How Do You Pray?

I have often written about prayer in my blog. For me, it’s one singular action you can never get wrong because things happen when we pray. In my post of the 6^th of November, you will find a discussion about God saying in Exodus 3:7-9 that He had heard the cry of His children (Israel) and had come down to save them. The cries go up to heaven if we dare to cry to God in prayer. As a matter of fact, we find in Revelations 8:4 that the smoke of the incense, together with our prayers, goes up to God. So, the efficacy of prayer cannot be overemphasized.

I strongly believe in the power of communal prayers. Jesus said, “When two or more gather in His name, there He will be in their midst.” So, when we come together to pray with oneness of heart, it becomes a powerful force. Solomon said, “One will chase a thousand, but two can put tens of thousands to flight.” There is power in praying together.

However, an exchange happens when you spend quiet time alone with your Maker. The kind of prayer I love the most is the dialogue prayer, where I get to speak to God and take the lead from Him, and I pour my heart out to God as though I can literally see him and feel the warmth of His comfort. This, for me, is a kind of Jeremiah 33:3. Going to God in this prayer pattern is not just about going to talk; it is more about going to receive.

Interestingly, God spoke to us through an intermediary in the days of Moses, Aaron, Samuel, Nathan, and all other prophets of old. But by the perfect finished work of Jesus, God speaks to us not with a mouthpiece but directly, and if you have trained your ears to listen to His voice and adhere to His instructions, then you can't go wrong.

You will wonder where Derin is going with this prayer talk in today’s blog. It’s all about offering a word in season. Many of us take a good time to join prayer meetings, which is a good habit as God is still in the business of doing miracles. But some breakthroughs and miracles come from a place where God tells you or leads you to do something; this comes as a specific instruction to you for a specific situation in your life. Now, this is not as a group instruction but as a Father to His child. You will miss the opportunity or struggle if you have not trained yourself to listen to His voice.

When you have not developed the habit of cultivating the presence of God and dialoguing with Him in prayer rather than just talking without receiving, you leave your life to chance and the possibility of frustration. We remember the story of Peter and the catch of fish in Luke 5; in verses 4-5, when Jesus told Peter to launch into the deep for a catch, he replied by saying He had toiled all night and caught nothing but at the word of Jesus, he will let down his net. Now, consider you as Peter, struggling to put it all together without learning to hear the voice of God on which direction you should go. I am sure you probably would conclude that God is a lie because you have prayed so hard and worked so hard with nothing to show for it. But what you are missing is your ability to hear His voice and discern His leading. He would have been creating opportunities and leading you in advance, but you simply have not been yielding because you don't recognize His voice. Just fix that little problem, and everything else falls into place.

Sometime in 2022, I landed a six-figure job without applying or using any connection or referral, simply by being able to discern the voice of God and doing what the voice told me to do. Before this exciting morning, I had been taking some online courses. I finished one of the modules and just heard a voice within me to update my resume on LinkedIn. The voice was clear, and it was like a pressure on me. Like a robot, I opened my laptop and updated my LinkedIn profile. I had totally forgotten about it until about six weeks later when I got a message on LinkedIn asking if I was available to take on a role in the field where I had completed the online courses. Initially, I thought it was a scam; I had told myself I would not leave my house in the name of any job interview. And just to know it was God doing His thing, I did my interview online on a Zoom call. My offer letter was sent to my email box, and I worked from home for the 3 months of being on that job. The contract ended 2 days after I left my home country.

Just imagine what I would have missed if I had not learned to pay attention to the voice of God. God speaks, and we should learn to listen to His voice. But be mindful and careful not to mix the voice of God with your desires and personal objectives. Be sure that you have heard from God and not your inner longings. Be objective enough to differentiate between what you want and what God tells you to do. When God speaks, He backs it up with evidence. You will always have your receipt to show for it. 

Harnessing your wins for more wins and more victories

One of the many exciting stories in the Bible is the story of David and Goliath, which is found in the book of 1 Samuel 17. This story is very familiar, and I am convinced that it is not a story that will be strange to you as you read this blog. However, the lesson in it for me, which I believe should be of interest to you, is the basis of David’s confidence. I dare to say that the army of Israel on the battleground at the time of the confrontation knew God somehow, but they didn’t know God in the way David knew Him. This is because David knew how to harness his wins.

What do I mean when I say David knew how to harness his wins?  David never let a win slip by; he would hold his win dear to him, which became his basis for trusting God to win another time. In 1 Samuel 17:36, David said, He has killed a lion and a bear. So, let’s analyze this situation. At some point, David had killed a lion (I am not sure which one he killed first; we assume a lion); that win gave him the confidence to take on the bear, and he won. The second win, in turn, gave him a basis to take on Goliath, and he won. And there were many more great wins for David in his lifetime.

So, what have you done with your little wins? Have you assumed that your little achievements have been by your ability or intellect or the grace of God that puts you at an advantage, which you should be grateful for? Have you learned to create a portfolio of wins you reference – like David – when facing challenges? As simple as your ability to wake up in the morning is a win that should be archived in the portfolio of your wins and form a basis for you to trust God for something a little bigger than that.

I will use my experience to illustrate what I mean when discussing harnessing your wins. My family had the rare opportunity to move to a new location sometime back. This opportunity came with its fair share of scares. It was going to be us starting life all over again, and because we were not doing too badly where we were moving from, it would be a hard call to make. We didn't want to lose the opportunity and were still scared of the uncertainty ahead. It was a time of sleepless nights for my husband and I. But guess what? It was my portfolio of wins that pulled me through that season. I always remembered the many challenges that God had overcome for us, which was one of my faith's strong bases. I was confident that if God had done so much for us, He will do much more. What was fear for us became a song of rejoicing at the end of it all. 

Psalm 37:4 teaches us to delight ourselves in the Lord, and He will grant us the desires of our hearts. To delight yourself in God, you first need to recognize His grace and goodness in your life. In other words, you will need to reflect on your portfolio of little wins and understand that your strength, talent, and ability didn’t get you thus far, but the grace of God. This deep thought puts you in a mood of gratitude; gratitude to God brings about a delight in Him, and then David said as you delight in Him, He continues to grant you your heart’s desires. A place of gratitude is a place of increase.

A person who seeks to have the floodgates of heaven opened over his life and situation needs to develop an attitude of gratitude, which begins with harnessing his wins. Never forget or take for granted the goodness of God in your life. Your little wins may look like nothing, but I beg you to use a magnifying glass to look at it to give you a reason to thank God for it and trust Him for bigger things. The more you praise God, the more you have reasons to praise God. Find a reason to thank God today, no matter how insignificant that may be. It is still a seed of gratitude that, when sown, will produce a harvest of more wins and more reasons to be grateful. A life of victory starts with gratitude.

 

Knowing the Secret of Staying Strong

 

It is common knowledge that life is a big challenge now. The world's economy is not smiling, and many people are forced to make lifestyle changes. One important thing to also see in this situation is that it is driving a wedge in many homes, and marriages are breaking left, right, and center.

As a couple, if you are not very watchful and prayerful, it is just a matter of time before you fall under the burden of the wave of hardship the world is experiencing. So, I say a big well done to the millions of marriages still standing despite it all. May the Lord continue to uphold your marriage and pour fresh oil of love on your union. 

But guess what? At this point, some marriages are getting more robust, and the love is building like these couples are newlyweds. How come when quite a handful of marriages are crumbling, and some are struggling, these ones are thriving? What are they doing differently? Do they not feel this economic crunch?

I will share some of what I know in today's blog post. The first piece of information to share is prayer. And the first response to that is, "We all pray, so why is it different?" Well, what kind of a prayer person are you? Are you a grumbling prayer person or a thankful prayer person?

I noticed that whenever my daughter wants something from my husband, they will first have to play and joke, and she gets her father in a playful and gentle mood and then chips in her demand along the way. Often, the first response is always a no. But guess what? She gets what she asks for.

In the same way, if we want a fast and sure answer, we will do what Paul teaches us in Philippians 4:6-7, "with prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving, we should make our request known to God." Hold fast to that keyword thanksgiving because God dwells in the praises of His children.

The second piece of information I want to share is the need to make every effort to keep the bond tight. The power of agreement can never be over-emphasized, and that agreement will not come cheap; it comes with the cost of compromise. One party must learn to trust the other party's judgment into God's hands. Often, this is done by the wives. The wife aligns with her husband in agreement. She commits her husband's decisions to God's hand, who alone can turn an unbelievably lousy situation around for good.

 A virtuous wife is not the fool who gives up herself all the time for her spouse and family; she is the one who stoops to conquer. Arguing and fighting are what we are avoiding here. Conflict is what we are running away from. Sometimes, those decisions are terribly wrong, and our husbands are unbelievably adamant. So, your view as a wife may contradict your husband's decisions or conclusions or the direction in which he leads the family. Still, rather than becoming assertive, we pray. We must keep the bond strong, maintain agreement, and stoop to conquer. The only way to get through him or lessen the impact of his decision-making is by praying. And before I jump to the next paragraph, I want to highlight that it runs both ways. Some wives are a hard nut to crack. 😉

There is power in agreement; even God said it in Genesis 11:6, so wanting to be right continually erodes the power of agreement in your marriage and makes your union vulnerable to the attack of impossibility. In Matthew 18:19, "Jesus said if two agree on earth concerning anything they ask, it will be done for them by Our Father in heaven." So, we should ask in agreement, and we should ask thankfully and in faith. You know that faith is the currency of heaven. 

God will not come to do the agreement aspect for us; that is for us to do. Will we always agree? The true answer is NO. However, the work is for one party to align their will with the will of the other party, and then an agreement is achieved. Doing this over time makes it less complicated.

But see what God said in Genesis 2:8: "It is not good for man to be alone, so He makes a helper for him as his wife." The two will not be strong in the same area of life, with the same strength, and even at the same time. The idea is where and when one is weak, the other is strong. That is the design from the Creator. So, acknowledging your weakness and the strength of your spouse and allowing them to be strong when you are weak is the birth of agreement that brings power.

So, we see why some marriages wax strong in the world's meltdown, and others are melting with the meltdown. I pray for wisdom today and the grace of God to stand strong and firm when everything else is falling apart. Not just for my marriage but for yours, too, in Jesus' name. 

Winning is Inevitable

 

In my newly launched website, the first paragraph promises that the website will provide adequate encouragement and some inspiring words to boost hope. That is just what I hope to do in today’s blog.

We all have our ups and high joyful and happy moments, and because life's journey is characterized by its ups and downs, we also get to have our down times.  These downtimes come with varying degrees of intensity. Sometimes, they genuinely feel like the "valley of shadow of death" that David spoke about in Psalm 23:4. I have experienced this enough times in my life to know just what it feels like to be desperately in need of help, someone to talk to, or at least for that phase or situation to just go away.

Some of us have faith enough to pray and wait on God, but fear and doubt begin to set in when the wait seems endless. Sometimes, we second-guess ourselves, sometimes, we blame God, and sometimes, we blame ourselves and even allow others to guilt trip us. But in all these, the Lord still sits on His throne in heaven watching.

I was reading the book of Exodus some days ago and found something profound in Exodus 3:7-9. I will summarise it like this: God tells Moses that He had heard the cry of His people in Egypt and had come down to deliver them. At the time God came down for the deliverance of Israel, they didn’t even know it; they didn’t see it coming, nor did they understand it. As a matter of fact, if we continue reading, they grumbled and quarreled with Moses, saying that he brought more trouble to them. But in truth, what they called trouble was God working behind the scenes for them. He didn’t want to just bring them out of Egypt; He wanted them to be rewarded abundantly for all their labor in Egypt. He would make Eygpt so vulnerable that Israel could take valuables from them effortlessly and leave with abundant treasure in gold, silver, money, and clothing. They could not have left empty-handed just like that. So, more than Israel gaining their freedom, God would ensure they got duly paid for all the years of their labor in Egypt.

Israel didn’t see this; they only saw increased pain and added burden, and they grumbled, doubted God, and insulted His vessel – Moses. And this story feels so like us right now. The pain, the suffering, and the challenges all add up to give us reasons to fear and doubt. But I find hope in Romans 8:18, in which Paul says, “He considers that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us.”  This was the situation of the children of Israel when they were in Egypt. They probably would have rejoiced instead of grumbling if they knew what was coming.

Some of our challenges may not bring the desired outcome in the short term. But in the long term, there is glory that awaits. I say this because I have been there before. Consider this illustration: You probably had been praying that your landlord would not send you packing. You trusted God and got people to wait on God with you; you prayed and exercised deep faith, but guess what? The landlord ended up sending you packing. It was a painful experience. You felt God failed on this one. He didn’t show up when you needed Him. He watched and did nothing when the landlord threatened and eventually evicted you. It was a gruesome experience that almost shattered your faith and trust in God. Then, 12 months down the line, 12 months of uncertainty, 12 months of shame and reproach, 12 months of having faith when there is nothing tangible to tie the faith to, 12 months down the line, you find yourself comfortable in your own home. Your property, where you never have to fear the horrors of a landlord – the pain, the horrors, the reproach, all gone. Something in you now thanks God that the landlord evicted you because you probably would not be in this better place if he didn't. This is why Paul would say that our sufferings of the present time are not worthy compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us.

One assurance I have always had, which has never failed, is that God will always come through. He may not come through at my timing or in my presumed pattern, but He comes big when He wants to come and does so at the perfect time. After experiencing this repeatedly, I have understood one time: He surely comes through. My only prayer is: “What will you have me do while I wait.” The waiting time is the toughest of them all. Numerous temptations exist, and the battle is fierce during the waiting period. But if you have a grateful heart, never forgetting your past wins, you will resolve within yourself that if God won the war for you before, He would win the battle now, so you hinge your faith on that and trust Him.

I hope you have been encouraged today. In another two days, you can pop in again. There will be some encouragement waiting for you.

I am Back

 I am careful to say that I am resuming blogging again. And I must confess that I miss sharing my heart and views on my blog. I had a long break that could not be avoided. First, I needed to return to learning, and then my wifely duties and mothering assignments were overwhelming. But I think the pressure has eased off, so I am back.

This, my first post in a long time, will be a little gist about what went down while I was away. I finished schooling over 2 decades ago, but realizing how fast the world is evolving, I concluded that I couldn’t be left behind. Now, of all the knowledge that could interest a person my age, I picked an interest in web programming. I am sure quite a handful of you would want to believe I am weird. Well, it is what it is.

So, I have spent the last two years learning how to code. It’s been an exciting and scary journey, coupled with the fact that I am not under compulsion but out of personal interest and self-motivation. And just like that, I built thewordthatsuits.com from scratch all by myself. And to say that I am grateful for this opportunity and grace is, to put it mildly. So, the website now has a new face, and I hope you like what you see.

Writing about self-motivation and talking about pursuing one’s dream will be repeating what has been said over and over again. But there are times when you find yourself down and low; it’s often a time to understand that everyone is too busy for you except yourself. And the truth remains that there is always a way when there is a will, and I mean this in positive terms. We don’t always have to get involved in duty activities to get things done.  

Some routes may be slow – like it took me two years to get to the point of launching my website that is not a plug-and-play Wix or WordPress website, but I guess the more you need to prepare, the greater the outcome or end product.

I told myself I don’t want to write a preaching blog post, so I think I will stop here. My big message now is that I am back, and I am so proud, excited, elated, and every other word you can think of in classifying my emotions now – to be back.

For those familiar with my blog and who have been blessed by it in the past, I am glad to return to you. And for those who will start to read from me, I pray that the Lord will bless your life, your home, your marriages, and all your endeavors by the content of this blog.

 

Why Do We Worship God

Many people feel like they should only praise God when they have received a blessing from God. Honestly, I was in that category too, so I am not in any position to judge those who are still of that mindset. It is so easy to praise God when you have it all together. But how do you tell someone who cannot put food on the table, pay his/her bills, or has just lost a loved one to praise God? It’s a tough thing to do.

Sometimes you wonder why in 1 Thessalonian 5:18, Paul would say that in all things we should give thanks. Sometimes, it seems as if God is asking for a little too much. Does He not feel our pain? Does God not recognize grief? But I tell you one truth, God feels pain far more than any living being can ever imagine. He’s been betrayed, insulted, accused of wrongs, blamed for our own wrongdoing and mistakes, and still had to send His son to die for our sins, not minding our ungratefulness, and in all these things He still loves us. So, there must be a reason God will tell us to rejoice always and give thanks in all things.

We have read the story of the wall of Jericho falling flat just because God’s children praised, we have read of Jehoshaphat going to war with drums, and instruments of praise instead of spears and arrows and still was victorious. We have also read of Paul and Silas in prison with that famous earthquake all in the place of praise.

But what gives me goose-pimples is found in 2 Kings 3:14-18. I would not want to bore you with the details of the big story, but in summary, three kings who were in trouble consulted Elisha to know the mind of God on the predicament they had found themselves in. The first thing Elisha requested was a musician, and when the music was playing, the hand of the Lord was on him, and he became the mouthpiece of God.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 22:3 that God dwells in the praises of His children. Despite all the troubles you may have faced or are facing, the truth is still that God dwells in your praise because His word says so. If He dwells in your praise, you draw His attention with your praise. Just like God spoke through Elisha when the music was playing, He speaks to date when praises are raised to Him. Fresh ideas and divine directions are all embedded in the presence of God, and they are deposited to us when we draw into His presence with our praise and worship. No wonder Paul will say, in all things, give thanks. This is because all the answers to your many questions are engrained in the presence of God that you invite to yourself when you praise God.

Does God still speak to us when we praise Him? The answer is a big Yes. I shared my experience of three years ago in the last post I shared, and I still hear from God amid my praise and worship. You will hear Him too when you develop a life of worship. You will not just hear God; He will deal with that issue that is giving you sleepless nights because that too is a simple matter in the sight of God.  

My Journey Out of Despair

I woke to do my morning worship; it’s been more than three years since I shared a blog post. Sharing stuff on my blog was a big passion for me, it was something I did effortlessly with the help of the Holy Spirit, and I enjoyed every day and every opportunity to share something on my blog.

Then the battles began, things just were not looking good for me. I became unmotivated, and posting anything on the blog became a big struggle. My challenges stifled the motivation out of me. I needed to put the blog aside to tackle the many issues that were taking my attention away from my passion. Everything stopped and then everything began.

What do I mean by everything stopped and everything began? Well, I stopped all that I was doing, I almost gave up on God, and then I became very busy with things that didn’t matter, but that my environment and circumstances laid at my feet. I didn’t lose sight of God but something in me just stopped. I am struggling now with how to put my experience into words. However, one of the things that the challenge took away from me was my passion for writing my blogs.

But in the midst of it all, I found God in a very different manner. One tool the Lord used to get me out of the state of despair which some people call depression, but I wouldn’t want to call me depressed, was worship. So, while I was wallowing in self-pity and asking God why things were not going as I had hoped and prayed for, I came across a gospel music minister on YouTube while on my bed of sorrow. I listened to her sing, initially with a blank mind but just because I loved gospel music and my love for God was still intact.

And then something clicked, the song I was listening to with a blank mind grew into deep worship for me. I felt God close to me like I could feel His presence like I had never done. And I heard Him speak to me like I had never heard Him before. You probably would think He consoled me and told me everything would be fine. Well, that was not the case. He showed how ungrateful I was. He reminded me of my near misses in life and how undeserving I was of the grace I had enjoyed. And just because it didn’t feel like what I wanted I began to grumble. I allowed the devil to sell me a lie for the truth I should know.

I cried like I had never done before in my life. I was truly and honestly sorry. Remembering all my wrongdoings that God did not hold against me was very humbling for me. I prayed for forgiveness and then I told myself that that place of deep worship was where I would remain for the rest of my life. It’s been three years since I had that encounter with God, and I am most grateful to Him that He visited me that way.

It’s been three years of a newness in my walk with God that I cannot trade for anything else. God has been good to me. I have enjoyed God in a way that my heart keeps falling in love with Him every second of every minute of every day. My testimonies are many, His grace is huge in my life, and now I am the most grateful.

Those little blessings that I would normally take for granted now count for something in my life and daily I recognize them and thank God for them. The more I have learned to thank God for those little blessings, the more little blessings I have, to thank God for. Those little blessings have grown into huge testimonies for me.

I fell into depression back then because I didn’t have money. I just could not keep up. But guess what, I still don’t have money. But I have it all together. I am neither rich nor poor, but I am contented in my Father in heaven who takes care of those huge needs even before they show up. Now, I am built to trust God who has not for once failed my trust or disappointed my hope in Him. He tells me He loves me daily and He shows it.   

So back to my very first line, I woke early this morning to worship, I was listening to one of my many favorite gospel music, and I felt this huge urge to write a blog. Hmmm, I thought to wonder where this urge is coming from. But here I am writing. I pray this blesses someone and I believe God that this will be the beginning of a daily read from God through me like before in Jesus’ name.