Transcription
Many of us have that hunger and here for your ministry. But again, when we completed 21 days of fasting and praying, it was last Sunday. I thought the season was refueling. So I hoped and thought people come here from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the midweek services.
But my surprise on Thursday we had five people who attended a midweek service and one of them is who can't miss because he's available always. Another one was I and remaining three. Then when it came to Friday, we were four. I and other was outside doing other ministry work.
Then when I went back home, I was like, Holy Spirit, what's what's the cause? What could be the ch what could be the reason as to why people, uh, even after 21 days of praying and fasting, people couldn't get that spirit of fellowship, couldn't get that zeal of of of of coming to church? Then the Holy Spirit, uh, whispered to me and he told me that even though in those 21, uh, 20, 21 days of praying and fasting, only a few people fasted and only a few people prayed. Hallelujah.
And if I speak like that, you're my witness. You know very well that you didn't fast, you didn't come here. You didn't even, uh, awake at at night at your workplace, uh, at your home, anywhere you stay that this is time to pray. So it was like a period where God spoke to us, but we paid deaf ears. And each time God speaks to us and we pay deaf ears, we are literally telling him that for us, we can lead ourselves. Hallelujah. For us, we can guide ourselves and for us, we don't need you. Therefore, even when you're not with us, we can continue with this journey of salvation. We can continue with this journey of our lives. We can we can do anything without you. Literally is what we mean. Each time God instructs us to do something and we we act opposite, we've told him we can sustain ourselves and we can guide ourselves.
So that's what he told me and he told me things doesn't happen by mighty. Things doesn't happen by experience. Ministry can't be run by men, uh, by the wisdom of this world, by the experience that people has gotten. We can't run, uh, let's say the church choir, the praise and worship on only what we know without putting into practice what the Holy Spirit has instructed us to do. Because it was a moment whereby the entire church was supposed to come and cry out and Lord for the delection of the next six months, because we are almost in the middle of the month. But see how we acted contrary. Hallelujah.
And he told me, not until we believers have matured to the extent that we submit and obey the instructions that God gives us through our leader. If we don't do that, we'll be like the children of Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 38 years. Yet they were in one place. They moved on that mountain for 38 years, wandering, rotating around. Not that God never wanted them to reach in the promised land. It wasn't the intention of God for these people to spend 40 years in the wilderness. But because they hardened their hearts, they did not hear God a certain way. They didn't obey God a certain way. God said for them not to go back into Egypt. They rather rotate around. Praise the Lord Jesus.
Imagine for God to speak and we don't submit. For God to speak and we don't obey. In some extent, we think if God is to speak, he will speak when I'm at my workplace. At times, we think that if God is to speak, he will speak when I'm asleep. God speaks through people. Hallelujah. And God speaks through your leader. Do I have people here who have leaders? Wie. Okay. Let me ask you a simple question. Who is your spiritual leader? By show of hand if you know your spiritual leader. Pastor, for my spiritual leader, I have a friend of mine who always tells me, my spiritual leader is Jesus. So is your spiritual leader besides Jesus? Others, they don't have or they don't know. Hallelujah. Who is your spiritual leader? I want you to ask your neighbor. You, you see, you can't even ask because within you, you feel something. Hallelujah.
The spirit of God must be in place for things to change. The spirit of God is the one that goes ahead of us for things to happen in our lives. But this is what is happening in our lives. We've gone ahead of the Holy Spirit. For us not attending these services is a saying that, Lord, for us, we are more than busy. What you have given us is enough for us not to be busy to the extent that we don't appear when you expect us to be in your presence. Praise the Lord.
So if God has given us work, if God has given us businesses, if God has given us anything, and those things take the time of God in our lives, everything that has taken your that has taken God's time in your life, that thing has become your God. And when I speak those things, people don't want that. They think the other day someone was telling me, "Hey pastor, did you know that sometimes when you preach, you quarrel?" Then I was like, "Hey, what do you mean? Have I ever abused someone?" I told him, "Oh, now I understand. People no longer want to hear the truth. They want to hear what they want." Praise the Lord. But God has called us to preach the truth. And the Bible says the truth you know is the truth that sets you free. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
We live here, God. And we go ahead of him in a way. He's going to help us. He's going to assist us. He's going to be on our side. When things become tough, we intend to come back unto him. Hallelujah. Ah, the Bible has told us an angel came and told Zachariah that not by mighty. That word mighty includes your wisdom. It includes your knowledge. It includes your understanding. It includes your job. It includes everything as far as man is concerned. It includes your business. It includes your work. It includes your family. It includes your brothers and sisters. It includes those people that help you. The Bible said, not by mighty, nor by power. At times, we go to our universities, we study, we get degrees and so forth, assuming we are going to become powerful in life. But I came to tell you, not until the Holy Spirit rests upon your life. But there is no way the Holy Spirit will rest upon your life if we've not devoted ourselves unto him. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
So there's a shortcut here that if you give yourself load, he can assist you, he can help you, he can fight your battles. But God will not fight your battles not until you've become his, you've become his own. Hallelujah. Someone understanding me? Hallelujah.
I always say that if we can substitute the zeal and hunger we have when it comes to our workplaces and our businesses and our families, then how much can we advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ? If I can spend a week without missing to go to school, then how can it happen? I miss the entire week coming to church. If I can't miss a week without providing my family, then how comes that I can finish the entire week without reading the word of God? Hallelujah.
Uh, children of God, I came to tell you this morning, we either shift our mains, we either prioritize God more than anything in our lives. Because the other week I was speaking about work and I told people, if you don't understand God, you become a slave to money. I told them if you don't understand God a certain way, money will become your master. Time will reach in your life where you can't spare time for God, yet you spare time for your work. Praise the Lord. Why? Because behind that work, there is a spirit that governs work. So God is calling us this morning. He has given us the material for everything to work. Did you not even you to have that money? You must have the spirit of God. No man has built wealth without a spirit behind. No man has built wealth, has accumulated wealth without an altar. I don't want anyone getting outside. No man has built wealth without any altar. Praise the Lord.
So what is your altar at your workplace? What is the origin? Where do you get power? Where do you get that strength at your workplace? What sustains you at your workplace? Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. It is very possible to work every day and we remain the same. Because it's another thing to work and another thing to prioritize God at your workplace in everything that you're doing. So you'll find out that most of us, we are busy working, but God is out of our work. Most of us, we are busy with our families and businesses that God has given us, but God is out of this equation.
Let me give you a simple formula. If you can't spare an hour for God, you can't pay tithe. Praise the Lord. If you can't spare a day and you say today it's morning, let me go and fellowship with God and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. These two hours I've decided I'll spare these two hours before God. I tell you, you'll never pay faith. Someone understanding me? So your obedience to come before God is an indicator that you become obedient even when it comes to pay tithe, that you become obedient even when it comes to give to support to hope.
Then another thing, people don't fellowship not because they are busy. People don't fellowship because their hearts are very far away from God. People don't engage into ministry not because you know they are caught up. No, they normally don't come, they don't, they normally don't pray because they see everything is possible even when they don't pray, even when they don't serve, even when they don't fellowship, everything can be done. And it is true. But I came to tell you, for that thing to live longer, you must have the spirit that sustains it. Hallelujah.
God is calling us to come back. God is calling us to reach to that point where we feel we are empty without him. We are nothing without him. We can't make it without him. Hallelujah. You can't run your family by your wisdom. You can't raise those children without the hope of God. Even when you take them to the universities, they will mess up. At your workplace, there is a spiritual element you need. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
So can we devote ourselves and come back before him? Can we make decisions within our hearts and say, Lord, I think you've given me an opportunity whereby I can serve you as well as working for me. I'm a worker and I always remain a worker, but I don't want to become a busy worker who lacks time for God. And I always say, if there is anything that tries to take me away from God's presence, let that thing go away because I can't live without God. But I can live without work. Sumba, it can't be. It is very possible. Do we have anyone who can live without God? We can't live without him. He's the source of everything. So much as we are working, we must work with that wisdom that God is the one that has entrusted us with this kind of work. Therefore, I must prioritize. He must be number one at my workplace. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Child of God, I want you to decide within your heart that there shouldn't be anything in your life that can take you out of God's presence. Because if it happens, that day your life will start to collapse. You remain born again. You remain a believer without God's voice. And that's very dangerous for a believer like you and me to live this life without purpose. To live this life without God's voice. Because you can't realize God's purpose upon your life without hearing and understanding his voice that he speaks unto you. So it begins by hearing his voice. It begins by submitting. It begins by obeying. It begins by fellowshipping. It begins by praying. Everything, anything that you want to be in life, it begins from the other way around. Without the other way around, without this physical life. Hallelujah.
So as we continue after 21 days of fasting and praying, let us prioritize. Let us separate the major ones from the minor ones. Let us purpose to do what can bring a transformation, a shift in our lives, spiritual, physical. Let us try to change. We can't, we can't behave the same way as if we didn't fast and pray. Praise the Lord. We can't fellowship a certain way. We can't pray a certain way. The same way. If you used to pray 5 minutes after 21 days, now you decline to 3 minutes, then there's a problem. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
Each time we consecrate for God, God speaks and transforms us and takes us to another level. It's not in his will for us to remain at the same level. But if we are not willing to change, we are going to remain on the same level. All churches we admire, all churches we see, when you try to ask them, they will tell you, we work firstly, secondly, we serve God. So when we say we want us to serve God, we are not saying leave your work, leave whatsoever you're doing, come here and see it. No, we are simply saying, can you balance? Praise the Lord. Can you give your work time and you give God time? Can you, can you find yourself at your workplace on the same day you find yourself at church? Can I find myself teaching? Then in the same day I find myself praying. If we want to see a change, that one must happen in our lives. As I time to pray, I get time to work. As I get time to work, I get time to pray. Praise the Lord. I shouldn't focus on one.
Another thing we shouldn't forget that this one we do is the one that governs the other. So don't get time to, I shouldn't get time to teach the entire week. And the entire week I've been busy. The body has been weak, frustrated, you know, without anything spiritual that I've done that week. I've made a loss. Just as you feel bad when you have not worked that day, feel the same thing. If you don't come to church, Hallelujah. But we've reached to a moment whereby someone can sit at home comfortably. He has nothing to do. But you know, he misses nothing. He misses nothing. Not until the spirit of God comes. If not, we remain busy bodies. We remain busy people. Not until God has become our first priority. Not until God becomes the major. It's another thing to speak about God and another thing to make him to be number one in your life. It's another thing to pray and another thing to see him, wait upon him. It's another thing to tell him about, to tell people about him and another thing to have him. God doesn't want us to speak about him. He wants us to have him. Praise the Lord. He wants us to have him, to be with him, to walk with him. That if there is any transaction we make, God should be the first transaction that you transact with that person. If anyone, if there is anyone before he knows that I have money in my pocket, let him first know that I have God. Let him first know that you have God. Praise the Lord.
Money shouldn't be the first priority in our lives because money is a godly resource that he entrusts, that he gives his children. So in the kingdom of God, money has never been a priority to his children. If it becomes one, become a son of, you can't ask land. A son to Kabaka of Uganda can't ask what, can't ask land because land is one of the inheritance that he shares. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
So money in the kingdom of our father is our inheritance. It can't, it can't be a prayer request that someone should take before God. I wish if we can understand this. The son of Uganda, the son of Ghana to ask land for what? Can it be happen? Is it possible? Is it possible for him to go and he says, I want land? So man has never been a problem to us. The reason as to why man has become a problem to us, we failed to put principles into reality. Hallelujah. We failed to practice what principles. We failed to prioritize God in our finances. Therefore, the more we pursue money, the more money goes our way. And it has become a problem to the church. It has become a problem to believers because money is not a prayer request to us. But money comes by fulfilling what principles. Period. Hallelujah.
So which one do we want? Which one is the best? Which one is more important to look after money or to look after the owner of money? First get the owner of money. If you get him, he will give you ability to put into practice the principles that governs that brings the attachment money. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
You know very well how much we've struggled, how much we've tried, how much we've worked, how much we've worked different types of jobs from this one to this one, from this one to the other one. But by the end of it all, the only thing I can say, I've so far worked around six companies, I've worked in two different places, but nothing changes in our lives. Simply because we after looking what money, we live here of money, get of money, you'll get money because he's the one that gives you power. He's the one that gives you strength. He's the one that hopes you that grace to put practice into what these principles without principles that brings money without money. So as long as you don't practice that principle, you remain the same. I remain the same. They will remain the same. We shall remain the same.
Let us first build a relationship with God. Once we build a relationship with him, he will give us the ability. He will give us the grace to overcome anything that tries to hinder money to come on our accounts and to come into our pockets. That spirit of God will command that spirit called money to submit under your control. But if not, that spirit called money will become your controller. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.
So I want you to be so sensitive and balance these two. But above all, put God and his ministry plus his kingdom than anything here on earth. Because we've entered in a season where we want to speak about money. Did you know that when we were making prayer requests on 31st December last year, we used quite different things? And to your information, I'm here to tell you that you've worked for 6 months. 6 months you've worked there. You have worked. You have tried everything. For information. But you come to realize. Hallelujah.
So brethren, I'm asking you, I'm beseeching, I'm requesting, I'm humbly calling you to come back and we get God first before anything. If not, we shall remain busy bodies. We shall remain that because it is in the presence of God is when you get the idea to do. It's when you get that vision. It's when you get that God is wisdom. There is the wisdom of God that surpasses human understanding. You need that wisdom. Praise the Lord. You need that. But there's no way I can get that wisdom if I'm not at his feet. So when time comes for me to be at his feet, let me be at his feet. If it is time to work, let me go and work. Praise the Lord. Fellowship. Fore! Foreign! Foreign! Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. to Why do you want over time. Yes. Over time. for Let us balance the two. As we work, as we serve God, as we work, as we pray, as we work, as we fellowship, as we work, as we fellowship, as we walk, as we've spent nights in his presence, as you never ended overnight, overnight morning service. What do you want? for you. service. service. Come But for Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. busy body. Praise the Lord. Fore speech. Praise the Lord Jesus. Fore! Foreign! Foreign! Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Praise the Lord. service. Hey