DON'T DEFINE YOUR FUTURE BY YOUR PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES (PART 2).
TEXT:
"You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways. When they cast you down, and you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’ Then He will save the humble person." (Job 22 verses 28 to 29, New King James Version).
As God's children, it's often said that we are His prophets (1st Chronicles 16 verse 22, Psalms 105 verse 15). Moses' desire was that every one of God's children would prophesy and be filled with the Spirit of God. Hear him in Numbers 11 verse 29, "Would that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" Glory to God that his desire was fulfilled later when the Lord poured out His Spirit upon the Church on the day of Pentecost, resulting in sons and daughters prophesying. (see Joel 2 verses 28 to 29 and Acts 2 verses 17 to 18). In practice, when we declare God's Word upon our lives, particularly in the face of adverse circumstances of life, we're in effect prophesying to ourselves, becoming prophets unto ourselves. This is awesome!
The Scripture reading for today tells us to "declare a thing, And it will be established" for us by God. In other words, by our declarations, we are able to effect changes to those undesirable situations in our lives. This is powerful! But unfortunately, many of God's children do not know this. The question is what do you want to see happen to you in place of your adverse and frustrating circumstances of life? The Lord Jesus told us in Mark 11 verse 24 that we should pray the things we desire. In other words, we are to find God's Word that are answers to our problems and pray them.
We are well acquainted with the story of Jonah in the Bible. "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights " (Jonah 1 verse 17). Then in Chapter 2 verse 1, the Bible says "Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,". The question to answer is, how did Jonah pray while he was in the belly of the fish?
It will amaze you to learn that although Jonah was in the belly of the fish and was in danger of immediate death, unlike others, he didn't capitulate or give in to the danger he was in. The Bible says in chapter 2 verse 1 that "Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly," declaring what he wanted to see happen to him in spite of the obvious hopeless situation he found himself in. As far as Jonah was concerned, his problems were ”lying vanities” which he was not ready to “observe” or give thought to in order not to forsake God's mercy. (Jonah 2 verse 8). What he did was that while he was in the belly of the fish, he concerned himself with making prophetic declarations in line with what he wanted God to do for him in the circumstance.
For instance, in Jonah 2 verse 2, he declared saying,
"When I was in trouble, Lord, I prayed to you, and you listened to me. From deep in the world of the dead, I begged for your help, AND YOU ANSWERED MY PRAYER" (Contemporary English Version).
In verse 6 of the same chapter 2, Jonah again declared prophetically saying,
"I had sunk down deep below the mountains beneath the sea. I knew that forever, I would be a prisoner there. BUT, YOU, LORD GOD, RESCUED ME FROM THAT PIT"
You will notice that Jonah's prayers were all in the past tense, as though the matter of his salvation from the belly of the fish had been settled by God. How on earth do you suppose that God will ignore such prayers? The truth is, Jonah's prayers were faith filled prayers. Never forget that faith is the substance of things hoped for (ie, what is desired or what is expected) and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11 verse 1).
These prayers from the lips of Jonah, remember, were uttered while he was still in the belly of the fish, while the danger was rife and prevalent. They spoke of his trust in God's mercy, notwithstanding his sin of disobedience to God's call to go to Nineveh to preach the Gospel. He refused to define his future by the dire, adverse and dismal situation around him. Remember that he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
Brethren, this is how God expects us to relate to Him as we face challenges of life. We are not to relinquish our faith by giving ourselves to inconstant and recreant thoughts and utterances that show our surrender to the wicked darts that the devil hurls at us. We are to stand strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, putting on the whole armour of God that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6 verses 10 to 11).
PRAYER:
In the name of Jesus Christ, I refuse to give in to the devil's plots against me. By my confessions and declarations, I affirm God's sovereignty over me and the situations of my life.