NOTHING GOES FOR NOTHING
Memorise: And after six days
Jesus taketh Peter, James and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an
high mountain apart. Matthew 17:1
Read: Matthew 17:14-21, (KJV)
14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to
him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not
cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse
generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring
him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him:
and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why
could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for
verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall
say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Bible in one year: Isaiah 56:9-59:21,
Psalms 41
MESSAGE
In
secular environments, it takes diligence to get to the top and it takes even
more diligence to remain there. There are many people who work really hard to
get to the top but upon getting there, they soon begin to relax. Diligence is
even more important when it comes to spiritual responsibilities. You need to
work hard to have an encounter with God but you need to work twice as hard to
keep your encounter intact. To get the answer to all your requests, you have to
invest a lot of time before God. Many people just get born again and begin to
relax. If you want to command the miraculous you must be ready to pay the
price. You need to keep running until you get to the finish line. There are
people who have no given God their entire lives, yet they want God to always
respond to all their requests. If you want a spiritual transformation in your
life, you have to give attention and seriousness to the business of growing
daily. Following Jesus Christ could be very costly, His standards are always
high and He will never compromise His standard for anyone. If you want to
operate in the miraculous, you must be willing to die daily. Self-denial is a
basic qualification for discipleship and there are many courses you have to
register for in the school of exploits. That includes fasting while others are
feasting. It includes praying while others are sleeping. You have to study the
Bible while others are spending time on things that will not add significant
value to their lives. It involves spiritual discipline while some people are
wasting their time away. Paul testified that he kept his body under in order to
win the prize. Keeping the body under is self-denial. You are deliberately
doing something to achieve something. Somebody asked me how I am able to fast
for many days and I replied that it is always very easy for me to do so because
each time I want to start a long fast I just go to the calendar and count the
number of days I want to go and I tell my stomach “look at that day very well,
that is the next time we shall be talking about food” it is as simple as that.
To
command supernatural situations, nothing goes for nothing. You have to engage
in spiritual exercises; 25 August 2016 open heavens
“Howbeit this kind goeth out but
by prayer and fasting”
Matthew 17:21
Open
Heavens 25 August 2016:- Nothing goes for Nothing
If
Jesus said “Men ought to pray and not to faint” (Luke 18:1), it is very obvious
that prayer covers a wide range of issues that should keep one very vigilant.
It is in the place of prayer that there is a guarantee of continuous Open
Heavens for every child of God. At the
same time, there are many people who have lost many opportunities because of
their understanding of the significance of prayer in commanding the release of
their heart desires. Fasting is not just a religious exercise as some think.
When you engage in fasting, you are equipping yourself with strong weapons to
counter every attack of the wicked ones and take your victory in every battle
of life. When faith is actively coupled with prayer and fasting, there is
nothing that can stop your prayers from being answered. Every barrier that
wants to stand on your way will always give in like we observed in the case of
Daniel with the prince of Persia.
Key Point:
Fasting and prayer is a
combined spiritual weapon that commands the miraculous.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional, written by Pastor E.A
Adeboye
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