“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land’ - 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV).
Prayer can do amazing things. Once there was a certain church that went through an acrimonious split. Before it was a growing church with flourishing ministries spread across the city. But somewhere some members decided to walk out due to some issues, and the Pastor was forced to resign. This led many others who preferred the Pastor to storm out too. Before long the church had split into three congregations!
When people have been meeting regularly to fellowship they become like a family. A church split can be as devastating as a biological family that breaks up with brothers and sisters walking separate ways. It is a time of turmoil.
But just as the church was going through this turmoil, the elders did an amazing thing. They decided to set aside a time for prayer. For some months members were asked to drop by the church after work and participate in communal prayers. The elders encouraged fasting, just as well, during the day.
As members met, repented and cried out to the Lord, this church was restored. The Lord led it miraculously to find a new Pastor; within no time he had turned it around into one of the fastest growing churches in the city. Of this success one elder later said, “we felt the split was the time to drop everything and turn to the Lord. This is how our church was saved.”
Once there was a time when “the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem” (1 Chronicles 21:14). However, the Lord had mercy upon Israel, because of the prayers of his servant David and the elders. “But as the angel was doing so, the Lord saw it and relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand” (vv 15).
In the midst of any turmoil, personal or national, the battle cry for all believers is to get out, fall on their knees, and cry out to the living God for mercy.
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I fall facedown and cry out to you that through your mercy you restore anything amiss, this I pray in the Lord Jesus’s name!
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24/04/2024 - 25/04/2024 All day“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed” (Psalm 20:4)
Premier Joseph and King David have a particular common characteristics: two individuals who were blessed with success, in their work. When Joseph was taken into the household of Potiphar, “The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered...When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant” ( Gen 39:2-4).
Even when he was imprisoned later, on false accusations, “The LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there” (vv 21-22). Later in his life he is made second in command of Egypt by Pharaoh. “You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you” (Genesis 41:40).
For David, after he disposed off Goliath, “Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army” (1 Samuel 18:5). His success on the battle field would soon cause trouble for him when the troops started singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (vv 7).
In spite of Saul’s anger at the comparison and even trying to kill him, for David “in everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him. When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns” (vv 14-16). Eventually, the throne would pass on to David.
Success in life is one of the blessings the Lord has marked out for believers. These individuals were successful because the Lord was with them. The only one who does not wish to see success of us, is the enemy Satan, who comes to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). May we pray that our lives are characterized with the anointing of success, because the Lord is with us!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I pray that I bask in your success, in all that I do, because as was with your servants Joseph, David, Daniel and others, you are with me, and this I pray in Jesus’ name.
