Expect Answers When You Pray!

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened (Luke 11:10).

You have every right, as a child of God, to expect answers when you pray (John 15:16). But if you pray to God doubting, you're not going to get anything. James 1:6-8 says, "...But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."

To be double minded in this context means to vacillate, to waver or stagger at the promises of God through unbelief. Such a man, according to God's Word, can't receive anything from God, for it takes faith to receive from Him: "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" (Hebrews 11:6).

There's no use praying, if you don't expect God to answer. God asked us to pray because He wants to answer. One of the reasons some people don't expect answers when they pray is that they remember all their sins and failures as soon as they get on their knees to pray and become overwhelmed by self-condemnation. Self-condemnation will dissipate your faith; never allow it to get a hold of you.

The way out of such quagmire is to build yourself in God's Word. 1 Peter 2:2 says, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." The Word of God can build you up in righteousness: "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith..."(Romans 1:17). You need to renew your mind with God's Word and strengthen yourself in His righteousness. With the consciousness of your righteousness in Christ, you can confidently ask anything of the Father, in accordance to His will, and expect Him to answer, and He will.

PRAYER

Dear Father, I thank you for the life and nature of righteousness and you've given me. Not only does your righteousness give me the ability to do right, it makes me stand unblameable and unreproveable in your sight. Therefore, I pray today, knowing I've been ordained to receive answers to all my prayers, in Jesus' Name. Amen.



Rhapsody of Realities January 12, 2010
-Pastor Anita Oyakhilome

Prophetic Prayer

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions (Joel 2:28).

When you worship God, His Word begins to come forth from you with power and authority to bring on a change in your situation. This kind of prayer is what I call "Prophetic Prayer." A classic example of prophetic prayer is Jonah's prayer to God when he was in the belly of the fish: "Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple"(Jonah 2:1-4).

In his hour of desperation in the fish's belly, Jonah still wanted to see the glory of God. He wanted to see Jerusalem, the city of the great King, where God's temple was. This is 'Prophetic Prayer' and it's important for the believer to pray this way. In prophetic prayer, you declare what will be; you declare what's going to happen, because the power is in your mouth! You speak the will of God into being by the supernatural inspiration of the Holy Ghost!

Romans 4:17 tells us God calls those things that are not as though they were. You are yet to see tomorrow, but God knows tomorrow. He has already seen your tomorrow; to Him, it's already in the past. He's not planning on your tomorrow; He's not going to do something about your tomorrow. He's already done all that needs to be done about it. How comforting it is to know that we serve the living God who knows everything about tomorrow.

Don't be moved by your present circumstances; they are lying vanities. Jonah considered everything around him and called them lying vanities. Those adverse circumstances are a lie, so don't observe them. Just as Jonah did-begin to worship God and declare victory even in the midst of that seeminly hopeless situation.

PRAYER

Dear Father, thank you for the Word of life in my mouth. I declare in the name of Jesus that your Word is prevailing in my world, and righteousness is increasing in every nation of the earth, and everywhere is covered with the knowledge of your glory. Hallelujah!




Rhapsody of Realities January 29, 2010
-Pastor Chris Oyakhilome

Learn To Receive When You Pray

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

The Lord Jesus was always vivid in His communication; He said what He meant and He meant what He said. In Matthew 7:7-8, He said, "...everyone who asks receives. Anyone who seeks, finds. If only you will knock, the door will be opened " (TLB). So how come some folks don't receive when they pray?

You see, the Lord Jesus taught us how to pray and how to receive answers. Many have only learnt to pray because religion teaches them to pray, but they haven't learnt the faith way of receiving. Praying without receiving is religion and religion gives you nothing!

Prayer wasn't meant to be a religious formality. Religion will compel you to pray as a rite and discourage you from receiving answers to your prayers. Religion can also make you see your prayer as an avenue to get God to do something for you. This can only bring frustration when there are no answers! In Mark 11:24, Jesus said "...What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." In other words, when you pray, believe that you have received and then you shall have whatever it is you asked for. That means, when you pray, God answers, but you're the one to do the receiving. How? By faith!

Here's how it works: let's say you've prayed and asked the Lord for a particular thing; if you truly believe the words of Jesus, you ought to rejoice and declare immediately, "Glory to God, I've got what I've asked for!" Even though you're yet to see it with your physical eyes, you begin to act like you've already received what you asked for, right from the moment you prayed. That's how to receive when you pray. I recommend that you get the book "How To Make Your Faith Work," and learn more about the principle of receiving, and the faith-attitude in prayer.

PRAYER

Dear Father, I thank you for teaching me today to receive answers when I pray. As I pray right now, I am exceedingly joyful because I know that I've already received answers to my requests and petitions in the Name of Jesus. Amen.


Rhapsody Of Realities January 3, 2010
-Pastor Anita Oyakhilome


Similar posts: Expect Answers When You Pray , It starts from within, Build up yourself on your most holy faith

God Relates With You Personally

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7).

One exciting thing about our relationship with the Lord is how he relates with each and every one of us personally. Sometimes, people think God relates with them according to numbers. Some people believe for instance, that if they have more people praying for them, God would respond to them faster. Such people are ignorant of the Bible; else they would have remembered that at one time, everyone in the world was destroyed by flood with the exception of Noah's family.

God relates with you according to your faith, not according to numbers, or how many you are in a group. The Bible says, "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" (Hebrews 11:6). Your faith is the basis of pleasing Him; it's got nothing to do with numbers. Some others think of numbers differently; they feel okay to know they're not alone in their sufferings. You hear them make such comments as, "twenty of us were laid off from the company" or "so many of us in the class failed." That's not right. You're not supposed to view life from that perspective. Life is personal, likewise your salvation and your relationship with God.

Don't use the experiences of others to determine the flow of your life. It matters how you hear and respond to God. Don't ever think He sent His Son to die for the world because we were so many; if you were the only one on earth; Jesus would still have come to die for you.

God loves you as a person; He knows your name and relates with you as a unique individual. Nobody was ever like you before you were born; nobody is like you today in the world and nobody will ever be like you. You're the only one of you that God has ever had and will ever have. You're personal to Him and special. That's why He loves to relate with you personally.

CONFESSION

I'm God's divine masterpiece, made in His image and likeness. I've come to understand that I'm unique and God relates with me in my uniqueness. Thus, I go about my business today, conscious of the fact that I have all of God's attention and He loves me personally. Hallelujah!



Rhapsody of Realities November 14, 2009
-Pastor Chris Oyakhilome

It Starts From Within

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full (John 16:24).

The word "receive" as used above is the Greek: lambano; and it means to seize or take hold of something and make it yours. This kind of receiving is done first from within, that is, from your spirit. That's because faith is from your spirit, and if you must change anything in your situation or circumstance, the change must begin first from within.

The Bible declares in Romans 10:10 that ''...with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." If you need a miracle, or want to see a change in a particular situation, you must believe and receive it first from within. In other words, you must see the invisible first.

I remember when, as a little girl, our younger daughter was diagnosed with a paralytic condition. My husband and I refused to accept it; instead, we chose to see the invisible. We listened to faith-building messages everyday; and our faith was stirred, we got up, paced the floor, declaring, "We refuse to fear, in the Name of Jesus. Our daughter is walking, in the Name of Jesus!" We prayed, laid hands on her limbs, and spoke God's Word to her body day and night, like this, month after month. Guess what? She was healed, and today she's a walking miracle!

But back then, even when she couldn't walk, we refused to see or call her anything but healthy and strong. We saw her walking first from within. You must see that change or miracle you desire first in your spirit. If you've been sick, you've got to picture yourself healed and doing all what you couldn't hitherto. Take hold of your healing from your spirit and then declare it by faith in the Name of Jesus. You can do this for just about any situation in which you want to see a change. It's a principle given to us in God's Word and it works every time.

CONFESSION

My spirit is flooded with the light of God's Word, and I see and apprehend what belongs to me by faith. Therefore I declare that I live in divine health and prosperity; I enjoy success and victory every day, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord!



Rhapsody of Realities May 6, 2010
-Pastor Anita Oyakhilome

Frame Your "Aion" (How to repair your life)!

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear (Hebrews 11:3).

The Greek word translated "framed" in the opening scripture is "katartizo," which is to repair, frame, perfect, mend, or restore. In other words, through faith we understand that the worlds were repaired, framed, mended, restored and perfected by God. This lets us understand the power of faith because that was how God framed the visible world from the unseen.

Another word to study in the opening scripture is "world," which is translated from the Greek word "aion." "Aion" refers to the structure and administration of one's life; how things go with you from day to day, including how they affect your hopes and aspirations. It is the world's system with respect to socio-economic structures and environmental management of a period in history, including its arts and sciences.

The creation account in Genesis informs us that God made the whole world by speaking forth His Word. He called forth light, land and sea creatures, as well as everything else that He made. He had inside Him the kind of earth He desired but He needed to speak forth the Word to bring to pass what He desired. Each time He spoke, the Holy Ghost acted on those words and caused what God spoke to appear.

As God's children, this is also true about us, for we're made in His image and in His likeness. There's a creative power in us. A divinely enabled ability to create the kind of life or environment we desire. We can order the circumstances of life to conform to the image we conceive in our spirit. We can alter our destinies and change the course of our lives by speaking words in faith and calling forth the things we desire to see in our lives.

This is the key to recreating one's life and living in victory continually. Start speaking and calling forth today what you want to see in your life and the Holy Ghost will incubate on your words and make them a reality. Thus, it doesn't matter what has happened in your world-your "aion"--you can recreate your world! You can frame-- perfect, mend, or restore everything in your "aion" by declaring faith-filled words.

CONFESSION

Dear Father, I declare in the Name of Jesus that the lines are falling unto me in pleasant places; I'm experiencing fruitfulness, peace, prosperity and productivity in every area of my life, for you have perfected all that concerns me! Therefore, I experience absolute success and victory today, and declare that everything in my aion is perfected in line with your will and destiny for my life. Amen.


Rhapsody of Realities September 1st, 2009
-Pastor Chris Oyakhilome





Trelan's notes:

This is something we must do EVERYDAY if we desire continuous victory and blessings in our lives. Nothing "happens" to God, instead, God makes things happen. As an offspring of God, never allow stuff to just happen to you.

What, you think I'm speaking rubbish because "life happens"? No. Nothing can successfully happen to you unless you allow yourself to be subject to it. Look at King David's lament when his cousin, Abner, got stabbed in the stomach- a surprise stunt pulled by his murderer: "And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?"(2 Samuel 3:33)
David was saddened that a strong warrier like Abner, not bound or fettered, allowed himself to be killed like that. Yes I said allowed. David was a very spiritual man, said to be the man after God's own heart. He understood things of a spiritual nature so if he thought Abner could have prevented his death(despite the fact that it was a suprise attack, an ambush of sorts), he knew what he was talking about.

As God's very own, it is your duty to order circumstances in the morning before you leave home, however, if something came upon you at unawares, don't allow yourself to be intimidated or fearful. Instead, SEE the desired results and SPEAK them; believing that you're being heard by the most high God who loves you.
Never think that negative situations or circumstances are God's way of teaching you a lesson. Instead, recognize that there's something that you're ignorant of, then seek to find out what you are yet to learn or do.
Again the steps to changing circumstances:

1.picture the end results you desire(the outcome of any circumstance)
2.Speak it(it has to agree with God's Word-which is always love and faith)
3.Believe you've been heard and answered (and you demonstrate this by giving thanks to God).

The Dimensions Of God's Love

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19).

To be filled with the fullness of God is dependent upon our comprehension of the dimensions of God's love: the breadth, length, depth and height of the Father's love.

The "breadth" of God's love refers to the width or coverage of the Father's love. How wide is it? Who does it include? John 3:16 gives us the answer: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." God loves everyone in the world, even the worst sinner. Thus if you comprehend the magnitude and infinitude of that love, then you too can love everybody you meet genuinly.

The "length" of God's love refers to the extent or limit of the Father's love-how far can it go? Can it pursue the worst failures? Can it be stretched limitlessly in the face of provocation? The answer to all this is an emphatic YES! God's love is limitless and doesn't give up. No wonder Jesus said you must forgive if a brother offends you seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). Your love must know no limits.

The "depth" of God's love refers to the intensity of His love: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the intense love which He bestowed on us, caused us, dead though we were through our offenses, to live with Christ..."(Ephesians 2:4-5 WNT). His love is so intense that, even when we didn't want Him, He accepted us and eventually won us over! This should be your love-attitude; this should be the character of your love; you must love others passionately and intensely as God does.

The "height" of God's love refers to the loftiness of the character of your love, beyond human weakness. It means walking in love at God's high levels of excellence. It means letting your love rise above the criticisms of others! It means walking in high levels of God's love that the bitterness of others can't drown it. Your love ought to be so lofty that nothing of this world could make you condescend to the low levels of hate, backbiting and malice.

Do you want to be filled with the fullness of God? Then, you must function by the dimensions of God's love. Stay at the high level of love that thinks and talks differently; you'll be amazed at the workings of God in your life.

PRAYER

Dear Father, I pray that you would grant me, according to the riches of your glory, to be strengthen with might by your Spirit in my inner man; that Christ may dwell in my heart by faith; that I, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of your love and to fully comprehend the love of Christ, which surpasses mental knowledge, that I may be filled with all the fullness of God, in Jesus' Name.

Rhapsody of Realities April 4, 2009

-Pastor Chris Oyakhilome,

Take God At His Word

...So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it(Isaiah 55:11).

Have you ever heard a fellow Christian make comments like "if it's God's will for me to be healed, I'll be healed," or "whatever will be will be." They seem oblivious to the fact that God has already given us His Word to live by. God's Word is not just an account of historical happenings but the revelation of Himself and His eternal purpose for man. His Word is full of power and the divine ability to produce what it talks about. Always take God at His Word.

So efficacious is the Word of God that it always prevails; it never returns back to Him with an excuse of inaction. The knowledge and understanding of God's Word is imperative in our relationship with Him. When you study and understand the Word of God, you'll not entertain any doubt as to whether it's His will for you to be prosperous, healthy and successful in life. Instead of asking such question like "is it God's will for me to have this or have that," you'll simply take Him at His Word and expect what the Word says about you will come to pass.

I urge you today to take God at His Word! Trust in the integrity of God's Word; accept His Word as a final authority concerning any situation. Let the Word of God be the regulator of your life; simply believe and accept that you're who God says you are, you have what He says you have, and can do what do what He says you can do and it will produce for you what it talks about.

CONFESSION

My spirit is attuned to the Word of God. Every time I receive the Word, my faith increases and produces greater results, and my spirit gains the ascendancy over the situations and circumstances of life. I can never be defeated because my faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Hallelujah.



Rhapsody of Realities September 24, 2009
-Pastor Anita Oyakhilome

Righteousness Versus Right-living

For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sins; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthains 5:21).

One day, I asked a born again gentleman: "Are you righteous?" He paused to think for a while and replied, "I am working on it."
"So, how are you going to know when you are finally righteous" I quizzed him further. At that point, he didn't know what more to say. Like that gentleman, many chrstians don't think they are righteous because they equate righteousness with right-living. They look at their actions to rate their righteousness. But there is a difference between the two concepts.

The Bible says "....if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which recieve abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17). When you received Christ into your hearts, God gave you the righteousness as a gift. It's not something you worked for. Righteousness is the nature of God that is impacted to your human spirit that produces in you the ability to stand before God without guilt, inferiority or condemnation. Righteousness is that nature of God that produces in you, the rightness of God, and gives you right standing with God. Now, right living on the other hand is doing what is right and required of God as a way of life. They are not the same.

Right living is the product of righteousness. No man could live right until he's first of all righteous; God can only require a man to live right after that man has been made righteous. This is the reason He imparted righteousnes to you freely. The ability to do the right things can only flow naturally from a righteous person. Now some of your actions may still be imperfect but that doesn't in any way impact on your righteousness. What you need do is get the Word of God into you and righteousness will find expression through your actions.

When you were born again, you became as righteous as Jesus is, for you were made righteous with His righteousness. You can't be more righteous than you are right now, for God's roghteousness is perfect which is what you already have in Chríst--and you can't improve on perfect. That righteousness is in your spirit, and it produces in you right living---the ability to do right!

PRAYER

Dear Father, thank you for impacting righteousness into my spirit, therby making it possible for me to live and function rightly in life. That righteousness has brought precision and excellence into my life, enabling me to do the right thing always, in Jesus' Name. Amen.



Rhapsody of Realities December 11, 2008
-Pastor Chris Oyakhilome

Cut it out with the Word!

And take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

Some years ago, I noticed a small growth in my body, but instead of voicing concern about it, I addressed it and said, “I cut you out of my body in the Name of Jesus!” I said everything I knew to say from God’s Word to it, but it was still there and it felt the same.

However, I had learnt a long time ago that the Word of God is more real than the world in which we live. I kept saying the same things until a whole week passed. It looked and felt like the growth was still there. But then, every time I felt it, I addressed it differently and said, “I’ve cut you out; you’re gone!” Two weeks passed and I had somehow forgotten all about it. Then one morning, while I was in the bathroom, the growth just dropped to the floor. I looked at it and picked it up; I had cut it out of my body, with the Word!

You may wonder, “How in the world did that happen?” Well, it’s very simple. The Greek word for “mouth” is “stoma,” which means “the front or edge of a weapon.” So when you confess God’s Word, in the realm of the Spirit, you’re literally cutting the devil down with a sword! That’s because “the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

When you take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, you can cut any growth or disease out of your body. There’s no surgeon’s scalpel that can work as effectively and precisely as the sword of the Spirit. So put the Word in your mouth today and use it to cut out anything you don’t want in your body or in your life.

CONFESSION

My body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, therefore, no sickness, disease or infirmity can lodge in it. I cut out any disease-germ or growth that tries to attach itself to my body, in the Name of Jesus, and I continually glorify God in my spirit and my body as I walk in divine health today. Amen.


Rhapsody of Realities March 10, 2010
-Pastor Chris Oyakhilome