When a lie becomes the truth, and the truth becomes a lie, there is a swift change in reality. All my life, I thought certain people were the people I would run to every time and all my problems would be solved. As I got older, I realized that things would not stay the same. After all, you cannot be married with kids and always run back home to your parents for support. Once in a blue moon is okay, but it cannot always be a safe haven. When the very people you are looking up to are helpless in their situation, you’ve looked up to them for years, you realize help is never going to come from that avenue. You have to start looking for alternatives.
To say the least, I know that if these people had it within them and had the power, they would surely do something about the situation. But as the bible says –
SEVER YOURSELF FROM SUCH A MAN, WHOSE BREATH IS IN HIS NOSTRILS; FOR WHAT ACCOUNT IS HE? – ISAIAH 2:22
Its not that the people in my life are not capable. The question I had to ask myself is ‘has God called them to be my helper?’ Have they been equipped to assist me in my time of need? And the more I realized they are not, I had to seek who is capable of helping me.
Because guess what, the bible says – “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. – John 3:27
This implies that whoever I was looking up to assist me had not been equipped to imagine the frustration, disappointment, and rejection I felt. All the while, I’m thinking this person or that person should be able to come to my rescue. Surely, I thought that if they had the skills, influence, or connection, they would be able to assist me and put me out of my misery. What I failed to acknowledge was what the bible says –
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. – Psalm 121: 1 -2
What I was failing to do was to look unto Jesus, my maker, the one who created me, but instead was looking at the creation. The creation that is here today is gone tomorrow. The creation, who does not know his five seconds from this present moment. The creation that does not control his breath or his bearings.
We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear. Job 14:2
There are people I have come across who at various moments gave me a lot of promises that made my heart jump for joy, but now they are nowhere to be found. The most frustrating part is, when you are demanding help from someone whose hands are also tied, but out of laziness you are demanding that they be your helper.
Yes I used the word laziness, because when we failed to go to the source and to seek help from the right person, when we try to skip or cut corners thinking maybe we can outsmart our way out of our situation we only make the problem bigger and longer.
I remember reading the story of Saul in First Samuel, where his dad asked him to go find their lost sheep. You see when I was reading that passage, something struck me like a light bulb in my mind. Saul was on a mission to find his father’s lost sheep, so he set out on his journey to find the source of the problem. On his way to finding the solution, he was crowned a king over Israel. What I learned from this short story is in our endeavor to deal with our issues head-on, on our journey to battle our problems, we will not only get the result of what we are looking for, but rather, we will gain more than what we are praying for.
“..The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much – James 5:16
Imagine praying for job and getting rejected over and over. Through all the rejection you are being built with certain tenacity. The more you keep pushing through the door of employment in prayer and in applying and believing you start learning more about yourself, that you might even realized you might not be called to work for someone but to work for yourself.
So, Let me get straight to what I did differently from before –
I buckled up by praying more and being consistent with my prayer life. Because, you know, consistency breaks resistance. Remember the parable Jesus Gave –
The Parable of the Persistent Widow -Luke 18:1-8
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, five yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
This scripture changed my whole perspective about life and being persistent in our goals. I realized that, for years, the enemy had been taking from me, preventing me from receiving my due inheritance. What I was doing was praying today and relaxing tomorrow because I was not seeing the results I was hoping for. I got discouraged and failed to keep up the pace with my prayer life. But after reading my bible and learning more about warfare and how the enemy will not give us what we deserve but will rather give us what we fight for. Remember – the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12) , which means I must be aggressive and wage war on my adversary, who is adamant about denying me my blessings. The saddest thing is dreaming and seeing how life should be, all the great promises and revelations you see in your dreams, but when you wake up and examine your life, things are very bad, very negative.
I was tired; it felt like year after year, I was stuck in the same cycle. I was always hopeful for the new year to come because I believe there must be a better year ahead of me. What I didn’t realize is that Jesus commanded us that we should pray – Thy kingdom comes, thy will be done of the earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10 – 11). I was just there, hoping that the plans of God for my life would just manifest without praying. Wrong, I was so wrong because if it was not needed, Jesus would not ask us to pray in that manner. See, every time I failed to pray for the manifestation of the promises of God; I was telling the devil that it was okay for his plans in my life to manifest. Because it’s either you are praying for the good things to manifest or you are just complacent to the toxic environment. When I got this revelation, I said to myself no more. I began to pray to God for strength and stamina. Stamina to stay in prayer even when I don’t feel like it. The grace to enjoy prayer because I cannot tell you it’s easy. The enemy will bombard your spirit; you have to constantly battle with your flesh because the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). I read my bible more because I needed knowledge. Just as in every situation, you need evidence; you need facts; when it comes to praying, you need to stand on the word of God. The word of God is your reference point to demanding attention from heaven. One of my favorite scriptures is, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 – with this scripture, I know without a doubt that when I keep asking, seeking, and knocking, God will definitely come through for me.
Another scripture – Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ – Jeremiah 33:3 – with this knowledge in the bible, I believe that I am short-sighted; I can only see what is in front of me, and can not see in the supernatural. God is the holder and revealer of secrets. And if I am to be successful in waging and winning any battle, I must seek knowledge. God must expose the secrets the enemy is withholding from me. I pray this scripture all the time that God continues to be my light and continues to show me hidden things that the enemy does not want me to see. Because the bible says God reveals to redeem (Job 12:22). And for that, I must seek revelation from God at all times.
I launch into the deep – “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” – Matthew 17: 21
When I read this scripture, there was some stirring in my spirit. An awakening, I realized I had to do something I have never done, something extraordinary, because when you have tried everything possible, but there is no result, you have to change your strategy. In my situation, I had to include fasting in my prayer. From the previous scripture, Jesus explained to His disciples that, when confronted with an issue for years and the issue still troubles their life, they have to change their strategy; they must apply fasting. You must even increase the number of minutes or hours you pray. You must even change the time you pray. Either early morning or during midnight to warfare.
In my situation, I started fasting three days a week because previously, I fasted once a week, and that did not help; I had to launch into the deep. As I kept on fasting and praying, God kept increasing my momentum; God continued to increase my strength to stand in prayer. Looking back, if it had not been God on my side, I don’t know how I could keep standing in prayer with all the negative reports I was receiving. Please do not get me wrong; there were days I cried, I grew faint, and I was so hopeless, but I had to encourage myself in the power and the promises of God.
I buckled Myself –
I buckled myself in prayer, in fasting, and in reading the word of God. Because I realized if I must break out and break free, I must battle; I must keep pushing (which I am still pushing). Remember the story of Jacob? Jacob had to battle with an Angel all night – he refused to allow the angel to leave because he was tired of living below the promises of God. He battled all night with the angel because he understood the rules of engagement and that he must battle for a change in life.
You will live by the sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.” (Genesis 27:40)
Notice the key word restless, I believe we as individual, the only way for us to be set free from any bondage is when we are tired of that situation. In my case, I was tired, I was restless, I just couldn’t allow that situation to be my portion. The more I wrestle with myself for a change, the more I realized if I am to succeed in breaking free I have to seek a higher power which God, Jesus (The Name Above All Names).
I will end here with the hope of continuing this story another day. I hope I have encouraged you to do something about your situation. Please understand that nothing happens unless you pray.
God said out of your mouth He (God) has given you strength to pray and speak with power to destroy the works of the enemy. So please use that power today! Shalom!
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have [a]ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence the enemy and the avenger. Psalm 8:2
