THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28TH 2023
PRAY FOR A RECEPTIVE HEART
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls (James 1:21).
PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME
When you share God's Word with others, it may not work unless the Holy Spirit ministers to their hearts. You may preach and teach, but if the Spirit of God isn't ministring to their hearts, it's not going to be effective; that's the reason why prayer is crucial.
When you pray for others in this context, it's not about you, but your hearers, that the Lord give them a receptive heart, and that the darkness that blinds their hearts be dispelled and the power of evil holding them in bondage is broken.
Remember the Word of Paul the Apostle: "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). As a result, I learnt to pray, saying, "In the name of the Lord Jesus, you evil spirit of darkness that has blinded and put a mist in the heart of so-and-so to stop him from seeing and understanding the Word, I break your influence on his heart and mind.
When i started doing this, I got amazing results; the Holy Spirit opened their heart to receive the truths and teachings of the Word of God without distractions. If there was any hardness or resistance prior to meeting them, it would melt away, and in them, a deep hunger and thirst for the spiritual would awakened. Praise God!
Always pray earnestly for those to whom and with whom you share the Word of God. When you do, the transformative power of the Word that brings conviction, understanding, and a desire for a closer relationship with the Lord will be kindled within their hearts. Amen.
PRAYER
Dear Father, I pray that the minds of those to whom I preach the Gospel be receptive to your Word as your wisdom leaps out of the message and inundates their hearts; they'll walk the path of wisdom, knowledge and understanding, being enlightened, refreshed, informed and strengthened to fulfill their purpose in Christ, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Ephesians 3:14-19; sage
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Ephesians 3:14-19 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
James 5:16 AMPC16 Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].
DAILY SCRIPTURE READING:
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Ephesians 4:17-5:1-2 & Isaiah 25-26
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
John 1:35-42 & 1 Kings 3
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