YOUR PRAYER REQUEST REVEALS WHO YOU ARE

MEMORY VERSE: And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 1 Kings 3:10

BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 8-11

In 1 Kings 3:4-14, King Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings to God. The Lord was very impressed and gave him a blank cheque. Verse 5 says: ‘In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, ask what I shall give thee.’ If you give God what no man has ever given to Him; He will give you what He has never given to any man in return. King Solomon was the first to offer a thousand burnt offering to God; and, he was the first to receive a blank cheque from God. I pray that God will inspire you and me to do something no man has ever done, so we can receive something no man has ever received.

1 Kings 3:9-10 says: ‘Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.’ Someone once said, ‘I never ask God for anything because He knows my needs.’ God knows your needs, but He wants you to ask. Matthew 7:7-8 says: ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.’ King Solomon's request was specific. He didn’t ask for everything or anything. Be specific with your request. Don’t act like the man who said, ‘God, my name is Jimmy and I will take whatever you gimme.’ King Solomon’s request reflected his priority, personality, vision, values, goals, etc. Your request says a lot about you.

NOTE: We can tell from King Solomon’s prayer request that he was a humble man. We can also tell from his prayer request that he was not a selfish man. He was a man who put the needs of others first.

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I AM MY BELOVED’S

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 28, Matt 27, Esth 4, Acts 27

Songs of Solomon 6:3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: He feedeth among the lilies.

What the Shulamite woman meant by I am my beloved’s is I no longer own myself again, I belong to my beloved. She was saying i am no longer in charge of my body, my time and resources. What she was saying was that I have giving up my identity and taken the identity of my beloved in other words i have become invisible so that my beloved will become visible. What she saying was that I having giving my aspirations, my past, present and future, even my decision making to my beloved. In other words I have giving all to my beloved. After giving up everything, the next thing she said was ‘and my beloved is mine’ which means I own all my beloved has. This woman had to first give herself to get her beloved in return.

There are one or two lessons to learn from this verse. Firstly, to get anything you must be ready to give yourself to it. There is a price for everything. There is a price for success, good husband or wife, good home, even to get to heaven. The price to get to heaven is by been born again. John 3:3 says except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. To get anything in life you must ready to give all. Secondly, whatever you will own will be determined by what you are willing to give. God is not a respecter of persons but a respecter of principles, Acts 10:34.There are two important principles for receiving anything in life- giving and asking. Luke 6:38 says give and it shall be given unto you. It is only when you give that you can expect something in return. There are many who go to God with long list of prayer requests daily but they are not ready to give up their time to serve in the vine yard of God or evangelize. That is not how things work in the kingdom of God. Even God had to give something to save our soul. John 3:16 says for God so loved the world that He gave. The second principle is asking. Matthew 7:8 says ask, and it shall be given you. You only stand a chance of receiving when you ask. Brethren, after giving you are required to ask. God knows all your needs before you come to Him, but He expects you to ask. God knew what Solomon was going to ask Him, but He still said to him ‘ask, what I shall give thee, 2 Chronicles 1:7’. The bible says ask not complain. It says ask not grumble or get angry at God. We are limited by request! The reason why many get into problem is because they do not seek counsel or ask questions. It is not a sin not to know actually there is a saying which goes it is better to ask a stupid question than to make a stupid mistake. Proverbs 15:22 says without counsel purposes are disappointed. Proverbs 11:14 says in the multitude of counselors there is safety. How did the Shulamite get her beloved? She gave herself, Songs of Solomon 6:3.After that she asked for her beloved. The whole book of Song of Solomon is filled with the Shulamite asking for her beloved. How can I get Christ on my side? Firstly give yourself to Him and secondly ask Him to come to you. It is impossible to have Christ by your side if you are not willing to give yourself to Him. It will be a waste of time to give yourself to Him and not ask Him to come into your life or challenges . Matthew 7:8 says for everyone that asketh recieveth. Before you go and ask, ensure that are truly His.

PRAYER POINT: Father, I want you in every facet of my life.

WHEN THE LORD VISITS

Genesis 18:3 – and said “My Lord, if I have now found favour in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.

In Genesis 18:1-33 is a story we all know quite well. The Most High God with two angels visited family of Abraham. This visit marked the dawn of a new beginning in that family. On the day God visited the family of Abraham, five things happened. Firstly, He dealt with their enemy which was fruitlessness. Every time they tried at having children they met with frustration. Secondly, He dealt with their shame. Out of desperation, Sarah with Abraham arranged to have a child through Hagar (Sarah‘s maidservant). Immediately Hagar conceived, she began to despise Sarah because she was barren. By despising Sarah she was indirectly despising Abraham the husband. God took away the shame by giving Sarah a son. Thirdly, He fulfilled the promise of a son He had made to Abraham fourteen years earlier in Genesis 15:4. Fourthly, He gave Abraham an opportunity to make a request. Abraham’s request was that Sodom and Gomorrah be spared if ten good men were found in them and the Lord said done! Lastly, by the time God left, their joy was full.

When Jesus visited the world over 2000 years ago, He dealt with the enemy – sickness, fruitless efforts, death to mention a few. Secondly, He took away shame. All righteousness according to Isaiah 64:6 was as filthy rags before God, but when Jesus came He brought the garment of righteousness – Romans 13:14. Thirdly, He fulfilled the promise that was made in Isaiah 53:5 which says He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Fourthly, He gave an opportunity for everyone to make a request. Matthew 7:7 says ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Lastly, by the time He left the joy of all those who received Him were full because they could now be addressed as sons and daughter of God. John 1:12 says but as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Jesus is still willing to visit us individually. He wants to deal with our enemies, take away our shame and reproach, fulfill His promises for our lives, give us an opportunity to make a request and by the time He leaves ensure that our joy is full. A point to note is Jesus is a gentleman; He does not gatecrash into people’s life or homes except when invited. When He is invited He only honours invitation of His friends. His friends are those who obey Him – John 15:14. You will never see His friends participating in internet fraud. His friends are pure, they never swear or curse. His friends are like Job, they have made covenant with their eyes not to lustfully look at any woman or man (Job 31:1).

KEY POINT: Before inviting Him, settle everything that could stand between you and Him or else He will not honour the invitation.

LIMITED BY REQUEST

John 14:13 - and whatever you ask in My name,that i will do , that the Father may be glorified in the Son
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This is an open cheque from our Lord Jesus Christ to all believers. According to Matthew 7:7, it is our responsibility to fill the open cheque. What we fill in it is our business but remember what we fill is what we get. Since we are responsible for our request and limited by what we ask for , we can decide to ask for a child maybe a boy or girl or decide to ask for triplets two boys and a girl or vice versa. We can choose to ask for a bedroom house or a mansion with 7 bedrooms - every one has his or her room and the two left for guests.We can decide to ask for little anointing or mega anointing like that of David . David was anointed until his cup ran over.We can ask for only a gift of the Spirit maybe healing or prophecy or ask for all! Remember there is enough in the heavenly store to cater for all needs.

This brings us to the question of how do we ask ? We can ask through our confession .Numbers 14:28 says as i live says the Lord, as you have spoken in My hearing , so i will do to you. Another way to ask is through sowing,tithes and offerings.Galatians 6:7 says whatever a man sows , he shall reap. According to Proverbs 3:9-10 , anyone who honors the Lord with his first fruits is requesting for expansion and enlargement of coast.We know that payment of tithes is telling God please rebuke every form devourer in my life. Another way to ask is through our actions. The actions include soul winning. According to Proverbs 11:30 those who win souls are wise and Proverbs 3:35 says the wise shall inherit glory. Another action is helping the poor.Proverbs 19:17 says anyone who shows pity on the poor lends to the Lord and the Lord always pays His debts on time. Another action is showing mercy.Matthew 5:7 says the merciful will obtain mercy. We can also ask through our lifestyle.Psalms 75:10 says the horn of the righteous shall be exalted.

ACTION POINT: We now know how to ask , let us take our pens and begin to fill the open cheque from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Beyond Request

Sunday 2 September                                 Bible in one year: Esther 4-7

Memorise: A little one among you shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten in in his time.Isaiah 60:22

Read: John 2:1-11

God is unlimited in generosity hence Romans 8:32 says if He could give up His Son, what else can’t He give to us? When Solomon made request in 2 Chronicles 1:6-12 , all he asked for was wisdom, yet God went beyond his request to give even the things he never asked for . This He did to prove to Solomon that God was inestimable in his life, that even though Solomon can be exhausted after giving 1000 burnt offerings,He cannot be exhausted while giving. This year, the Lord will not be tired of blessing you. You will give to Him and ask for one thing and God will you give you ten things -asked and unasked. In John 2:1-11, they only told Him they needed some wine. Instead of giving them a few bottles, He gave them 162 gallons which is over 700 litres (British imperial system) of the purest wine. He did not order for them from the winery but simply spoke to the water and said : ” Water, I need you to serve me not as water but as wine” and immediately the water became wine. Today, the Lord will speak sweetness into your tasteless situation in Jesus name.

Where God takes His supplies from ,there is much more left. The whole of man kind can never exhaust God’s resources,much less it being exhausted while serving only you.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil;my cup runnest over. Psalms 23:5

I once asked God, “why the waste?” And He said: “so that you will know that i have unlimited blessings.There is plenty from where the blessings in coming from”. Isaac sowed in a time of famine and he received 100 fold returns, and God added to him a large flock of cattle and a great store on servants ( Genesis 26:12-14). Esau on the other hand got only a tiny blessings, yet he had 400 bodyguards (Genesis 32:6). That is why wise believers will never joke with their tithes even for once. Why? Malachi 3:10 says when you pay your tithe , you are asking God to demonstrate what He can do. Your tithe will make God flex His muscles, ready to bless you ,while paying your first fruits will cause your barns to burst (Proverbs 3:9-10). As you obey Him completely and ask in accordance to His word, you will get beyond your request. You will knock on one door and 10 doors will open to you.This is possible because God is a God of super abundance.

ACTION POINT: Have you ever asked God one thing and He gave you beyond that request? If you answer is No , do so now. If your answer is Yes, ask  Him to repeat it.

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.