WHAT INFORMS YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS

MEMORY VERSE: And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment. 1 Kings 3:11

BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 16-19

People in love give gifts to one another. John 3:16 says: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…’ God gave us His son out of love. Out of love, Solomon gave one of the biggest offerings a man ever gave to God: a thousand burnt offerings (2 Kings 3:4-14). The Lord reciprocated the love by paying him a visit. ‘What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!’ He asked. Solomon asked for an understanding heart to judge God’s people. 1 Kings 3:10 says: ‘And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.’

Why did Solomon’s request please God? 1 Kings 3:11 says: ‘And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;’ God used the phrase ‘asked for thyself’ three times. He was referring to the fact that Solomon did not ask anything for himself. Rather, he asked for what will enable him to serve the people better. The prayer and requests of Solomon were not all about what he wanted for himself but what he wanted for others and God was extremely pleased. A request that you make to God that has in it, a focus on how you can be a blessing to others pleases Him more than those which is focused on what only you can get. Also, Solomon’s request was from a humble heart. Psalm 51:17 says: ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.’ Solomon, in his request, acknowledged that he didn’t have what it takes; viz., wisdom, an understanding heart, etc., to lead the people. When you accept that you are weak and you ask God for strength, He is pleased. Solomon’s request was motivated by nothing but love for the people of God. His request was not motivated by hatred, greed, anger, rebellion, or jealousy.

QUESTION: What informs your prayer requests? Do you ask for things from God out of envy or jealousy? Do you ask God for things of temporal value or eternal value?

NOTE: Ask for wisdom. Ask for understanding. Ask for power to create wealth rather than wealth. Ask for more of Him rather than more of things.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world.

THE FIRE SHALL TRY EVERY MAN’S WORK OF WHAT SORT IT IS

Each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 1 Corinthians 3:13

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 19- 21

BIBLE STUDY: 1 Corinthians 3:11-15

On the last day, we (all believers) will stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ to give accounts of our deeds. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says for we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that everyone one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. When I say ALL believers will stand before Christ, I mean ALL believers – founders, pastors, evangelists, intercessors, ushers, choirs, counsellors, members just name it. All of us will stand in a single file with our works and give accounts of how we lived our lives. On that day, there will be no secrets, the ‘works’ of every man will be revealed in the open! This is why Jesus said in Luke 12:2, there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.

After everyone must have lined up, the angels will start to call names, Bro A please step forward with your ‘works’. Bro A will step forward with his ‘works’, the angels will pass it through the fire to test and critically appraise the character and worth of the ‘works’. If his ‘works’ are good, they will remain and Bro A will be presented with a reward or rewards as the case maybe, but if the fire consumes his ‘works’, he will get nothing, which means all his efforts on earth will be equal to zero. 1 Corinthians 3:13 says Each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. Another name will be called, maybe Sister C this time, she will step forward with her ‘works’ and the angels will pass it through fire. One of the things that will shock many is, some names will be called and the fellow will come out with his ‘works’ as big as a skyscraper. As the fellow is marching forward with his ‘works’, everyone will be clapping. Jesus will say don’t clap just yet, pass the ‘works’ through fire and we will see. By the time the angels pass the ‘works’ through fire, all that will be left could be an ordinary pin!

It is not the number of ‘works’ or the size of our ‘works’ but the quality of our ‘works’. One of the things that will determine the quality of our ‘works’ is the heart with which we do God’s works. Are our ‘works’ an eye service or a show off? Did we do them to please men? How did we do them? Did we build according to the pattern Jesus the Master builder gave? What pattern did Jesus give? According to 1 Corinthians 16:14, we are to do everything in love. We are to do every thing without grumbling (Philippians 2:14). We are to do our ‘works’ with diligence. 2 Peter 1:10 says wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things, ye shall never fail. Whilst doing God’s work, we are to practice what we preach. Romans 2:21 says thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Many of us pray a lot in the public, do we pray a lot in the secret? Is who we professed to be on the outside, who we are on the inside?

TO PONDER: What people see outside and what is inside us, do they conflict?

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus.

REWARDED BY REACTION

MEMORY VERSE: and he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come, Luke 19:13

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1Kgs 15, Col 2, Ezek 45, Ps 36

BIBLE STUDY: Luke 19:12-24

A certain noble man had ten servants. Because these servants had served him well over the years, he decided to set them up in business. He gave each servant a capital of one pound to trade with. When he came back, one of the servants had turned the pound into ten pounds. The impressed nobleman rewarded him with ten cities. Another brought a return of five pounds and the nobleman gave him five cities. There was an unwise one who did not bother at all. You know the end of the story.

Ten servants were giving the same capital to trade with i.e. opportunities but their returns varied. The reason for this was because they reacted to the opportunity to trade differently. One grabbed it with his two hands, another didn’t even bother. How come a man is singled out of many for promotion? They do the same job; they probably started at the same time; they face the same challenges at work daily; they were given the same opportunities to prove themselves, how come? Their reaction to the opportunity to serve or work at that company varied. While some were complaining about the management, he minded his business and did his work. While others were arguing with the managers, he listened and ran with the instruction he was given .While others do only what they are paid for, he does extra. Before you know it, the manager will start singing his praise before senior managers and in no time he will be recommended for promotion.

The servants of the noble man were rewarded based on how they reacted to the opportunity to trade. How do you react to the opportunity to come and worship in the house of God? On Sundays, do you only attend family service and miss Sunday school? Do you only attend revivals and skip bible studies? How do you react to medical advices? You have been advised to stay away from certain food, whilst praying for divine healing are you still taking the food the doctors have warned you against? As believers, we are instructed to produce fruits and our fruits must abide, John 15:16.There are two types of fruit here 1) fruit of the spirit – love, patience, kindness etc. Are those fruits visible in your life? 2) Soul winning. How many souls have you won to Christ this year? How many follow up have you done?

NOTE: The noble man in the parable is God and He rewards based on our reactions to the opportunity He has given to us.

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus

NO VESSEL, NO OIL

MEMORY VERSE: and it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, there is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed, 2 Kings 4:6

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 18, 2 Cor 11, Ezek 25, Ps 9

BIBLE STUDY: 2 Kings 4:1-7

The oil in our bible study represents God’s blessing and anointing. The borrowing of vessels represents tasks or divine assignments. As long as the widow kept on borrowing vessels, the oil kept flowing. The moment the empty vessels ceased, the oil stayed. 

The task of borrowing empty vessels was not an easy one for the sons of the widow. The task involved taking actions and obeying divine instructions from the prophet. They had to leave their comfort zone (home) to go and knock at the door of their neighbors and strangers. At first they started with nearby neighbors (those on the same streets) and later moved on to the next street. The farther they traveled to borrow empty vessels, the more effort was required to bring these empty vessels back home. In the process of going from house to house to borrow empty vessels, the boys experienced abuse, rejection , some even harassed them but these boys ignored all these and kept on making efforts to borrow empty vessels. At a point, these boys became satisfied with the number of empty vessels they had borrowed and went back home. Sadly their oil stayed when their vessels ceased.

Friend, I want you to know that life is a continuous motion. You are either moving forward or going backward, there is nothing like been stagnant. The moment these boys stopped borrowing vessels, they began to go backwards. They frustrated the agenda of God for their family and threw away the opportunity to become a blessing to their nation. This is the exact thing that happens in the life of many believers today. They get satisfied with the little things the Lord has done for them and stop pushing themselves. The reason why many are not experiencing God the way they should experience Him is because they have either stopped pushing themselves or they don’t want to be pushed anymore. Many only want to fast once or twice in a week; nobody wants to wait before God in fasting and praying for seven days. Many of us do not want to memories bible verses anymore, we want to depend on Google. Many of us are satisfied with functioning in one department of the church, we do not want to join any other departments. The moment we stop pushing ourselves to be better in the Lord, the oil dries. Many are satisfied with the one or two gifts of the Holy Spirit they have. As far as they can speak in tongues or dream once in a while they are satisfied. We no longer covet other gifts like interpretation of tongues or word of wisdom.

REMEMBER: The moment we stop pushing ourselves to be better in the Lord, the oil dries.

JESUS GREW

MEMORY VERSE: and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man, Luke 2:52

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Sam 7-8, Rom 6, Jer 44-45, Luke 13

From the moment a pregnant woman puts to bed, the baby starts growing. The body weight increases by about 30% and the length by 20%. At a point the baby starts crawling, from crawling to standing unassisted, from standing unassisted to walking, from walking to running or jumping. As the baby begins to grow in height and weight, his immune system too develops. With time the boy grows into a teenager, from a teenager to a youth and finally becomes a man. As the boy passes from a boy to a teenager, the parents begins to assign some responsibilities to him. Not only that, they also begin to commit one or two resources into his hands too. As he grows, the responsibility increases so also the resources.

The same thing happened in the life of Jesus when He was on earth. The bible records that He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man, Luke 2:52. What Jesus was able to do at the age of thirty, He could not do them at the age seven. As a teenager, He did not raise the dead or walk on water or open the eyes of the blind. It wasn’t because the power was unavailable; it was because He needed to grow to a certain level before the power was committed to Him. No matter how much a father loves his son, he will never buy him a Jaguar. It is not because he cannot afford it or because he hates him, it is because the son is not matured enough to own a Jaguar.

The Most High is a responsible father; He will never commit His resources into the hands of a baby Christian. The Lord has great plans for each and every of His children but the plans will not come to fruition until we grow spiritually. The reason why many promises are delayed is because the recipients of such promises are not matured enough to handle the fulfillment of the promises. If the Lord should grant the request of some of us, we will abuse it because we are not matured spiritually to handle the blessings. He will rather wait until we are matured enough to handle them than give it to us and we mess up. The blessings of many are been delayed because the recipients need to grow in humility and love. All some sisters’ need to grow in is humility and the Lord will bring the brother. All some brothers need to grow in is love and the Lord will bring the sister. Your spiritual prosperity will determine your physical prosperity, 3 John 1:2. There are two activities that have been found to be very helpful when it comes to growth spiritually – meditating on the word of God and praying in tongue. If you would meditate on a chapter daily and speak in tongues for an hour daily, within weeks you will be amazed by your spiritual growth.

ACTION POINT: Meditate on a chapter of the bible daily.

AND THEY SHALL BE ONE FLESH

MEMORY VERSE: therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh, Genesis 3:24

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judg 10, Acts 14, Jer 23, Mark 9

How can two individuals from different academic background, family background, different cultures become one? How can two people with different mentalities, different life experiences, different perspective to life, different ambition, e.t.c become one? It takes more than flowers for them to become one. It definitely takes more than the chemical reaction in the brain or physical attraction for them to become one. It takes a lot of things like determination, patience, endurance and most importantly God.

When God created Adam, Eve was not there and when God created Eve, Adam was fast asleep so both of them had little or no knowledge of each other. When Adam met Eve, he had challenges understanding her and when Eve met Adam, she had a challenges understanding him also. The reason for this was that they were not created together or they were created differently. Yet Adam and Eve came together and became one despite these challenges. How did they do it? Despite the fact that there were challenges understanding each other and meeting the needs of each other, there was no record of God coming down to earth to settle fight between them, how did they manage to live in peace and harmony?

For two people to become one there are few things that need to be in place. For a brother and sister to become one there must be agreement between the two. Amos 3:3 says can two walk together except they agree? Many agree to come together but they do not agree to become one. When two people become one, my money becomes our money; my vision becomes our vision ; my resources becomes our resources, e.t.c. No one owns anything, everyone owns everything. Secondly, both of them must be humble. It takes humility for a woman to submit to her husband and it also takes humility for a man to love his wife (Ephesians 5:22-33). Thirdly, there must be communication. Communication is very essential because the only way to let the other party know how you are feeling is by talking about it. In a relationship don’t ever expect the other party to know how you are feeling, if you are not happy say I am not happy at least the other party knows and he can do something about it. Fourthly, there must be forgiveness. Disagreements are inevitable in relationships, people close to you will offend you but you must forgive or else bitterness will set in. Fifthly, praying and studying the bible together. The devil finds it very difficult to penetrate into a marriage where the husband and the wife are always praying together, studying the bible together, praying in tongues together e.t.c. sixthly, there should be no secrets. Openness and transparency in marriage helps unite couple together and build trust. Lastly, avoid third parties. One of the great dis-services you can do to your marriage is allowing a third party opinion in your marriage. The third party could be your friends or in-laws. Whatever happens in the relationship, settle it between yourselves. Once you allow third parties in your relationship, it becomes a union of three not two .Remember two is a company but three becomes a crowd.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please give me the wisdom to run my marriage in a way that is pleasing to you.

HOW TO REMAIN HEAVEN CONSCIOUS

MEMORY VERSE: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, Matthew 6:21

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 27, Ps 70-71, Isa 17-18, 1 Pet 5

The single and the most important goal of every believer must be to make heaven. Whether you believe it or not heaven and hell are real. All other goals are secondary. Matthew 16:26 says for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The only way to achieve this goal is by living holy. You are also expected to focus on this goal or else one might get carried away and lose his salvation. To focus on this goal, you need to be heaven conscious at all times. Not only that you need to live your life as someone who is expecting the second coming of Christ. The chances of achieving a goal you do not think of every day is very slim.

A fellow who is heaven conscious will live in peace with everyone. Hebrews 12:14 says follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. A brother who is heaven conscious will not rob God in tithes because no thief will be allowed in heaven. The main reason why many are not heaven conscious today is because they have no treasures in heaven. Matthew 6:21 says where your treasure is, there will you heart also be. What are treasures? They are those things which we value most like our resources – time, money, energy e.t.c. Where you channel these resources to, there will your heart be also. The reason why you hardly hear anyone talk about heaven is because their heart is not there. As our memory verse suggests, their heart is not there because they have stored their treasures somewhere else.

There are mansions, palaces, sky scrapers in heaven. John 14:2 says in my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Every resource you channel to the things of the kingdom of God is converted to materials that are used in building your heavenly homes. Every time you evangelize, work in the vine yard of God, do follow up or feed the poor and needy, the angels covert these efforts into materials used in building your homes. This is why every believer must be found doing something for Christ. The key to becoming heaven conscious is start channeling your resources to things of the kingdom e.g. evangelism, feeding the poor, taking care of the widow e.t.c. It will be a shame for a brother to have a house on earth and not have home in heaven. 

ACTION POINT: Commit to building your heavenly homes now because the coming of the Lord is at hand.

ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD

MEMORY VERSE: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose, Romans 8:28

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lev 5,Ps 3-4, Prov 20, Col 3

Whatever you are going through , God is aware. It does not matter how rough and touch it maybe, He is aware and He will bring you out unhurt. Psalm 34:20 says the Lord keepeth the bones of the righteous and not one of them is broken. The interpretation of this is that the enemy may throw challenges at you, he may fold, bend, shake, shuffle you, do all sorts but the Lord God himself will ensure that nothing happens to your bones which means you will come out of every challenges bouncing in the Lord. Whatever you going through, will not destroy you. How do I know these? Isaiah 3:10 says tell the righteous is shall be well with him. Whatever the enemies are planning against you, just ignore them because it will only work out for your own good. Romans 8:28 says all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.

When the bible says all things work together for good it means everything will work out for your good. Someone may then ask that how can losing my job or failing an exam or not finding a partner work together for my own good? I believe Joseph must have nurtured this thought too when his brothers sold him to slavery. He must have reasoned that how can been put in prison for an offence he did not commit work for his good ? Few months after I joined my currently employer on a temporary contract, a temporary supervisory role came and I applied for it. I prayed and fasted, I also informed some pastors and we all prayed and the Lord said that I would get the job. Brethren when the result came out I was not even shortlisted at all. To make matters worse they cut down my hours and I was really devastated. Around three years later, that temporary supervisory role was advertised as permanent and I applied for it again. I applied with the people who were currently in that role as temporary team leaders and the Lord gave me the job. Everything that happened worked together for my good. 

From studying our memory verse, you will come to the conclusion that two conditions have to be satisfied before all things can work together for good for us. Condition 1 is that we must love the Lord and condition 2 is that we must give our life to Christ. How can i proof to the whole world that i love Jesus ? By obeying His commandments. Jesus says in John 14:15 if ye love me keep my commandments. If you do everything the Lord expects of you, I can guarantee you that no matter what happens it will work for your good.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please let all things work together for my good.

WORKING OUT YOUR SALVATION IN FEAR AND TREMBLING (Repost)

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. How does one get saved? Is it by saying the prayer of sinners? Is it by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as stated in Acts 16:31? Could it be by calling on the name of the Lord as stated in Romans 10:13? The first step to salvation is repentance. Without repentance there is no salvation. The bible says in Matthew 4:17, from that time Jesus began to preach and to say “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” After Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, the people asked him, what shall we do to be saved? He told them repent and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ – Acts2:38. After the healing of the lame man at the beautiful gate, people converged to the see the lame man and Peter used the opportunity to witness about Jesus. In his sermon, he said in Acts 3:18, “repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Brethren without repentance there is no salvation. 2 Peter 3:9 says The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Philippians 2:12 says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Does is it mean after I am saved I still have work to do in keeping my salvation? Yes. There are many who believes that once we are saved heaven is guaranteed. It is the biggest lie from the devil. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:22 that whoever endures to the will be saved. It is true that we saved by grace according to Ephesians 2:5 but Matthew 24:13 says it is only those who endure to the end that will be saved. Why do we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? The reason why we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling is because salvation can be lost. The grace that brings salvation could be abused. Romans 6:1 say what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Romans 6:15 says what then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Certainly not! The grace that brings salvation can also be frustrated. Paul says in Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Abusing the grace of God or frustrating the grace can lead to withdrawal of grace which eventually means fall from grace of God. According to Galatians 5:4, it is possible to fall from the grace of God. It is also possible to miss the grace of God, Hebrew 12:15.
Many have argued that once we receive salvation we are sealed with the Holy Spirit according to Ephesians 1:13. It is very true but remember that Ephesians 4:30 says and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. If we grieve the Holy Spirit, He will leave.
ACTION POINT. Do everything possible not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Study Ephesians 4:25-32 and it tells us what to do to avoid grieving the Holy Spirit.

Day of Reckoning

Revelations 22:12 - And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Long before Jesus was born , it was prophesied that He will return .Isaiah 62:11 says The LORD has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.‘“Whether we believe it or not He is coming back.
When He returns everyone of us has to settle our accounts with Him.Just like it happened in Matthew 25:14-30, where the three servants had to give accounts , we will also give accounts.What are we going to account about? According to Matthew 12:36 every idle words that we speak .This is does not exempt anyone even born again Christians!

Also our works,Revelations 20:30 says the sea gave up the dead who were in it,and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged ,each one according to his works.1 Corinthians 3:13 says each one’s work will become clear;for the Day will declare it,because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.Are you gathering with Jesus ? if you are not gathering with Jesus by evangelizing then you are scattering .Luke 11:23 says those who do  not gather with Me scatters.

Another thing we will give an account for is how we spent our time on earth,the nobleman in Luke 19:12-25 told his slaves occupy till i come or do business till i come which means busy yourselves with business until i return.We will not only give an account of how we spent our time but how we managed the resources He gave to us.

How are we preparing for that day?On earth , when a student fails there is an opportunity to repeat the class. When a project is submitted and it is not of the required quality there is a chance to redo such project in the day of reckoning there will be no second chance.That day there will be no Oops! or am sorry , ignorance is not an excuse,no excuse will be accepted. No panel to review the decision , all decisions made by God is final no appeal !

How prepared are you for that day ? will your works survive the test of fire? the resources He has given to you have you done business with it? resources like your strength maybe to help in church work , mouth to witness, money to support the missionaries,kingdom projects and the poor ? If you have not giving your life to Christ or if you have before and have backslidded why not come back to Christ.

ACTION POINT: Review your walk with Christ and begin to work on areas that you know that you are lacking.