WHY ALLOW SOMEONE TO FAST/PRAY FOR DAYS FOR A NEED YOU CAN PROVIDE IN JUST A MOMENT? IF YOU ARE HUNGRY TO BE USED OF GOD, READ THIS PIECE AND RENEW YOUR MIND!!!

Someone might be in a dilemma, protracted fasting or marathon night vigils etc, not because it is a divine appointment but because someone equipped to meet his/her need is not sensitive enough or lacks the will to do so.

Only eternity would reveal how many people died, how much setbacks the kingdom of God suffered because of our individual and collective failure to respond to what we were equip for on time.

We would never cease to fast and pray but we have to understand that, most of the answers we are looking for from God are already here on earth but someone is insensitive to the fact that, he/she is the answer to our prayers.

I once heard a story of a Muslim business man who lived close to a Church; on a certain day, a lady got into Church and started yelling at the top of her voice for God’s intervention. The noise was so loud that, even though Muslims seldom venture into any church house, the man decided to break religious protocol and got into the church. He went straight to the altar and touched the lady on her shoulder and asked her what the matter was; the lady said, her landlord has given her a quit notice because of accumulated rents worth $1000 USD. The Muslim man said to her, “you don’t have to bother God for $1000 USD”; He pulled out his purse and gave the woman money worth $2000 USD and that ended the yelling exercise of that beloved lady.

In another occasion, a church in Lagos Nigeria needed an equivalent of $250,000 USD to purchase a very large real estate. One evening as they assembled, the pastor of the congregation made the need opened to the members and ask each one to bow his/her head to pray for God’s provision; while they were about praying, a Lady sent a check of the exact amount of money they needed and told the pastor they should pray for other serious matters, not for a need of $250,000 USD. WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!

Just imagine in both cases, what the result would have been if these individuals never responded to the prompting of their hearts? Days of yelling and groaning in prayers would have been the natural order for a need already provided to someone in wait for the problem designed for it. May God help us all!

Why Allow Someone To Fast/Pray for Days For A Need You Can Provide in Just a Moment?

The day we would realize that, we are the body of Christ; His hands, feet, ear and mouth, etc everything about our operational dynamics would change. Just imagine if the Muslim man walked by the lady who desperately needed finance to pay her accumulated rents and simply told her to trust God without allowing himself to be used of God, the lady would pray and some time think God has not heard her when actually the problem is not with God but with the individual who has failed to listen to his heart.

God owes no man; every desire of ours has been provided for; the challenge we have is, many are expecting God to come down from heaven to perform a wonder when God has actually placed us in the life of each other with different resources to enable us share and meet the need of each other via the love of Christ. Most believers have very clever ways of avoiding opportunities which might demand that, they meet someone’s need.

At times statements like, just trust God with your situation, don’t give up, have faith in God, God who gave the vision will make a way, etc, are all but excuses for our lack of sensitivity. I am not saying we have to replace God with human ability, what I am emphasizing is that, God will never come down from heaven to do anything for us without passing through a human instrument. Most often, we are the problem why some people fast their lives away; because, what God can use us to do, we often excuse ourselves an allow our fellow brothers and sisters to cry to God as if God does not hear prayers.

Some years ago, the Lord led the late Arch Bishop Benson Idahosa of blessed memory to travel to the United States and assured him of the provision for his flight ticket. For those who knew the late Arch Bishop Benson Idahosa, he was a man of rugged faith. Immediately God gave him the leading, he packed his luggage and headed to the airport without a ticket.

He spent several hours watching different flights taking off; towards evening, a lady from his ministry saw him at the airport and said, PAPA! The Lord laid in my heart since the day before, to give you a ticket for the United States. When the Lady was through, the Arch Bishop Benson Idahosa turned to the Lady and said, ‘’so you are the one who has been keeping me here all this while’’? Hhahahahahahahaha!!

Listen! So many uncompleted projects in the kingdom are not there because of either wrong timing or God being not in favor of their completion but because most of God’s people are too spiritual and not practical enough for God to use them to change things in the earth on this behalf. May God bring us into a new level of sensitivity, where we can respond to the prompting of our hearts to meet needs in the body of Christ!

Stay blessed

Dr Etta