Bearing one another's burden through prayer

                                                  

“But encourage one another daily as long as it is called’ Today’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness..”Hebrews3:13.

My last two weeks have been what I call a ‘dry patch’. I had so much going on in my mind and my surrounding environment. This affected be both psychological and spiritually. I could not pray or even make any decisions. All that I managed to say in my prayer sessions was “God protect me and may you’re your will be done.” I felt as though the presence of God and departed from my life. There was so much fear of the unknown in me. I felt weak and unable to talk. When I came out of that state all that I thought of doing was to repent. I kept praying that God my forgive and restore His spirit and presence in my life though I could not remember of anything I had done wrong(don’t get me wrong, I am not a saint).

In all these however, I thank God for my girlfriends, they were always there. They were praying all the time. It is not that I was praying for them myself but they took much time to pray for me. I hadn’t told them what to pray for but they allowed the spirit to use them in praying for them. I remember one of them telling me how the spirit had woken her up at night, causing her so much trembling and sweating and she was directed to pray for me. She prayed for so long and by the time she was done praying for me, there was calmness in her heart. All this time I had been going through so much emotional discomfort.  But after that night things changed. I woke up feeling free and joy in my heart.

Why am I sharing this? The bible says that we are a family, the church, one body in Christ. Ephesians 6:18 says;”And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for the entire Lord’s people”. We ought to live as a family and always pray for each other. We can’t do without one another. In the book of Hebrews when God speaks to us that we need to encourage each other on a daily basis, it’s because he knows that we can’t do it on our own. There are so many examples in the bible where God used people yet they needed someone to always encourage them and pray for them. Jesus prayed for Peter in Luke 22:32, he saw it right to pray for him to prevent the devil from taking control of him. Although Jesus intercedes for us, he sent the Holy Spirit who reminds us to pray for others. That is why we should always pray for others and especially when the spirit leads us to because they could be in suffering. My girlfriend’s prayers restored my peace and kept me safe. Your prayers too will save someone today.

God bless you.

Hear the word, be transformed and receive freedom

                             

We need a complete transformation and renewal of our minds through the scriptures. And for that to happen, we will need to read all scripture without bias and ask the spirit of God to give us a clear understanding and a new revelation...unless we do that, we will always be oppressed by cultural practices, beliefs and attitudes that the word of God is meant to free us from. It is sad that we are living in a ‘Christian’ society yet have not really embraced the true meaning of Christianity.

Christianity is a word that refers to the act of following Christ. A follower of Christ is called a Christian. We claim to be followers of Christ yet we have not allowed ourselves to celebrate and enjoy the gifts of Christ which is freedom. I am saying this because God has revealed to me what my freedom through Christ is.

In Isaiah 61:

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
³     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

The bible clearly shows us that we are set free, Jesus himself said it in Luke 3:18-19 that he came for our freedom. To be freed from captivity. I believe such captivity is the cultural beliefs and practices that are cruel and so harsh and the various attitudes that we have formed. Some of them are so brutal yet we hold on to them.

I have held on to broken heartedness, to darkness, to captivity, to domestic violence, to unforgiveness, to witchcraft and polygamous marriages. It is so sad that we don’t realize what effect these evils have to us, our children and the generations that are to come. We talk of dealing with generational curses yet we have completely refused to break them. Instead we have chosen to continue with such evils even after receiving so much knowledge. We live in the ‘modern times’ claim to be civilized yet our minds are still closed and bound. We go to church every Sunday and some of us even twice a week, listen to word and even read it ourselves but we have refused to let it change our lives. Is it a wander that Jeremiah 5:21 states clearly that they have ears but have refused to hear?

The word of God (Romans12:2) states that we have to be renewed in our minds. However, this renewal can only occur through reading, understanding the word of God and allowing it to change us. Unless we do that, we will never be free. We will keep doing evil and receiving evil and it will be too late when we realize how much damage we have done to our lives and those of the loved ones.

 We may have been deaf to his word or maybe we have been reading it and not allowed it to transform us. It is however not too late and we can still change. But we can’t change on our own. You might take the word today and try to read it, but it will never make sense unless it is interpreted to you by the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit doesn’t just come to you. You only receive him when you accept Jesus. The best part about accepting Jesus, receiving his holy spirit and understanding his word is the freedom that we get from that. We are free from all our past (Romans8:1-2) and all those bondages and we are able to keep away from hurting who we love.

You can receive Jesus today; all you need to do is to believe. The scripture in Romans 10:9-10 says that “if you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” It also adds in verse 11 that “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” Confess and believe today and you will receive Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, renewal and freedom. God bless.