Have you ever prayed for something you ‘NEEDED’ but never got an answer??
Not all prayers will be answered and that’s the honest truth. Sometimes we ask amiss (James 4:3) and our intentions are not 100% pure. At other times, because God knows the end from the beginning, He denies us some things knowing they will not favour us in the end.
Thank Him today for some of your unanswered prayers. I am thanking Him as He did not give me the thing I prayed for in January – I am seeing the reasons clearly now!!!
Don’t allow people who can’t see and appreciate your worth to talk down on you, not even your spouse is allowed to do that. If you are dating a partner who always complains that you are inferior, please walk away. The worst thing that can happen to any individual is getting married to a partner who manages them.
You are not to be managed, you are beautifully and wonderfully made, if they can’t see it, then they are not qualified to be in your life. Compromising to please anybody will lead to disappointment.
If a brother tells you that your skin is too dark, don’t try to use bleaching cream to please him, tell him to use the door and look for a fair sister. If you start the foundation of your relationship with insecurities, you will suffer emotionally in your marriage.
Many ladies have lost their true self in the process of pleasing a man who does not appreciate their originality. One of the major reasons why you can do anything to please a man who doesn’t appreciate you is because you have low self-esteem.
Dear king, stop behaving like a puppet to win a lady who does not value you. There is a difference between when your partner wants to see you grow and become the best version of yourself and when they want you to do everything to please them. Marry the one who loves and honours all that you represent.
If you are battling with low self-esteem, please get knowledge in that area, and spend quality time with the Holy Spirit, He will make you start seeing and appreciating your originality. When you love yourself, you become bold and nobody will be able to manipulate your emotions. A lady that loves and appreciates herself can never be intimidated.
I’m enough for my king, I don’t have to compromise to please a man, the man that God will give to me will help me grow and not pull me down. You are enough, yes you are.
My Journey Into Ministry, How It All Started 3.Read Episode 2.
I wouldn’t even take a second glance at the mirror before picking up my school bag and bouncing off to class. But, with the influence of my new friend, the makeup tutor, things changed while I was still in junior secondary school class 3.
Just glad my grades didn’t drop. When I got into senior secondary class, I grew wings like an eagle. I tossed spirituality away like it was never part of me. I was a church girl whenever I visited home, but my mind was a distance away.
You see, it’s possible to get carried away by your new level of affluence, wealth, or freedom to a point that you disregard things that matter the most, like your SPIRITUAL ALTAR. Only a few successful people still have time to commit themselves to establishing a firm Christian standard in their lives or homes. This goes beyond traditional church activities.
In your home, how often do your children even see you studying your own Bible let alone having a fellowship time at home as a family? It’s funny how the devil plays this game so well. Using financial success as bait for spiritual failure.
As a student who is far away from home, when was the last time you picked up your Bible to study or even discuss the gospel with your friends? Some may even call this lifestyle OLD SCHOOL.
In between the attention I got as an attractive senior girl in school, one thing never skipped my mind… my Dad’s reaction. For some of us, the fear of our African fathers is also the beginning of wisdom.
All through my remaining days in secondary school, I didn’t remember the encounter I had with the Lord in my small corner alongside my Christian friends five years ago. I was so distracted by things that had no eternal value and I was totally lost in my desires that I forgot the gift and calling of God over my life.
Have you ever been here at some point in your life too? Where you often get so carried away by your carnal cravings that you miss out on what God has in store for you. For some persons, it may be the influence of a new environment or circle of friends.
When you spend time among people who do not share the same spiritual values or depth as you, with time they will also draw you back. All these changes happened to me because I found myself in the wrong circle. Those friends who prayed with me the last time were no longer my favorite company.
I spent four years walking outside of purpose because I chose my own path instead of sticking to God’s plans for my life. God did teach me so many lessons afterward.
I’ll get into that next episode. Have you ever felt like you’re drifting away from God’s will for your life or struggled to detach from the wrong company of friends? Kindly share how you manage to pull through in the comment section.
My Journey Into Ministry, How It All Started 2. Read Episode 1.
I still remember that cold night in 2004, on my little bed in the lower bunk. My roommate who was a year older approached. “Abigail, do you know how to smoke?”
“Erhmm, how do you do that?” I asked. She picked up a matchbox, stroke it with the match stick, and dipped it in her mouth. It went off inside her mouth and she fancily released the smoke. How fascinating! My eyes widened and I got too excited.
I was about trying mine when Our Matron stepped out; we quickly lay back in our beds and pretended to be sleeping. Whenever the devil wants to steal something precious from you, he distracts you with something even more interesting.
My School was anti-religious, so we held social nights every two weeks instead of religious activities. Normally, I don’t join social nights because it wasn’t part of me. The type of music and dancing style wasn’t sitting well with the Christian girl in me. But after mingling more, I became a regular social night attendee.
I will climb the top of the concrete for everyone to have a satisfying view of my dance steps. I thought I was having fun…but I noticed that I couldn’t exercise my spiritual gifts as often as I used to.
At a point, I stopped praying and observing Bible studies. There was hardly any focus on my spiritual growth. You know, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are meant to be nurtured and treasured. When you throw it to the wind, the Lord simply gets another worthy vessel to embody those gifts.
I remember when Rita asked me if I liked makeup. She was glad to be my mentor. Now I was excited to begin my journey into SLAYING! If you are coming across this piece as a parent or caregiver, I want you to also understand that a good upbringing is not enough to sustain a child through their developmental years (7-22years).
After you must have done your part as a parent by instilling the right values in them, you must constantly put your children before God in your prayers so that the Lord will guide them to the right people and keep those good values in their hearts always.
Did I turn worse or improve? You’ll find out in the next episode. Have you ever been in a situation where you compromised your faith and spiritual values over worldly pleasures? Kindly share in the comment. To be Continued in next episode
I remember the crowded atmosphere of my secondary school dormitory in Mayflower Ikenne, several years back. I think we were almost 200 to one matron in a hall. I stayed on the top floor and my bunk was placed a few blocks away from the toilet, just in case I couldn’t control my pee at midnight (laughs)
Just like every other primary school graduate, I was super excited to begin my journey in higher learning and far away from home in a boarding house. But, what I wasn’t aware of was the dimension God was planning to express himself through me as a child.
In no time, I became an expert in eating beans, because that was the only breakfast we had every morning. Beans and Pap was the winning combination. Almost every student including me believed that beans made people tall. Wait, is that true?
One evening during my third year, a few of my friends and I gathered in fellowship, and we enjoyed the visit and beauty of the Holy Spirit in our midst that night. Oh! What a night it was… I can never forget that very moment.
I remember that very moment like yesterday. As my eyes were tightly shut, all I could see was a plain white screen before me. I saw nothing else, but I kept hearing his words like whispers reaching out to me. I began to shed tears uncontrollably. I kept shivering at the ambiance of his presence. That was my first call and encounter.
At this time, I was unconscious of my environment or the happenings around me, all I could recall after I opened my eyes was sitting on the floor drenched in tears while others were still singing the worship song we all started with. That encounter changed everything for me. It was after that, the gift of prophecy began to find expression in my life.
I still remember how my mates and even my seniors approached me on different issues and I’ll pray with them and minister prophetically to them. I was still a child, and unprepared on how to nurture or handle the gift of the Spirit at that time.
My school didn’t support religious organizations either, so there was no one to mentor me through it and since I was far from home where my parents could have helped, I was left with a big responsibility to grow and nurture my spiritual gift. Because I was still vulnerable, the devil came after my gift through social influence.
Oh! That young Jesus Girl began her groove life and I wasn’t taking it slow. I attempted… To be Continued in next episode.
There isn’t enough room in your life for both Fear and Faith. Each Day, you must decide which one gets to stay.
You have to understand that you cannot have Faith and Fear at the same time; you can only have one or the other. The Presence of Fear does not mean you have no Faith. Fear visits everyone; make your Fear a visitor and not a resident.
Fear imprisons, faith liberates; fear paralyzes, faith empowers; fear disheartens, faith encourages; fear sickens, faith heals. Faith is the flame that eliminates fear.
I NEED HELP You need help, everybody needs help sometimes. It is impossible to get to the peak of your career, your craft or whatever you do without help. You cannot be an island, no man is totally independent!!!!
Most times, it may not be financial help, all you need might just be to have your name mentioned in that office. Joseph could interpret dreams, but he was certainly not leaving that prison until the butler recommended him, mentioned his name to King Pharaoh!!!
Even Jesus Christ was helped by Simon to carry his cross on his way to be crucified, and was helped by Joseph of Arimathea to get his body down from the cross, and put in a Tomb.
You cannot ignore the ministry of destiny helpers! Because there are levels you’ll never get to until somebody “carry your matter for head”.
For that Great business, great idea, great plan, amazing skill my prayer for you is that may God grants you a destiny helper that would see this potential in you and would stop at nothing to make Sure you achieve your dreams!!! But until then, keep trusting the process .
A lot of vital ingredients come together to make a good soup. In a similar manner, a lot of vital ingredients come together to make a successful marriage. One such ingredient is knowledge.
Knowledge is simply how much we know about something. No matter how excited you are about a subject and the teacher, if you lack knowledge of it, you will fail the exams.
Two individuals may love and feel good about each other, but if they don’t know how to communicate or relate well with each other, they will be tense in their home. If the tension is not resolved on time, it may escalate into unforgiveness, anger, bitterness and more.
In situations like this, the knowledge of how to deal with conflict comes in handy, or better still, the knowledge of how to prevent conflict. After all, prevention is better than cure. For example, one such knowledge will be how to respond to one another when provoked. We find this in Proverbs 15:1 which says a soft answer turns away wrath but grievous words stir up anger. A soft answer does not come by default. It takes knowledge.
The root cause of breakdown in many homes today is a lack of knowledge and pride. Pride can lead to the rejection of knowledge or its application. If you notice a gap in any area of your marriage, seek knowledge. Then back it up with prayers. Watch out as things turn around for your good.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge – Hosea 4:6
Birds can never be stressed out or get tired of flying because flying is part of their normal lives. Any day the freedom of flight is taken from a bird by caging it, it immediately expresses its discomfort by flapping its wings and looking for a way out, because it is not originally designed to be caged but to fly freely.
The Fish as an aquatic animal is designed to swim and live in water. Everything about a fish begins and ends in water. As swift as fish is in swimming, its movement will come to an abrupt end the moment you drop it on dry land because it is not designed to live there.
The Monkey is the king of climbing, but never takes climbing lessons from anyone because its ability to climb is naturally in-built. It is a champion in the forest which is why it always feels uncomfortable when it finds itself in the streets of developed area.
Just as every creature has features designed for them to live comfortably in their habitat, so also are human beings designed with specific talents and abilities to function. The understanding of man’s reason for existence will always save human beings from many troubles and confusion.
Every human being desires and strives to be great, but the truth is that greatness is already inherent in us. The only part we are required to play is to activate this greatness.
I may not know how long you have been struggling to live a good life. You are probably struggling with the job or career that puts food on your table because it does not make you happy.
I am not sure how meaningful life is to you but one thing I am so sure of is that when you discover your ruling domain and start living as you were made to live, life will become meaningful to you and frustration will be a thing of the past. You are designed for a specific function and your greatness is tied to this specific function.
Once upon a time, there was a mighty King. He was powerful, strong and had a Prime Minister, who was very wise. This Minister was always with the King all the time. He had a common saying; “Whatever happens, Happens for good”.
One day, the King’s sword fell off it’s gird and accidentally cut-off one of his toe. The Minister said “Whatever happens, Happens for good”. The King was furious, he just lost a toe and The Minister is saying “whatever happens, Happens for good”.
The King was angry and declared that the Minister be put into the prison immediately. Humbly The Minister said again “whatever happens, happens for good”. Days, weeks and months past by, he remained in the prison.
The King declared a seven days hunting feast one evening. He and his guards, chiefs and warriors, set out to the forest at the edge of the kingdom.
The hunt was intense, everyone spread out in difference directions. Suddenly, the King was alone. By evening, the King couldn’t find his way back home, wandering around the forest, he stumbles and fell in a trap that was set by the local tribe people of the forest.
They were cannibals, and the King was going to be their victim and meal. They set the fire and table to feed on the King. Then, the leader of the tribe saw that the King has a missing toe and forbid the tribe from eating him, saying it an abomination.
They set the King free and showed him the path out of the forest. When the King arrived home to the palace, he demanded the released of the Prime Minister immediately. He was glad he lost his toe. The Minister was also glad he was in the prison while this happened because he would have been the victim, the tribe would have feasted on, instead of the King.
The Bible says in Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”. Believe and Work it out, don’t worry about the circumstances! All things are working for your good.
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