THE POTENCY OF PRAYER

"Hannah was reduced to tears and had no appetite. So Hannah ate. Then she pulled herself together, slipped away quietly, and entered the sanctuary. The priest Eli was on duty at the entrance to God ’s Temple in the customary seat. Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried—inconsolably. Then she made a vow: Oh, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, If you’ll take a good, hard look at my pain, If you’ll quit neglecting me and go into action for me By giving me a son, I’ll give him completely, unreservedly to you. I’ll set him apart for a life of holy discipline"- 1 Samuel 1:7, 9-11 MSG 

"The Eagle does not fight the snake on the ground. It picks it up into the sky and changes the battle ground, and then it releases the snake into the sky. The snake has no stamina, no power and no balance in the air. It is useless, weak and vulnerable unlike on the ground where it is powerful wise and deadly. Take your fight into the spiritual realm by praying and when you are in the spiritual realm God takes over your battles. Don't fight the enemy in his comfort zone, change the battle grounds like the Eagle and let God take charge through your earnest prayer. You'll be assured of clean victory. Pray without ceasing." Author Unknown.

The above article reinforces the need to always engage the potency of prayer at all times as enumerated in an old christian poem titled - the Exhortation to prayer, which was written by a reknown English poet and hymnodist - William Cowper in mid 1700s.

EXHORTATION TO PRAYER

What various hindrances we meet
In coming to a mercy-seat!
Yet who that knows the worth of pray'r,
But wishes to be often there?

Pray'r makes the dark'ned cloud withdraw,
Pray'r climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
Gives exercise to faith and love,
Brings ev'ry blessing from above.

Restraining pray'r, we cease to fight;
Pray'r makes the Christian's armour bright;
And Satan trembles, when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.

While Moses stood with arms spread wide,
Success was found on Israel's side;
But when thro' weariness they fail'd,
That moment Amalek prevail'd."

In 1 Samuel 1, Hannah had been fighting the battle of barrenness, loneliness, frustration and delay for several years with weapons of self pity and weeping. But one day, she discovered that the cheapest way to win any battle in life is to engage the power of prayer. Immediately, she changed the battle ground to her knee and Heaven responded with her much awaited "Samuel" .

Beloved, do you want God to take over your battles this week? How long have you been waiting for your own samuel? Then, It's time to approach the mercy seat. It's time to climb Jacob's ladder in prayer. It's time to change the battle ground like Hannah. It's time for the "Hannah" in you to stop weeping but rather pray until that closed womb is opened. Yes, I have no doubt that Abba Father is calling us to take those old and recurring battles of loneliness,  barrenness, stagnation, shame, failure, disappointment to His Glorious Mercy Seat this week. The only one who has the keys of David is waiting to see you on your knee in Shiloh this week. So, please join us for the September 2017 Holy Ghost Service where God will be attending to everyone trusting Him for fruitfulness in every area of their lives.

Theme:         ABBA FATHER 7
Date:             Friday September 1, 2017
Venue:          Redemption Camp. Km 46, Lagos - Ibadan Exp. Nigeria.
Ministering: Our beloved Daddy, Pastor E.A. Adeboye. (The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God )

Have a blessed day and do have a glorious week.

Maranatha!

Bro Okanlawon Taiwo

For more articles please visit - http://okanlawontaiwo.blogspot.com
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HAVE YOUR OWN WAY, LORD

"So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working with clay at the wheel. He was making a pot from clay. But there was something wrong with the pot. So the potter used that clay to make another pot. With his hands he shaped the pot the way he wanted it to be.  “Family of Israel, you know that I can do the same thing with you. You are like the clay in the potter’s hands, and I am the potter.” Jeremiah 18:3-4, 6 (ERV)

During my devotion this morning, the Lord led me to sing the hymn titled "Have thine own way, Lord". This powerful hymn about accepting God's will which was composed in 1907 by Adelaide A. Pollard - a believer who was planning to travel to Africa as a missionary but found herself unable to raise the needed funds to make the journey. Greatly discouraged, she attended a prayer service one evening and as she sat there, she overheard an elderly woman say "It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord, just have your own way with our lives." The elderly woman inspired Pollard and she contemplated the story of the potter from Jeremiah 18:3 and, upon her return home that evening, she wrote all the four stanzas below before retiring for the night:

HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD

Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Savior today!
Wash me just now, Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow.

Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!

Beloved, are you discouraged today like that missionary? Are things not going the way you would have wanted? Do you think God has abandoned you? May I assure you that God is secretly working on His perfect Will for your life. Because God's plans are better than our plans, you just have to let Him do it in his own way and at His own perfect time. If you surrender everything to Him, I have no doubt that the great potter will soon complete His work on your case and very soon something awesome and glorious will happen that will make you to shout unending Halleluyah to the King of kings.

Have a blessed day and a fruitful week in Jesus name.

Maranatha!

Bro Okanlawon Taiwo

For more articles please visit - http://okanlawontaiwo.blogspot.com
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THE COLD LOVE SYNDROME

"Remember this: There are some terrible times coming in the last days. People will love only themselves and money. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure. They will go on pretending to be devoted to God, but they will refuse to let that “devotion” change the way they live. Stay away from these people! "-  2 Timothy 3:1, 5 (ERV)

Some months ago, I came across a very wonderful hymn written by Mrs Lelia Morris when she was in her early fifties.  The title of the hymn is "Sweeter as the years go by". Mrs Morris was inspired to compose this song when everyone was expecting her to be angry with God or to be moaning/grousing the lost of her sight.  But rather, she was celebrating God's faithfulness, love and mercy with the wordings of this hymn. Despite living in physical darkness, Mrs. Morris had a glowing light shining forth from within her. She had an intimate walk with the One who said, “I am the Light of the world” (John. 8:12). In spite of her physical handicap, Mrs Morris loved God so deeply and was very proud to tell the whole world that Jesus love in her heart is becoming sweeter as the years go by. Below is the wordings of that wonderful hymn written by this great woman of faith - Mrs Lelia Morris:

SWEETER AS THE YEARS GO BY

"Of Jesus’ love that sought me, when I was lost in sin;
Of wondrous grace that brought me back to His fold again;
Of heights and depths of mercy, far deeper than the sea,
And higher than the heavens, my theme shall ever be.

Refrain:
          Sweeter as the years go by,
          Sweeter as the years go by,
          Richer, fuller, deeper, Jesus’ love is sweeter,
          Sweeter as the years go by.

He trod in old Judea life’s pathway long ago;
The people thronged about Him, His saving grace to know;
He healed the brokenhearted, and caused the blind to see;
And still His great heart yearneth in love for even me.

’Twas wondrous love which led Him for us to suffer loss,
To bear without a murmur the anguish of the cross;
With saints redeemed in glory, let us our voices raise,
Till Heav’n and earth re-echo with our Redeemer’s praise."

Beloved, according to the above, we are in the last days and the love of many people are already waxing cold. Unlike Mrs Morris, many believers love and devotion to God are now getting colder as the years go by. Many Christians have been infected with that dangerous end-time disease called - "The Cold Love Syndrome" that Apostle Paul mentioned in 2 Timothy 3. Although, many of us pretends to love God but deep inside our heart what we actually love and cherish most are riches, pleasure and earthly possessions. Please be sincere with yourselves. Are you living today with the symptoms of that terrible end- time spiritual disease - The Cold Love Syndrome?  Is your love for God waxing stronger as the years go by? Is your prayer, worship and study life waxing stronger as the years go by? Is your kingdom service waxing stronger as the years go by? What happened to your sanctification? Please stop that pretence and make things right with God this week.

Good morning and God bless you.

Maranatha!

Bro Okanlawon Taiwo

For more articles please visit - http://okanlawontaiwo.blogspot.com
Follow on Twitter: @tammytaiwo

STOP HOARDING YOUR BEST CORN 

"Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. People curse those who hoard their grain, but they bless the one who sells in time of need." Proverbs 11:24-26 (NLT)

"The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped. Curses on those who drive a hard bargain! Blessings on all who play fair and square!" Proverbs 11:24-26 (MSG)

A story was told of a farmer who grew superior quality and award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the Agricultural Fair where it won honour and prizes. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learnt something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his corn seed with his neighbours."How can you afford to share your best corn seeds with your neighbours when they are also participating in the corn competition with you each year?" the reporter asked. "Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours grow good corn."

The farmer in the above story understood one of the secrets of true greatness in life. He was a generous man. According to Webster dictionary, generosity is the quality of being kind, understanding, and not selfish. This farmer understood that the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. Anyone who desire to win must also help others to win as well. And anyone who desire to be happy must help others to find happiness for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

Beloved, are you hoarding your good grains from your neighbours or are you sharing it like this old farmer? Have you considered the pros and cons of sharing or hoarding your best corns/grains as recorded in the above scripture (Proverbs 11:24-26)?  The Bible says hoarding attracts curse while generosity brings prosperity. The reason why many people are struggling today is simply because they had chosen to hoard their seeds in the past. Unfortunately, many people are still hoarding those wonderful testimonies of their salvation, divine provision, fruitfulness , healing and deliverance from everyone around them. Why not stop this ridiculous hoarding business of yours which is attracting recurrent losses into your life everyday. Please help someone to have a feel of the good corn of salvation planted in the garden of your soul by the Holy Spirit. Share the good seed of the gospel and the wind of the Holy Ghost will blow across our villages, cities, nations and the whole world to trigger the supernatural cross-pollination that will lead to bountiful harvest of dominion as the second coming of Jesus Christ draw near.

Today, I feel so honoured to share my superior corn with all my friends, colleagues and relatives all over the world. Therefore, on behalf of my esteemed Daddy G.O, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, my sweet Mummy,  Pastor (Mrs) Folu Adeboye and the entire Governing Council of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God, I will like to invite you to our 66th Annual Convention with the theme "DOMINION". Please join us as we position ourselves for the touch of God that will guarantee our  Dominion, victory, deliverance, supernatural healing, unprecedented breakthroughs.

Date: :                     Monday 6th to Sunday 12th August, 2018
Theme:                   DOMINION
Venue:                    Redemption Camp, Km 46 Lagos Ibadan Expressway,  Mowe, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Time:                       8:00 am (Morning session), 3:00 pm (Afternoon session) & 8:30 pm (Evening session)
Ministering:           Our beloved Daddy G.O - Pastor E.A. Adeboye & other anointed Ministers of God.

May I urge you to please join me to praise the Almighty God in advance for what He will do for us during this program by singing the special hymn for this year's Annual Convention. The hymn is titled "Praise To The Lord ,The Almighty King of Creation"

PRAISE TO THE LORD,  THE ALMIGHTY KING OF CREATION.

Praise to the Lord,the Almighty,
The King of creation;
O my soul,praise Him,for He is
thy health and salvation;
All ye who hear,
Brothers and sisters draw near,
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord,who doth prosper
thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here
daily attend thee;
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord,who,when
tempest their welfare are waging,
Who,when the elements madly around
thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease,
Turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord,who,when darkness
and sin is abounding,
Who,when the godless do triumph,all
virtue confounding,
Shedeth His light,
Chaseth the horrors of night
Same with His mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me
adore Him!
All that hath life and breath,
come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen
Sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Good morning and God bless you. Amen

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

For more articles, please visit -
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Twitter: @tammytaiwo
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QUESTIONS FOR GOD? 

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places...." Habakkuk  3:17-19

Have you ever passed through circumstances that made you ask God - "Why do I have to go through this?" We often ask this question when the challenges seems to be too hard for us to bear. My wife and I had experienced similar situation before.

In October 2005, a strange storm suddenly hit our home and took away our first child - Emmanuel Ireoluwatomiwa few weeks after his second year birthday. We were completely devastated and overwhelmed with sorrow. Like any other person, we couldn't resist the urge to ask the Almighty God questions. We asked him questions like " but why did you allow this to happen to us?", "what sin have we committed?, where did we missed it Lord? Why? Why? and Why?

In the midst of that storm, God spoke to us from the above scripture - Habakkuk 3:17-19. The voice of His Majesty brought unusual calmness to our  hearts. God's word inoculated us with faith that dispelled all our many doubts about His faithfulness at all times. He strengthened us to walk through the stormy season believing Him for the best. And today, God has not only restored our losses but we can boldly attest to how He had used these difficult experience to help us move closer to Him and to teach us how to depend on Him even more. We can really look back to those days and see how He carried us through those lonely hours. God graciously wiped away our tears and calmed the terrifying storm.   

Beloved, are you in the middle of a stormy sea? Are your challenges so overwhelming? Are there questions you have been asking God and it appears the heavens over you had become brass? I can assure you that our God is ever faithful. The Almighty God who calmed our storm and answered our questions will do same for you. And God will also give you "blessed consolation" if you dare to surrender to Him genuinely, love Him deeply and serve Him faithfully. 

There is no better hymn that describes our above testimony of God's faithfulness in the raging storm than the hymn titled" "Through It All". The hymn was written by Pastor Andrae Edward Crouch in 1971. Please allow God to speak to you from the wordings of this wonderful hymn below and trust God for divine intervention and great turnaround.

THROUGH IT ALL

I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
There've been times I didn't know right from wrong:
But in every situation God gave blessed consolation
That my trials come to only make me strong.

CHORUS:
      Through it all, through it all,
      I've learned to trust in Jesus,
      I've learned to trust in God;
      Through it all, through it all,
      I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I've been to lots of places,
And I've seen a lot of faces,
There've been times I felt so all alone;
But in my lonely hours,
Yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus let me know that I was His own.

I thank God for the mountains,
And I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms
He brought me through;
For if I'd never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do.

My prayer for you is that God will reveal Himself to you in that situation this week. As the Lord lives, before this month is over, Heaven will show up for you and give you a major turnaround. The event(s) that will answer your questions convincingly and wipe your tears away permanently shall manifest in Jesus name. Amen.

Good day and God bless you.

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

For more articles, please visit -
http:// okanlawontaiwo.blogspot.com
Twitter: @tammytaiwo
Instagram: @lawontaiwo
Facebook: Okanlawon Taiwo