BE SPIRITUALLY SENSITIVE!
EVERY TIME YOU ARE PRAYING, (IMAGINE) GOD SEARCHING YOUR HEART.
UNTIL THE HEART IS CONNECTED, THERE IS NO SPIRITUAL CONNECTIVITY!
IT’S GREAT TO KNOW HOW TO PRAY AND IT IS EVEN GREATER TO KNOW WHEN OUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED.
WE MUST EXPECT ANSWERS FROM OUR PRAYERS BECAUSE WHAT WE DO NOT EXPECT, WE CANNOT EXPERIENCE.
IT IS GREAT TO PRAY IN OUR MOTHER TONGUE AND UNDERSTANDING BUT LET’S PRAY MUCH MORE IN THE SPIRIT.
FIVE (5) MINUTES PRAYER FROM THE HEART IS FAR MORE REWARDING THAN PRAYING FOR HOURS WITHOUT CONNECTIVITY!
WHEN YOU PRAY, THE CONTENT OF YOUR HEART IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE CONTENT OF YOUR WORDS.
IT’S GREAT THAT PEOPLE CAN HEAR THE GRAMMAR THAT WE SPEAK IN PRAYERS BUT WHAT IS GOD HEARING FROM OUR HEART?
-Pastor Faith Oyedepo on ‘HOW DO I KNOW WHEN MY PRAYER IS ANSWERED?’ || Covenant Hour of Prayer || 25th January, 2023
-Father we give You thanks for the blessings of another day, thank You for the gift of life. We slept and woke up because You sustained us! Accept our thanksgiving in Jesus Name! Thank You for answered prayers both corporate and personal, thank You for these amazing testimonies today, take all the praise in Jesus Name! Right now we are before You, speak to us again, transform our lives again and let none of us return the same way we have come. Church Gist. Give us this day our daily bread and let Your Name be glorified in Jesus Mighty Name we have prayed.
Praise the Lord, I’m finally on my Covenant Highways of life! Congratulations!
This week in our Covenant Hour of Prayer, the subject we are looking at is captioned, ‘HOW DO I KNOW WHEN MY PRAYER IS ANSWERED?’
-From this season forward, none of us will be in doubt anymore after our prayers have been answered!
Many of us like we have been told all the way from Monday and have been taught how to pray. It’s great to know how to pray and it is even greater to knoww when our prayers have been answered. In Luke 11:1, the disciples of Jesus approached him and said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’! Church Gist. So it is great to even know how to pray but it is greater to know when our prayers have been answered.
In Jeremiah 33:3, the Word of God is very clear, ‘Call upon me, I will answer thee’! Even this morning, we have called upon God personally but are you sure that your prayers are answered? Church Gist. God has given us that Word of assurance- ‘I will answer’! But how do I know when God has answered my prayer?
Deuteronomy 28:1, ‘Hearken diligently’! So how do I know? This morning the number one way to know is when you have prayed with your heart. Please understand that when you pray, the content of your heart is much more important than the content of our words. Church Gist. Our words are important but the content of our hearts is much more important Jeremiah 29:13. So let’s be more concerned with the content of our hearts much more than the words of our mouth.
It’s great that people can hear the grammar that we speak but what is God hearing from our heart? The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available James 5:16 (AMPC), so the heartfelt prayer of a righteous man is what avails much with God. Church Gist. And the question we must keep asking ourselves every time we pray is, ‘Am I praying with my heart?’ Because until the heart is connected, there is no Spiritual connectivity! It can be a futile effort trying to speak to someone on the other side with your telephone when there is no connectivity.
Many of us, at several times, have tried to call people and you press the phone yet there is no connectivity. You look at the phone and as long as there is no connectivity, you keep on trying because until there is connectivity, your words cannot be heard on the other side and there can be no response. Church Gist. Many times when we pray and our hearts are not engaged and it’s not from the heart, it means that there is no Spiritual connectivity.
-From this season forward, nothing will cut off our Spiritual connectivity again!
5 days left and the 21 day prayer and fasting for this year is over. You and I cannot afford to engage in any prayer any longer that is not with the heart. If it’s 5 minutes, let it be with the heart, it is far more rewarding than praying for hours without connectivity!
-No more wasted prayer!
The story of Hannah is very illustrative in the Bible 1 Samuel 1:13, the Bible tells us that Hannah was praying in her heart, her lips moved but her voice was not heard. It is better for your voice not to be heard by others but for you and I to speak from our heart! Church Gist. We all know the effect in 1 Samuel 1:20, the Lord remembered Hannah.
-There is somebody here today under the sound of my voice, God will remember you!
Jeremiah 17:10, ‘I, the Lord search the heart… ‘Your neighbour cannot see your heart, I can’t see your heart and you cannot see mine’. Church Gist. So every time you are praying, picture God searching your heart because He is actually doing so and the reward will come based on what He finds in your heart.
-From this season, no more absent-hearted prayers!
It is only the prayers that come from the heart that Heaven can hear. And until Heaven hears, God cannot respond. From this season therefore, no more absent-hearted prayer. Whatever you need to do to show that your heart is connected anytime you pray, please go ahead and do it! Sometimes personally, I have to close my eyes to ensure that my heart is connected. Church Gist. If you have to do so, do it and ensure that there is connectivity.
-From this season, our prayers will receive speedy answers!
The second point that we are looking at is when you have prayed in the Spirit (The Holy Spirit) Revelation 1:10.
-You and I will continue to hear more clearly the voice of God from this season!
‘I was in the Spirit… Revelation 1:10’, and that is why it is important for you and I to ensure that we are baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, we don’t stop there but we go ahead to keep engaging the Spirit of God.
Many times we rejoice at the fact that, Yes, I’m baptized, I can speak in other tongues! But how are you and I engaging the Holy Ghost in prayer? Church Gist. He will not force Himself on us, it is the room that we give to Him that He will occupy!
So each time we pray, it is important for us to ensure and know that our prayers are answered, we must pray in the Spirit Romans 8:26-27. So when we pray, let’s ensure that we engage the Holy Spirit in our prayers. Church Gist. It is great to pray in our mother tongue and understanding but let’s pray much more in the Spirit. We need to pray ‘all’ prayers whether personal prayers or Kingdom prayers in the Spirit Ephesians 6:18.
-Grace to pray much more than ever before in the Spirit, we receive it this morning in the Name of Jesus!
The day is still very young and thank God today we have our Midweek Communion Service, spend time between now and evening. Punctuate your day as you begin to pray in the Holy Ghost. 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there- Pray in the Spirit. Engage your heart, make sure you are not just speaking words out of your mouth, ensure that your heart is connected. If you need to close your eyes, kneel down or go into one corner whatever you need to do, engage your heart because that is what will ensure speedy answers for us in Jesus Name!
And finally as we close, we must expect answers from our prayers because what we do not expect, we cannot experience. So be Spiritually sensitive! Watch for answers! You know, to expect means to anticipate, to look forward to. What do you look forward to? Church Gist. It is what will happen to you! 1 Samuel 30:8, David enquired of the Lord and God told him what to do and that exactly happened in 1 Samuel 30:18. The same thing in 2 Samuel 5:19, he enquired again and exactly it happened because he looked forward to it.
Before this 21 days of prayer and fasting is over, what do you expect? Transformation! What you and I expect is what will happen. The day is just beginning before the end of today, what do you expect? Church Gist. Transformation, answers to all our prayers and Spiritual sensitivity.
-Grace to remain sensitive and to ensure that we enjoy answers to all our prayers, the Lord will release it unto us this morning in Jesus’ Name!
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