“I have often said that I would rather know
how to pray like Daniel than to preach like Gabriel.” Dr. D.L Moody
“He giveth power to the faint; and to
them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the
LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they
shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isa.
40:29-31)
The
word ‘wait’ means, “to stay where you are or delay doing something until
somebody or something happens. It also means “to hope for something to happen
or to be left alone until there’s a change.” When you see a waiter in a
restaurant, his or her job is to wait on his duty until someone comes in. So
also, there are some problems that will never be solved until you wait. This
also can be compared to a person going to a bank that has Automated Teller Machine
(ATM) to withdraw cash using his debit card. After slotting in your card, you
will press your pin no. the kind account you are operating and then press the
amount needed. When all these are done, the machine will tell you to “please
wait while your transaction is processing.” If you press any key maybe because
you are in a hurry to have your money, it will either not respond to you or
send you back your card.
God
knows that as long as we are still in this world, we need strength to overcome
the battles of life.
Isaiah
says, “God gives strength to the faint…” them that are faint are the only one
qualify for strength. The world that we are living in, need those that are
strong in order to do exploits. God expects every believer to wait on Him.
Psalm
27:14 say “Wait on the LORD: be of good
courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”
When
you wait on the Lord, you will add weight! And the quality of your waiting
determines the weight you will operate on.
Proverb
24:10 says: “If thou faint in the day of
adversity, thy strength is small.”
The
day of adversity comes to prove the quality of your strength which is as a
result of qualitative waiting. Everyone that wants to be great in life has an
hour of darkness to pass through. When the Lord Jesus wanted to pay the
ultimate price and the band of soldiers came to arrest Him, He said to them
“…but this is your hour, and the power of darkness (Lk.22:53)” Before this time,
He had prayed unto the Father and there appeared an angel unto him from heaven,
strengthen him (Lk.22:43). And with this strength, he went through the pains
and the shame of the cross and came out victoriously. You too can overcome
every challenge that comes on your way if you will wait.
Now
there are two kinds of people that are qualified to wait upon the Lord:
1.
THE FAINT
These
are those that are weak and tired, those that have little or no strength in
them to go in the battles of life. Some Christians are spiritually weak but
they will never admit because they don’t really know that they are weak. They
mistake admitting your weakness as not walking in faith. Faith does not deny
the fact but does not allow the fact to determine its actions. Faith only obeys
the truth but respect the fact. For instance, the fact may be that you’ve a
sickness in your body but the truth is that divine health dwells in you and
wherever light appears, darkness disappears. Recognizing your weakness makes
God to release His ultimate strength into your life.
Paul
the Apostle was a man of God highly blessed with revelation knowledge and the
devil sent a messenger to give him “a thorn in the flesh”. Paul prayed to the
Lord three times that it might depart from him but Jesus answered him, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor.12:7-9)
This
man Paul recognize that he had a weakness and when the Lord told him- my
strength is established, made effective in weakness, he rejoiced over it.
Until you become a babe in God’s hand,
He cannot make you a man in the world’s eye. Acknowledge your mistakes before God and you will see how He will
upgrade you. A fool that knows that he is a fool is wiser than a wise man that
maintains his integrity in foolishness. There are some people that God will
never use them because they always claim that they are something. They see themselves
qualified for every post. And this is nothing but pride! The Bible says, “God resist the proud and giveth grace to
the humble” (Jam.4:6)
This
scripture proves that God is the number one enemy of a proud person. When you
walk in pride you make the same God you are calling, your enemy. And when God
becomes your enemy, no prophet can deliver you. Lastly the Bible says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt.5:3)
2.
THE THIRSTY
“I will open rivers in high places, and
fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of
water, and the dry land springs of water.” (Isa.41:18)
“For I will pour water upon him that is
thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed,
and my blessing upon thine offspring” (Isa.44:3)
How
hungry are you for the power of God? The deeper your thirst the greater your
reign! God will only lead you according to your hunger for your desire. The
treasures of God are only meant for kingdom seekers. Kingdom seekers are not
potential thirsty people. They are kinetic in nature. They thirst and seek.
They desire and put their body under the necessary rule to get the power. When
you desire for prosperity, do things that will make God’s hand of prosperity
reach you. Don’t rest until He establishes His promise in you. Pastor Enoch .A.
Adeboye said, “do things that will make God say, I swear” Abraham obeyed God
until God swore by himself “That in
blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed
shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Gen.22:17-18)
Paul
the Apostle said in 1Corinthians 16:8-9 “But
I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is
opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.”
Ephesus
was a city known for idol worship but Paul said he will wait at Ephesus till
Pentecost. Your Ephesus may be that problem that is stirring you to your face.
It may be a limitation, weakness or financial bankruptcy. It is time to wait on
the Lord. Wait until Pentecost. No Ephesus will survive when Pentecost power
comes. If only you will wait, I see your Pentecost released in the name of
Jesus. Pentecost is the power of God released to strengthen believers to live
the resurrected life. When the apostles received the Pentecostal power, the
Bible says they wrought many signs and wonders. God has promise you a lot of
great things but wait for the Pentecost to empower you to destroy the
adversaries in your open doors. No man can carry 500 kilogram (500kg) load of
cement with 20 Newton (20N) of effort, so is it that you need a corresponding
anointing for every situation. Strength to overcome every situation comes from
God and you should come to Him to receive grace and help in time of need.
There are different kinds of waiting on
the Lord
1. Waiting on the Lord in fasting and prayer
Fasting
and prayer is the key to the impossible. It builds your spiritual antenna and makes
it sensitive to the Holy Spirit. It weakens the voice of the flesh and
strengthens the inner man. Consistent fasting and prayer put the enemy on a
perpetual flight. When you back prayer with fasting, you are telling God “am
desperate for solution”. Then power of fasting and prayer cannot be over-emphasized.
It can do wonders! It commits God to move on your behalf when mixed with faith.
There are several instances in the Bible that proves that fasting and prayer
works wonders.
For
example, when Paul was blind he fasted for three days, God sent Ananias to pray
for him to receive his sight (Acts9:11-19). Moses the prophet fasted and his
face shone like the sun. When our Lord Jesus fasted for forty days, He returned
with the power of the Spirit.
In
general, fasting and prayer usher you into the presence of God, and the
presence of God releases the anointing of God upon your life, and the anointing
of God breaks every yoke.
Dr.
D.L Moody in his book ‘Prevailing Prayers’ said that “I have often said that I
would rather know how to pray like Daniel than to preach like Gabriel.”
Prayer
is the link that connects earth with heaven says McCheyne. You need the grace
of fasting and prayer because it will help you level every mountain that shall
come against you. I remember on a certain day in year 2004 God led me to fast
and pray, and in the evening He told me to go to a hospital located at Randle
Avenue, Surulere. As I got there, I saw a man and a woman lying on separate
beds opposite each other. The woman was the wife of the man. The man was
suffering from spinal cord injuring that he incurred in an accident. He could
not stand upright nor walk. He also had partial paralysis in his right hand.
When I came in, I told them that God has sent me to pray for his recovering.
After praying for him, immediately in the ward, he got up and walked. He also
received life in his right hand and he used it to grab an orange which he
couldn’t do for months. After the jubilation, the wife told me that she just
finished breaking her three days fasting and prayer that she embark on for the
sake of her husband. And I said God answered your prayers by sending me.
So
I tell you, you should not give up praying because your prayer is connecting
you to your miracle. When you pray, hindrances that delay your divine helper
from reaching you are removed. And now, I decree that every hindrance between
you and your miracle shall be removed in the name of Jesus. Every helper
carrying your blessing must locate you this month, and you will celebrate in
Jesus name.
In
the above story, the man told me that his hospital bill was over half a million
naira (#500,000), for he has been there for over six months and he doesn’t have
any means to pay the bill. He also told me that he is a retired custom officer
and he was expecting his pension. So I decreed that within seven days the
hospital bill will be paid. And it was so, on the sixth day the head of customs
in their command came and clear off the bill and the couple left the hospital
that same day. Hallelujah!
If
you will wait upon the Lord in fasting and prayer, God will send down help into
that situation. A friend once said to me, “If you spend all nights with God,
your life will change overnight”
That
situation that you find yourself may just need one divine direction to take you
out of it but if you don’t spend time to seek God, how will you be able to
receive such direction when your spiritual antenna is weak. Charles Fidney, a
great man of God in the 19th century said “I perceive that God will
do nothing unless we pray.” History has it that a physical cloud of glory like in
the days of Moses followed him during any ministration. You too can be a
world-mover if you will learn to wait on your knees. If you do nothing to make
a change in your situation, you will remain in chains! God will only move when
you move. Therefore arise and arrest every enemy invading your destiny.
