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02/05/2023 - 03/05/2023 All day

 

May the Lord look on you with favor and give you peace” (Numbers 6:26).

Maziga couldn’t help but observe something different about her condition in life. For almost every school event she seemed to be the least favoured. Techer after another would instinctively spank her for the least offense. She was never picked for any class position. Her name was always read last.

Well, all this cold treatment had a negative reaction on her. Feeling unfavored, Maziga resolved to wear a hard and combative face, after all, no one ever saw any good in her. She greeted every new relation with a sneer. Yet this combativeness only worsened matters. People kept far away from Maziga, never easily drawn to offer her any favors, since she wasn’t a likeable person.

It was though different for her buddy, Mulungi. At school she was always picked for the best positions. When she failed at anything the teachers were most eager to give her a helping hand. Mulungi seemed “everyone’s favorite!”

This train of events continued even after school. When Maziga started looking for a job, door after door would be slammed right in her face! It was different with Mulungi. She had to choose between multiple job offers. And once employed she quickly won promotion. When Maziga started a bakery her goods went unsold, and she quickly shut down her first and only business venture.

The situation we are observing here is as a common as sunrise; one person so unfavored, while another the rains are always falling on her side.

The Bible has a host of characters who were favored. When a young orphaned girl called Esther was brought to King Xerxes’s court before an official- “She pleased him and won his favor” ( Esther 2:9). It is said, “Esther won the favor of everyone who saw” ( vv 15), and would be eventually installed as Queen.

For Mary, “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you” ( Luke 1:28). She became the mother of Jesus. When Daniel and his companions was brought into King Nebuchadunezzar’s court, “God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel” (Daniel 1:9). Later, the king “found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service” ( vv 19)!

Every child of God has received favor to be born into His Kingdom, which comes by grace! The work of the enemy Satan is to frustrate this favor from the children of God, deny them opportunities, hinder their progress and turn them away from God. But by praying “without ceasing” God blesses His children with favor that “opens all doors!”

Prayer today: Lord father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, to you who has favored me to be born into your kingdom, I pray for that favor to crown my life against all the enemy’s plan, that you may glorify yourself through in me, this I pray in Jesus’s name.

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  • 17/05/2024 - 18/05/2024 All day

    “And I in righteousness I shall see your face; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing your likeness” (Psalm 17:15)

    One of the defining aspects we see in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is that He began the day with prayer. “Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35). As he was always surrounded by crowds and after such a busy day before of preaching and engaging the Pharisees in debates this must have been a therapeutic moment for Christ when he would have some good time to himself.

    But there was also more. For Jesus being away in a secluded place would also mean a chance to pour out His heart to God, meditate in quietness, plan for the day ahead and listen to the Father. Jesus must have looked up to this moment every day knowing its benefits. Conversations with His Father must have been real and intimate, bringing a certain soothing and uplifting of His spirit. You do not wake up and stick to something on a daily basis that is a drag – this must have been his best time of the day!

    Martin Luther the leader of the protestant reformation is reputed to once have said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Here is the point. In the olden days before the arrival of locomotive transport those who were setting out for a long journey on foot had to start early with the first cock crow before the punishing sun came out. One of the things they had to start with also was a good meal, which was fuel needed to give them energy through the long walk to their destiny.

    There are no rules about waking up to pray as first thing- or even saying prayer at a defined hour of the day. God is everywhere and ever with us. He is accessible at any time of the day. But there is something special about prioritizing our lives that the first thing we do is to talk to God. Just like the early traveller we need fuel, for the long day ahead!

    Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, what a joy and privilege to make time at the start of any day, talk and hear from you, for the power I need through the day, this I pray in Jesus’ name!

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