PRAYER IS COMMUNICATION
Genesis 18:16-33

Prayer is a way of communicating with God for an open heaven. Jesus demonstrated that when we pray heaven opens, “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.” (Luke 3:21) Prayer is what separates a prevailing believer from a failing believer. When prayer becomes constant and consistent, prevailing over temptation and devices of the enemy becomes inevitable. Jesus warned His disciples, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:40) When prayer increases or persists before God, revelation also increases from God, to deliver and to preserve. When it was time for God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin, Abraham entered into a communicating session of interceding on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. God wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their unyielding sinful way of life when He approached Abraham about His plan, “And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”  (Genesis 18:20-21) As a result of God’s revelation of His plan to Abraham, negotiating and pleading on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah lasted between God and Abraham. Sodom and Gomorrah had no grounds for God not to destroy them because of their sin. Just like Abraham, Moses, by virtue of his relationship with God entered into communicating session of interceding on behalf of the children of Israel. After the rebellious act of the children of Israel God laid out his plan by communicating to Moses, “I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”(Numbers 14:12) Moses did not shut his mouth but opened it in pleading on behalf of the children of Israel. Moses repeatedly reminded God of the work of His hand over the children of Israel by asking God, “Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”(Numbers 14:19) After the prayer of Moses for the deliverance of the children of Israel, God responded to Moses by communicating with him, “…I have pardoned, according to your word.” Moses got what he wanted for the children of Israel. When you build your relationship with God you will operate with Him in communication. As a believer, are you shutting your heaven by not communicating with God? Open your mouth in communication with Him and your heaven will be opened.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from whatever is causing believers to fall short in communication with God.

DIVINE SCHEDULE
Genesis 37

Whenever God is set to replace you from where you are into the center of His divine schedule for your life, He does not go by your own timing neither does He move by your age. In God, there is no age limit. When it was God’s time to call Abraham out into the center of his divine schedule, God called Abraham and, “…Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” (Genesis 12:4) At seventy five years old, he has passed the retirement age before God called him into divine schedule. Who would have thought of a journey of such magnitude for an aged man like Abraham? Moses, after forty years in one of the greatest palaces on earth, had no choice but to be replaced. God did not call him like He called Abraham but he found himself in a situation that chased him out into his divine schedule. Moses accidentally killed an Egyptian in his attempt to defend one of his Hebrew brethren. Pharaoh heard about Moses’ deed, “When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.” (Exodus 2:15) At age forty Moses’ situation forced him to run unknowingly in the direction of God’s plan for his life. Can you see that God is in everything? Joseph had a very positive dream but for the dream to come to manifestation there had to be a process in place. Process can be unacceptably challenging and exceedingly difficult. At the young age of seventeen, Joseph unknowingly began his placement journey to bring his dream to manifestation. The journey to a dreams manifestation can be challenging and uncomfortable. The starting point of a dreams journey is often unknown to the dreamer. Joseph did not plan to enter into the journey of his life when he went to check on his brother as directed by his father. “Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem. 15 Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?” (Genesis 37:14-15) From wandering into entering the pit, Joseph began a journey to the center of his divine schedule. Regardless of your age or where you are, do not struggle with yourself; God is on top of it all. Could it be that you are already on your journey to the center of your calling.
 
Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you in every step that you take on earth.

JUST BECAUSE OF…
Numbers 12

Life is a journey and every individual needs no additional burden from any one. In every individual’s journey, there are always unwanted or unexpected burdens that could add up and cause challenges. At times when challenges such as stagnation, mockery, rejection come to place in the life of an individual, the source is either known or unknown. In the book of Genesis, it was mentioned how Adam and Eve’s disobedience caused every man and woman’s generational curse. Genesis 2:16-17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  Death was not in the plan of God for man but Adam and Eve provoked God with their act of disobedience and death came to place for all man. The situation of Adam and Eve can be understood but might not be accepted. However, it can be worse when one man’s act of disobedience leads to stagnation in the life of thousands of people. Just as it happened in the days of Adam and Eve it continues to be happening in different areas of individual’s lives because all that has been in the beginning is still in the present. Is there any area of stagnation in your life that you possibly cannot pinpoint the source of the stagnation? Consider this, during the days of Moses, “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 So they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it…” (Numbers 12:1-3)The dissension of Aaron and Miriam was a blow to the whole population of the children of Israel. It caused them delay and stagnation on the course of their journey when, “Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again. 16 And afterward the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.” Just because of Miriam the whole entourage suffered stagnation. Miriam’s situation is not an unlikely incident in the present day. Are you experiencing any kind of stagnation in any area of life with no idea of its source?  There is no door which prayer cannot open. For Miriam’s case, the Bible says, “…Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!” (Numbers 12:13) Undoubtedly, the prayer of Moses changed the situation from stagnation into motion.

Prayer for the day: O Lord my God, I ask for your deliverance, let every situation of stagnation be converted into motion. Place me in the center of my divine assignment for your kingdom’s glory. In Jesus name, Amen

COMPLAIN CONTERMINATE
Numbers 14

“Then the LORD said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11) Indeed and in truth He is a longsuffering and merciful God. The Children of Israel actually asked for what they got from God. They had repeatedly complained and strained with Moses in almost every step since the great miracle of crossing on a dry land in the middle of the Red Sea. Complaining became their identity. Evidently, an act of rebellion is to complain. Inhabited in rebellion is rejecting God. To reject God is a demonstration of unbelief. Which of these negative acts manifest in your daily life? Stay away and avoid any act of complaint. Complaint is a silent killer and once it becomes a habit, it will take only God’s divine intervention and deliverance to rid you of it. Before the reaction of the children of Israel to the report that came from spying the Canaan Land, there had been different acts of complaining.  The complaint that actually broke them was the report given by the spies that went to spy the Canaan Land. With negative report that was delivered by the spies, the people did not hesitate and they, “…lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” (Numbers 14:1-3) With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, all the children of Israel complained and confessed different kinds of negativity. The children of Israel requested a move back to Egypt. Also, death was among the requests of the children of Israel during complaining that lead to their rebellious act. God responded, “…I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 29 The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.(Numbers14:27-30) Complaining will contaminate, complicate and terminate your Promised Land if it remains to be growing in you.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from the spirit of complaining.

PRICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
Numbers 20:7-13

Moses, a giant in the hand of God, a man of great exploit by virtue of God’s calling, missed the promise land on account of the children of Israel. To man, Moses did all that was enough to get him through to the promise land. To God, he missed it on account of the children of Israel. When the children of Israel began to thirst on the course of their journey through the wilderness, God commanded Moses to speak to the rock. Moses, however, struck the rock with his rod. Moses’ action was regarded as an act of not believing God. Numbers 20:11-12, “Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” Can it be said that an act of disobedience to the word of God is an act of not believing God? Evidently, Moses did not mean it the way it turned out to be. Moses was reacting to the rebellious way of the demand of water by the children of Israel. What Moses did was playing God instead of placing God’s command before the children of Israel. As a leader in the business of God, have you been paying attention to details in every area of designating His direction or have you been playing with His direction? He continued to ask God for mercy that would let him get to the Promised Land but all was in vain when he asked in Deuteronomy 3:26, “But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the LORD said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter.” Moses did not miss out on his own account but on account of the children of Israel. On whose account are you going to miss your expected end? Is it going to be on account of your husband, wife, children, friend, or family member? It is not worth it to miss the expected end on anyone’s account. Also, it is not God’s design for you to miss on anyone’s account. Take serious note that, if Moses could miss it, no one is free from missing it. Ask God for enablement that will keep you and not be terminated based on anyone’s account. Pay detailed attention to directions, He is a jealous God, do not violate God’s direction, avoid termination.
 
Prayer for today: Have mercy o Lord, let me not take any step in violating any of Your direction.