jesus, it is unacceptable.
The mother of Jesus was a worshipper of Jesus. She, like every other person, received salvation and baptism of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. When the disciples gathered in the upper room, praying and worshipping Jesus, Mary the mother of Jesus was there. She was a believer in the Lordship of Jesus. She didn't see Him as her son anymore; she knew that He was God in the flesh who died, rose again and is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High for the remission of the sin of the whole world, including hers. Mary believed and was saved.
Culturally, the mother of a king is under the lordship of the king. This is what Mary understood when some people needed a miracle and came to her. She quickly directed them to Jesus and advised them to do whatever Jesus told them to do. She knew that she couldn't give them a miracle; only Jesus could (John 2: 5 – 9).
I remember that before my mother went to be with the Lord, I was ministering under the unction of the Lord and I was laying hands on all the people in a service. As people passed on the line, I laid hands as quickly as I could without looking at their faces. All of a sudden, I saw the next person kneeling before me and as I laid hands on her head, I discovered in a fleeting moment that it was my mother. I was immediately at a loss how to react as I wondered, 'What have I just done now? My own mother knelt before me and I laid hands on her.' When we got home, I wanted to apologise for laying hands on her head and was questioning why she came and knelt before me. However, I thank God for the height of her spiritual understanding. She laughed and said that she wasn't kneeling before me. She said, 'Son, there is Someone in you that is greater than both you and I. It was that Person I was kneeling before.' From that day, I had an understanding that it is not the person of the king that is the question when it comes to the worship of the king. It is the King in him that is worshipped.
Only Jesus the King deserves the worship. Even the mother of a king bows down to the king because it is not about her son; it is about the King in him.

Prayer/Action
* In the name of Jesus, the King in me shall manifest for the world to see.
* Pray that God will give you the wisdom to know how to revere His Lordship in the life of His servants.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, thank You for being Lord over my October , no one can guarantee life for a second, but You have guaranteed 10 months, Thank You, in the name of Jesus.

Worship the King I

Sunday 30 October
READ: Matt. 2: 11
MORE LESSON: 2 Sam. 6: 21 - 22

The wise men came to the Child Jesus and fell prostrate on the ground in worship. These men were not small both in age and status but they fell prostrate before a child. This shows that when it comes to worshipping God, no man should claim age, wealth or academic qualification. All these should be put aside for the worship of the King.
I can relate to this from experience as my maternal uncle was a prominent king and I remember that on the day of his coronation, all the children and younger siblings of the king were called and were educated on the importance of the new role and status that we were about to assume. From that experience, I learnt a few things on the honour of a king.
1. The king never bows to anyone but all bow to him. I noticed to my surprise that even when the mother of the king came to greet him, the king merely brandished the horse tail that he was holding in his hand to her. I expected the king would prostrate to greet his mother as is the custom in the Western part of Nigeria. In Africa, especially in my native region, when you meet an elderly person, you prostrate in honour, more so when you greet your parents; you simply go on the floor. However, for the king, his mother kneels before him and he waves the royal emblem to acknowledge her greeting. You can't worship the mother of the King; you only worship the King. Even the mother of the king worships the king.
2. The king ordains some chiefs and many of them are elderly people. In fact, in the case of my uncle there was a particular elderly woman that was ordained into the official position of the 'mother of the king'. However even though these men were all chiefs, they all, including the said 'mother of the king' bowed to the king. The fact that God called a man and ordained him doesn't mean he should stand tall as others worship the king. We must all lie prostrate before the King.
3. In my culture, you prostrate before an elderly person. However, when you want to greet the king, you don't only put your two hands on the ground and your chest on the floor, you also turn from one side to the other as you roll on the ground before the king. While you do all the rolling, the king merely sits, nods and waves his horse tail at you. It is all about willingly throwing away your self-dignity as you acknowledge the king's higher dignity. King David understood this in 2 Sam. 6: 22 when he chose to become undignified before God –the King of kings.
Beloved, it is time to worship the King of kings.

Prayer/Action
* Declare as you bow to the King of kings that every situation will bow to you today, in Jesus’ name.
* Worship the King because His dominion is an everlasting dominion.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Any battle packaged against me to delay my God-ordained blessing and breakthrough be destroyed, in the name of Jesus.

Clash of Kings

Saturday 29 October
READ: Mark 5: 1-17
MORE LESSON: 1 John 4: 4

There was a mad man in the region of Gadarenes. The man was in such a bad shape that people stayed as far as they could from him. Whenever the madness got a thorough hold of him and nobody was present for him to destroy, he would begin to inflict damage on himself. Even when he was chained, he would break the chains and take stones to cut himself. The mad man was ruled by very principal demons which had turned him also into a principality. He was a ruler in his own kingdom. How else do you explain a man living all by himself in the grave yard, far from men and society? The demonic forces that ruled the man were so many that they described themselves as legion. This army of darkness turned the man to a king of terror as he did whatever he liked and nobody dared to go near him. No police man or soldier could arrest him, no king could command him. He was king of his own kingdom; a kingdom no one else wanted to be in with him. Jesus went visiting this region and deliberately walked this path that nobody dared to walk.
Of course, Jesus is also King in His own Kingdom. So when Jesus showed up at the grave yard that day, there was a clash of kings and kingdoms. The king in the cemetery saw the King of kings and without contradiction, the lesser king had to bow to the greater King. The disciples and all who were present must have stood holding their breath as they watched what would happen. The man walked towards Jesus and Jesus walked towards him. The spectators were already premeditating on what to do if the man pounced on Jesus, messed Him up and then approached them. The onlookers stood in fear as they pondered whether that was going to be the end to Jesus' life and ministry.
As the two approached each other, suddenly the mad man recognised the greater King and fell prostrate on the ground and bowed down before Him. The Bible says that he worshipped Him (Mark 5: 6). The legion of demons that ruled this man recognised the greater King in Jesus. This confirms Jesus as King as the mad man and all the demons in him bowed and worshipped Him. The onlookers stood in awe as they realised that truly Jesus is not a mere man; He is the King of kings. The demons began to beg Him to send them out into the swine and not into the desert. The same demons in the mad man that would listen to none, submitted and begged Jesus. When He commanded them to go out of the man, they ran out as quickly as they could. The Real King had shown up, all other kings must bow.

Prayer/Action
* In the name of Jesus, every throne and king contending over my life, I command you to bow to the Lordship of Jesus.
* Jesus, rise as King for me and prevail over every kingdom that has risen up against me.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Every evil embargo to limit my destiny in 2016, be lifted now, in the name of Jesus.