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Dr. Joseph O'Femi Adeosun

As I have earlier stated, prayer and fasting are married, together for life, and they can never divorce. The kind of fasting I mentioned goes beyond abstinence from food alone. I got stirred up by the first verse of a message of our Lord Jesus Christ on the mountain, known as the Beatitudes. It states thus, "And seeing the multitudes, HE (Christ) went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him" (Matt. 5:1). The teachings loaded into the entire chapter show that the disciples would have missed a lot if they had failed to know when the Lord "was set" ("seated" according to an Amplified Bible).

Many times I consider this Grace Dispensation as God spoiling His children too much, just the same way He treated Adam, whom God spoilt with a lot of goodies, but who still ended up letting God down. God created him last, yet made him the controller and commander of all the earlier creatures. What happened? It was one of these creatures put under him that satan used to bring Adam down by disrespecting the Almighty God who had placed him above all the other creatures.

Christians should be very careful lest satan, the enemy of God and man, use something that God has placed us above to bring us down. "And now the Lord God said, it is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet (suitable, adaptable, completing) for him" ( Gen. 2:18, Amplified). But, what came afterwards when Adam disobeyed God? "And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat" (Gen. 3:12). God was guilty of giving him a sufficient and suitable woman. No wonder some brothers have to pray the whole of their lives to get a satisfactory and adaptable wife. Even though, you still have to pray harder after getting the wife. Honestly, I am not joking!

If God were man, HE would resign from the work of finding man a woman, because when HE did it for the first man on Earth, it was a thankless job. Remember, up till that time of the fall of man, God would always come down to fellowship with man (Gen. 3:8) because without Him, man can do nothing (Jn. 15: 4-5). Can you imagine that in this time of Dispensational Grace, God will come down to fellowship with man? But man is too busy to be seated. That's why I said we are spoilt. We are busy chatting or playing games with friends sometimes, or sleeping, watching TV, or caught up with something so that it become difficult for us to study the Word of God. Some folks can read books for hours but find it difficult to read their Bible for five or ten minutes. We believers have to get seated today to catch God's attention. Many times God wants to speak to us or teach us new things through the Holy Spirit, but we are not seated, not available.

Tidbits On Quiet Time

A special time set apart for fellowship with God is called Quiet Time. It is the secret of a steady spiritual growth in the Lord.

1. Begin with thanksgiving, praises and worship. Cultivate the habit of praising God always (Ps. 100:1-5; 95:67). Pray and invite the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14 16-26; Heb. 13:15).

2. (a.) Study the word of God. You may begin with the book of Genesis, Chapter One, and read on and on for two to four weeks, mark where you stop, and go to the New Testament. Again, begin with the book of St. Matthew, Chapter One, and read on and on for another two to four weeks. Do some markings and so you will read the entire Bible within a year.

(b.) When you study and meditate in the word of God, He speaks to you. As you obey what He tells you in HIS word, your life becomes more and more radiant with his glory (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:1-6; II Tim. 2:15; Rom. 10:17; Jn. 15:4).

Hurry is of the devil. When we are in a hurry, surely we can not receive much from the Lord, and the devil knows how to inject us with thoughts and ideas that will make us hurry. Some folks have got their hearts infected that way; I mean health wise. If Moses had not been delivered from that demon of hurry, he would have missed the starting point of his mission on earth. Oh! I always pity some brethren who really want to do God's work, but do not know the starting point of their calling. You have to catch a bird to know it. If you don't catch your vision, how will you know it? Some brethren do not even know their vision, so they miss the starting point.

Moses was a good example of a troubled and frustrated lover of God's work. I believe you can remember how his zeal for God's work got him into trouble and frustration. "Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb." Your room or office can be turned to your own Horeb, to pray, study and meditate on the word of God. This is possible even in your business place. You just require a place where God can meet with you. You cannot be busier than God. "And, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." That was the purpose of Moses' calling. To deliver (in God's way) a people who were going through a fire yet not consumed. Some brethren think they are called, but they are in too much of a hurry to know from God the purpose of their calling. Then they will get into the field and fumble. Remember, God is not the author of confusion (I Cor. 14:33).

"And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight. Why, the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses, and he said, Here am I." (Please read Exodus 3 & 4.) Will you now turn aside, to pray, study and meditate on the word of God, to hear HIM speaking to you?

Our Lord Jesus also said, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matt. 11:12). I must tell you clearly that the enemy will always want to hinder you from having time with God because he (satan) knows the secrets behind it and benefits thereafter. You'd better stop him now.

The Big A.S.K.

When our Lord Jesus Christ was mandating us in Matthew 7 to ASK, HE quickly gave the reasons for the mandate in verses 7 and 8. I note that "A" stands for ask, "S" for seek, and "K" for knock. It means we have to be people of prayer to succeed as Christians.

"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Matt. 7:8). Why? Because it is all paid for by HIM, Jesus Christ. A Christian begins to have problems the day he stops asking or doubts his birthright to that extent.

It reminds me of an elderly lady who was to visit her daughter, who just gave birth to a child. She had to fly to a foreign landwhere her daughter lived with the husband. The young couple arranged and bought the ticket for their mother who would have to stay with them for some time at least to help in looking after the newly born baby. The mother was put on the plane by a relation whom the young couple had earlier contacted. The woman was on the aircraft and the time came for the air hostesses to serve the passengers with breakfast. When they got to the "old lady," she just shook her head, meaning she did not want their food, and the airhostess moved on to the next passenger. It was the same case at lunchtime, and the airhostesses thought it was because she was fasting that the grandma did not take any food. The drinks she equally turned down when she was offered and the flight took 14 hours.

When the plane landed, she got out of the aircraft into the waiting hands of her son-in-law, who took her into the car and started another journey, which would take about three hours. It was on their way that the mother-in-law sighted a fast food spot and requested the son-in-law to stop and get her something to eat. The son pleaded that the fast food would spoil the old lady's dinner, which her daughter had been busy preparing hours before he came to pick her up at the airport. But the son noticed that the woman was feeling uncomfortable in spite of his sermons.

I remember my late father (also a preacher) told me that a hungry man listens to no sermon. The young man had no choice but to stop and get the woman a snack. Surprisingly, the woman was eating the fast food like someone who had to break a two-day fast suddenly. The son asked his mother-in-law whether they did not serve food on the plane. The woman answered, "Yes, but I thought they might ask me to pay for the food after eating, so I did not take their food at all." The son laughed, and told her that the food had been paid for - the ticket covered everything.

So who was to blame, the airline or the woman? OUR TICKET IS JESUS CHRIST which HE Himself bought for us with HIS blood. If anybody refuses to pray in this Name or doubts the authority in this Name, God is not at fault. Everything has been paid for. ASK. "Or what man is there of you who, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?" And Jesus Himself asks further, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to them that ASK Him?" (Matt. 7:9-11) Beloved, a prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian. Therefore, PRAY.

The Meeting Of The Two Powers

I emphasize the importance of prayer because I have tasted and found it to be real. I had gotten it into my blood. I remember on several occasions some brethren had come to tell me how they had prayed earnestly and nothing happened. In any counseling time where brethren confront me like that, I will make sure that I encourage them truthfully. I'll ask them if they regard or harbor any form of iniquity in their lives which might cause hindrance to their prayers (Ps. 66:18). If the answer is no, I'll quickly let them know that they must have patience with God, because this GOD that we are serving ( by man's timing) is a slow GOD. That is not it all.

"The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy" (Ps. 103:8). Beloved, if we believe that GOD is slow to be angry with us, then we should not say HE should be fast in all other cases. HE has His own timing. When we pray to God, it is like sending a petition. The answer will either be yes or no. But where we hear neither yes nor no, it means "WAIT." In every organized show there must be a time to wait; for instance, when we want to see a chief executive officer (C.E.O.) of an organization, we must be ready first to spend some time in the waiting room; otherwise, we will spoil our case. I have noticed that Christians do at times have problems with the waiting time. Whereas, if we study our God, we will realize that HIS silence does not imply no action. The story of a demoniac boy cured by JESUS often gives me a picture of what happens whenever the two powers meet for action (Mk. 9:14-29).

The boy had been oppressed from childhood. Often times the demons would cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him. When the boy was finally brought to Jesus for deliverance, the devil who had enjoyed tormenting the child for years was so rude as to challenge the presence of Jesus Christ. When the two powers meet for action, the weaker power must surrender to the stronger Power. Jesus Power, Super Power, confronted satan (powerless power) and disgraced him out of the temple of God. Hallelujah!

Let us note something: "And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him, and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, he is dead." Can you imagine what happens when two vehicles have a head-on collision? First is the noisy collision, second is a silence, and third is the effect of the collision. I want to let you know that if you do not harbor any iniquity in your life, you do not have to give up on your prayers, even when nothing positive seems to be manifest. There must be a time for the noisy head-on collision and a time for silence. The time of silence is when people will mock you, and it will look as if you are dead, too, just as the boy about whom many people said, "He is dead." In that time of silence it may seem you are not even existing, in spite of all your prayers and fasting coupled with your faithfulness to the Lord, your family, local church and business, if any.

In a nutshell, you are living a Biblical way of life, yet hearing nothing in response to your prayers. DO NOT GIVE UP! Rather, start thanking and praising God regarding your prayer matter. The manifestation is coming. JESUS WILL LIFT YOU UP. "But Jesus took him [when people thought the boy was dead] by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose." This Jesus Christ, Who is the same yesterday, and today, and forever (Heb. 13:8), will lift you up (if you don't give up), and you will arise, your ministry will arise, your family will arise, your business or whatever people thought was dead in you (maybe even your womb) will arise. His power of resurrection is still effective (Jn. 11:25) and is everlasting (Jn. 3: 36). Hallelujah!

"But, without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that HE is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek HIM" (Heb 11:6). "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the LORD, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the LORD" (I Cor. 15:58). PRAISE THE LORD!

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