Devotionals

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BEWARE OF SILLY PRAYERS

Peter then said “Depart from me, O Lord” Depart! How could Peter say such a thing? At least he was a Jew and I am sure while he was growing up they read the Scriptures to him. So, surely, he knew how dangerous it was for the Lord to depart from anyone. In Judges 16:20-21 when Delilah said to Samson after he shaved his head. “The philistines be upon thee, Samson” He said “I will go up and go out as before” The Bible said he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. The Philistines took him and plucked out his eyes. When the Lord departs from any person, light becomes darkness.

In I Samuel 16:14, the Bible says the Spirit of the Lord left Saul and evil Spirit from the Lord came and troubled him. Whenever the Lord departs from somebody, demons will take over. In Hosea 4:17 and Hosea 5:9. We have the story of a young man called Ephraim. God blessed him, He prospered him mightily, and then he became arrogant and refused to submit to the Lord and he began to worship idols. Until God finally said “Ephraim has joined himself to idols, leave him alone!” Ephraim shall be desolate; “when the Lord departs from somebody, prosperity is replaced with desolations.

This brings us to one important point. Beware of silly prayers! This was a very silly prayer. How can somebody say “Depart from me, O Lord”. The Bible is full of silly prayers. You know the prayer of Samson, the only time he prayed. All his life he prayed only once. He was full of power, so he did not bother to pray. However, when the enemy got him and plucked out his eyes, then he prayed.

What kind of prayer was it that prayed? It was a very silly prayer. He started well in Judges 16:28-30 “O Lord, remember me this once. Restore my strength so I can avenge my eyes on the Philistines” of course he died with the Philistines.

There are other silly prayers in 1 king 19:1-4, Elijah prayed a silly prayer when Jezebel sent for him, he ran, when he was tired of running he asked God to kill him. That was silly prayer. If he wanted to die why was he running from Jezebel? She was ready to kill him. Even Moses when thing got rough in Numbers 11:11-15, he asked God to kill him. Some of us pray silly prayers, very common in Africa. I have heard women say “God just give me a child” Why do you need just a child. After you have waited this entire long, why must it be just a child?
I do not want just a child. I want a child that will be a vessel unto honour in the house of the Almighty. My wife and I waited on the Lord for 13 years, He gave us a boy not just a boy, he is very unique in many ways. As we asked God, all we wanted in a child, He did exactly the same.

This brings to rejected prayers. The Almighty God is Sovereign. He does as pleases Him in the courts of Heaven and nobody can query Him. He reserves the right to reject prayers that He considers inappropriate. When Moses asked for death in Numbers 11:16-17. God rejected his request. When Elijah asked for death in I kings 19:5-8, God gave him food instead. There was a very special prayer that God also rejected, in Mathew 26:39-44. This was when the Lord Himself was praying. “Lord if it is possible to take this cup away from me” God the father rejected the prayer because if he had answered, I would have been on my way to Hell. Thank God he did not answer that prayer.
Peter said, “Depart from me” The word ‘depart’ has an opposite. It is ‘abide’. If the Lord abides with you according to Romans 8:31, the Bible says if God be for us, who can be against us? In Joshua 11:5, the Bible made it clear that if God is with you even if anybody stands up against you, that fellow will fall. God said to Joshua, “No man will be able to withstand you all the days of your life, because as I was with Moses, so shall I be with you, you can walk through fire and it will not burn you. In Isaiah 43:2. He said when you are walking through the fire; it will not even kindle upon you because He will be with you. If the Lord abides with you even when you are walking in the valley of the shadow of death, there will be nothing to fear. That is when the Bible says in Psalm 23:4. Peter went on to say that…for I am a sinful man, O Lord! Peter has a point here. Sin is a separator between man and God. Isaiah 59:1-2 says. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his from face you, that he will not hear”

Let me conclude by reading from Luke 5:9 again. Bible says, Peter was astonished. What is astonishment? It is a great wonder. Anyone who gets himself or herself associated with Jesus Christ must get ready for wonders.

In Mathew 13:54, the Bible said “ because of His mighty works and wisdom the people were astonished. The reason., He can cause so much astonishment in people’s life’s is simply because of His Name. The Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Isaiah 9:6, the very first one there is, “wonderful” which means “full of wonders” and according to Exodus 15:11. The Bible tells us “who is like unto thee, oh Lord, among the gods who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders”

When we are talking about our Jesus Christ, people will say we are exalting Him because we are His followers. I like to hear the testimonies of idol worshippers concerning Jesus. Nebuchadnezzar was not Jew. He was not related to Jesus Christ in any way, but hear his testimony in Daniel 4:1-3.

“Nebuchadnezzar the King, unto all the people, nations, languages that dwell in all the earth. Peace be multiplied unto you. It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the most high God has wrought toward me how great are his signs how mighty are his wonders, His Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
Some years later, one of his successors in Daniel 6:26-27 also gave a testimony concerning our God. Let us just read verse 27 “He delivereth and rescueth and worketh signs and wonders in Heaven and in earth who hath delivered Daniel from the Power of the Lions” He is a wonder working God. As a matter of fact, if you will believe, the Almighty God can turn you unto a living pleasant astonishment. Acts 5:12-16 tells us that Peter’s Shadow was healing the sick. Whenever he was coming to town, they brought sick people and lied them up on the street for his shadow to fall on them! The God who did that for Peter can do the same thing for you.

Beware of silly prayers

Aduwo Samson Olufemi

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