Transcription
The special grace of God we share this morning on the closing part of the teaching on God's promises, and it's titled "God's Promise to You Will Surely Be Fulfilled." So, beyond a teaching of God's insight, of divine insight, of the dynamics of God's promises, at this particular time, this message is coming as a prophetic word to certain people. There is a divine reassurance and a final confirmation to certain people that what God had promised He would do, He will certainly bring it to pass.
We take our text this morning from Genesis chapter 21, verses one and two. And I read from the New Living Translation. It says, "The Lord kept His word and did for Sarah exactly what He had promised. She became pregnant and she gave birth to his son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would."
As we begin this closing part, we'll look at four steps that you should take to ensure that God's promise is fulfilled.
Step number one: Identify the promise. Identify the promise. What is that specific word that God has given or spoken? What is the specific word that God has given to you, that God has spoken to you? Take note of them. Also, you need to identify the promises God has specifically given concerning your family. Concerning your family. The promises of God to Abraham were going to positively affect not just Abraham, but every one after him. Isaac was going to benefit from that covenant. Jacob was going to benefit from that covenant. So, identify the promises of God, that the promises God has specifically given concerning your family. And this also applies to sometimes a group you belong to. It also applies to a church denomination that you belong to. Identify the promises God has given concerning your children. God could have spoken specifically concerning each of your children, and then God could have also made a promise concerning all your children. The promise of God that was given to the parents of Samson, the parents of John the Baptist, concerning their children, eventually came to pass. And that which He has spoken already to you concerning that child will also be fulfilled.
Now, in running up on this point, step number one, please. There is need for caution before concluding that God has indeed spoken to you concerning something. Some people have had painful experiences of wasted years because they were waiting for a particular thing they believed God had spoken about to happen. God cannot promise five different ladies, a group of sisters, that one man will be their husband. God can't make that promise. But we've seen this happen in so many gatherings of the people of God. So that means many assumed wrongly that a dream they had was of the Lord. Many interpreted wrongly a prophetic word that may have been spoken. By every means through which God speaks, the enemy has learned how to also counterfeit it. The various channels through which God speaks, the enemy also has learned how to use those same channels to deceive people, to mislead people. And we also need to be very careful because there is a point where you could become very spiritual and you could wrongly assume that anything that comes to your mind is the voice of the Spirit. And sometimes it is not the voice of the Spirit. It may be your own thinking. It could be the voice of your flesh, the voice of your own thoughts. It could also be the voice of demonic spirits masquerading as the voice of the Holy Spirit. So please be cautious of false revelations from God. Be cautious.
Step number two: You need to run with the promise. Run with the promise. Run with the promise. Luke chapter 5, verses 4-7. Luke 5:4-7, Living Bible. He said, "When He had finished speaking, our Lord Jesus, there He said to Simon, 'Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch a lot of fish.'" Now, here was a promise from the Lord, but that promise was to be activated by obedience to an instruction. Obedience to an instruction. And what was the instruction? "Go out where it is deeper, let down your nets." And then what was the promise? "You will catch a lot of fish." In verse five, Simon replied, "Sir," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, if you say so, we'll try again." Verse six. And because it was the Lord that had spoken, His word will never go back unto Him unfulfilled. Verse six. And said, "And this time, this time their nets were so full that they began to tear." A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both ships were filled with fish, on the verge of sinking.
Now, take note of this. Peter was an expert in fishing. Peter was an experienced man in fishing. Peter was very successful in fishing. And the reason he continued all night was because it was out of experience. It was out of experience. If Peter had known that after one hour, two hours, and you catch nothing, then you are certainly not going to catch anything, he would not have gone ahead attempting to get something all night. But from experience, he saw that, you know, in the process of time, some few hours, there will be a breakthrough. So that night, for him to have toiled all night exhaustingly without catching anything, there was nothing there. There was nothing there. Listen to this: Someone here, where there is nothing, God will bring abundance for you. Where there is presently nothing, God will bring out abundance for you. Where there is currently nothing, God will bring out abundance for you. A woman that doesn't have eggs, the Lord will touch her and a set of twins will appear from nothing. A husband will low sperm count, the power of God will touch him and a set of twins will be produced from that intimacy. Nothing needs to be there for God to produce something out of it. Stop looking for where there is something. That is the mindset of opportunists. Don't make that your only rule in life. If you are not careful, you will abandon certain people that God has destined for great breakthroughs because there will be a time when that man, that woman, will have nothing. The thing that needs to be there is not there. You walk out on him, walk out on her. You'll be surprised to hear later that the same person that you thought had nothing, there was nothing coming out from there, from that same source, great abundance is now flowing. You will not miss your own location of divine abundance. In the name of Jesus. Please sit in the presence of the Lord.
There was no fish there, talk less of abundance of fish. Nothing there. Turn to someone and tell that neighbor clearly, "There was nothing there." Are you getting it this morning? There was nothing there. And when God wants to move, sometimes He prefers where there is nothing. So, run with the promise. Peter ran with the Lord's instruction to him. He ran with the promise that the Lord had given him. To run with a promise means act on it. Act on it. Take the necessary action that is required to make it happen. Take the necessary action that is required to make it happen. Running with the promise means make preparations. Make preparations. Make preparations. Sometimes the greater the value of the promise, the longer the time of preparation, so that the promise will last. So there is something you must do or keep doing in order for you to receive the promise. Have you played your part? Are you still playing your part?
Step three. Step three: Hold on to the promise. Hold on to the promise. Because God will never fail. Can that man or woman say a powerful amen? God cannot fail. Therefore, hold on to the promise. Hold on to the promise. Why must you hold on to the promise? It is not the promise of man. It is not the promise of man. Men are highly limited from being able to do many things, irrespective of how highly positioned or empowered that they may be privileged to be. And you know, there are some dimensions. Two major dimensions to this point. One is the integrity and faithfulness of God. The second dimension is the power and overriding influence of God. Those are the two major reasons why God's promise can never fail. Some people may have the power to do something, but they could change their mind, not because you have done something wrong, but for other considerations. Or they are not just men or women of honor. They are not men or women of honor.
In Numbers chapter 23, verse 19. Numbers 23:19, Easy to Read Version. It says, "God is not a man; He will not lie. God is not a human being; His decisions will not change. If He says He will do something, if He says He will do something, then He'll do it. Then He will do it. If He makes a promise, then He will do what He promised."
Psalm 146:6. Psalm 146:6, Easy to Read Version. It says, "He made heaven and earth, He made the sea and everything in it. He can be trusted. He can be trusted to do what He says. He can be trusted. He can be trusted to do what He says."
John 14:2. John 14:2, Promise Bible. Our Lord Jesus was speaking. He said, "There are many rooms in my Father's house. I wouldn't tell you this unless it was true. I'm going there to prepare a place for each of you, because in heaven you will have your own mansion. You will have your own house. We'll be visiting one another from time to time." Good News Translation. It says, "There are many rooms in my Father's house, and I'm going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. If it were not so." That's a character of God. That's a character of God. God is a promise keeper. God is reliable. Can somebody say, "God is reliable"? God is a promise keeper. God is dependable. God is committed to enforcing His word. Once He makes a promise, He's committed to enforce the promise. God is slow to speak, but once He makes a promise, He stays committed to what He has said. He stays committed.
There is often a time difference, a time lag, between the announcement of the promise, the revelation of the promise, and the actual fulfillment of the promise. However, when most divine promises are announced or revealed to you, they will often seem so real that you will sometimes think it will happen immediately, immediately, immediately. It's so real. And if you match it with prevailing circumstances, there's enough reason for you to also think that it could happen now. But the reality is that most of God's promises, there's often a time lag between when it is revealed and when it will eventually happen. The impatient nature of man has often led to a hasty and wrong anticipation of the right timing for the fulfillment of God's promises. And this is going to be really, really, it's going to be a big issue for our younger generation of today, because the generation of today, the younger generation of today, many of them do not want to submit themselves to process. Everything they want to happen overnight. What took your father 30 years to build and achieve, you want it in six months, you want it in eight months. But it takes a process. Can somebody say, "Process"? Say it. Let the people around you, yeah, ah, there's a process. There's a process. It's a process. It's a process.
The last one, step four. That's the last one. Is that you must pray with the promise. Pray with a promise. Anytime you are praying with what God has spoken that He will do, what God has said He will do, has revealed He will do, your prayer is on target. Your prayer is in agreement with the perfect will of God, so it is bound to happen. For instance, in Genesis 25:20-21. Genesis 25:20 to 21. The Bible says, "Isaac entreated the Lord. He interceded. He prayed unto the Lord on behalf of Rebecca, his wife, and the Lord was entreated for his sake." There was a promise God had given through Abraham unto him as well, that certainly he too will have a child. And time was going. 20 years now. 20 years and no child. So at a point, he prevailed on the Lord in the place of prayer. And God, Isaac prayed with the promise of fruitfulness that God had revealed first through Abraham, which applied to him, and also personally to him. God also spoke to him to assure him. And there, God answered. Within this same season, 12 months from today, someone will carry the result of God's promises. Can that person stand wherever she or he is and say a proper amen to heaven? The Lord, activate that promise into fulfillment from this very moment in the name of Jesus Christ.
So, pray with a promise. And please, parents, take note of this. From time to time, pray with a promise of God for your children. Bless your children using the specific promise that God has revealed concerning each of them. Pray with the same words that God used in that revelation that released the promise prophetically. Proclaim upon your child, upon your children, the promise of God concerning them. It is my prayer, therefore, that having identified that promise of God concerning that area of your life, having run with it by faith, and patiently held on to it, as you keep on praying with that promise of God, the very best will be your portion this season. This very season. It's your choice. It's your turn to rejoice over God's fulfilled promise in the name of Jesus.