Nigeria: My Beloved Country

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Isaiah 45:1-7 NKJV 

   

This Scripture is said to be the only place in the Bible where a Gentile ruler is referred to as ‘anointed’. This is God working through a Gentile king who does not know Him. (vs. 4)

Cyrus, God’s Instrument 

God chose and anointed Cyrus as His vessel to conquer many lands. 

Job Description  

God told Cyrus what he would do (for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13)

• Subdue nations before him.
• Loose the armour of kings.
• Open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut. 

His Promises 

• I will go before you. 
• I will make crooked places straight. 
• I will break in pieces the gates of bronze, cut the bars of iron. 
• I will give you treasures of darkness, hidden riches of secret places. 
• I will gird you, though you have not known me.

Why?

• For Jacob My servant’s sake.
• For Israel My elect. 

Assurance / Conviction 

How did God build up Cyrus’ faith?   

• I, the Lord who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.(vs.3)
• I have even called you by your name. (vs.4)
• I have named you, though you have not known me.  

Revelation of His Personality 

I am the Lord, there is no other. (vs. 5 and 6) 

There is no God besides Me. 

His Ability 

What this God that Cyrus does not know, can do.  

• Forms the light and creates darkness.
• Makes peace and creates calamity.  

I, THE LORD, DO ALL THESE THINGS.

Esther 8:7-8 NKJV

• God knew one day that someone will plan to exterminate Jews.

• Queen Vashti misbehaved and lost her position. 

• Esther ended up in the palace (The result of deliberate, committed, concerted practical discipleship).

• When the time came for help to answer the “Cry of the Jews”, Esther was already positioned to rise.

• We see Esther and Mordecai being asked to write a decree.   

We also believe God that, whatever we decree concerning Nigeria today, according to the will of our Father in heaven, will receive His seal and no man can reverse it. Amen and amen, so shall it be. 

We thank God who graciously, in His mercy, gave us this platform to intercede for Nigeria.  

So far on this platform, we have noted that:- 

• The battle is firstly the Lord’s; we are channels only for Him to work through. 

• We wanted to engage God for Nigeria (i.e. to occupy or attract His attention). 

• We desire to know His heart, His will for Nigeria so we can pray according to His will.  

• The Holy Spirit is the one who will intercede for us. 

• It is God’s desire for each one of us to develop a burden for Nigeria. 

• We desire to see His plan and purpose come to pass over Nigeria and we release ourselves as vessels through which He will move.  

Every promise in Scripture requires a man to step into it. A man/woman must position himself/herself to receive it.  

Prayer for Ourselves 

Here am I use me

Here am I use me

As the Lord need somebody

Here am I use me 

• Lord, settle me in a consistent practical discipleship relationship. 

• Father, make me a man/woman of faith; let faith arise in me. BE GONE unbelief. 

• Help me to carry a heart of assurance that what You have spoken is done. 

• Let me be convinced of the reality of that which You are yet to do. 

• Lord, make me a man/woman with clean hands and a pure heart who has neither lifted his/her soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully; this is the person “who can ascend unto Your hill.” Psalm 24:3-4

• Make me the man/woman You are looking for to be the answer to the cry of our nation.

• Let Jesus be seen in me; let every segment of the Mystery of the Gospel work upon my life.

• For entrance to be supplied to us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we need to pray: Lord, let me be diligent to make my calling and election sure so that I do not stumble. 2 Peter 2:10

Prayer for the Productive Generation 

Genesis 18:19  

“For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He Has spoken to him.” 

Here we see God’s testimony concerning Abraham. God does not take the matter of children and building the next generation lightly.  

In Judges 2:7-10, we see in vs 10, “...another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.”

There is a need for us to pray for these ones because whatever is written on the tablets of their hearts today determines what they will manifest in their character in years to come. 

What we see in Nigeria today is the product of what was written in the tablets of the hearts of some our leaders when they were in their youth. 

• Father, envision men/women who will write eternity in the hearts of the younger generation in Nigeria today (teachers, lecturers, professors). 

• Whatever is wrongly written already in some of their lives, Lord, please correct it. 

• Take away whatever some of these teachers themselves may be struggling with that will not give them the boldness/courage to confront evil in the lives of the children/youth.

• Lord, every accursed thing of the Western world that has evaded the society in Nigeria, please remove them by Your mercy. 

• Because of the destiny placed in the heart of Daniel, he lived a life characterised by purpose, prayer, perception and power. Father, let our young ones begin to live a purposeful life by the power embedded in the Mystery of the Gospel.  

• Lord, we pray that hunger for concerted, consistent, deliberate discipleship will break forth amongst the young generation in Nigeria. 

Prayer for the Church 

1 Corinthians 1:3

“To the Church of God in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours...”  

• Lord, let Your children in Nigerian churches know that they are sanctified in Christ Jesus; their first calling is ‘to be saints’ and they gather to call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ our Lord, not any man or woman. 

• Lord, silence all men who are exalting themselves above You in the lives of the people you died for.  

• Father, let the message of the Cross spread throughout the Church (every denomination) in Nigeria.

• Let, Your children begin to thirst and hunger for Your righteousness again.

• Grant them boldness to arise and confront heresies and false doctrines.

• Cause Your Church to be united to combat every onslaught of the enemy in the name of Jesus.

• Lord, make Your children true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, who are ready and willing to deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow Jesus only. 

• Strengthen every revival labourer in Nigeria; those who are working to make Your kingdom come and Your will be done in Nigeria.  

Prayer for Nigeria  

• Father, please make NIGERIA an object of Your mercy and favour.

• Keep Nigeria, permanently in Your ICU-Intensive Care Unit.

• Lord, a divine pronouncement has been made concerning this nation. Father, we thank You. 

• We pray You will silence every other pronouncement that did not emanate from the throne of grace.

• Lord, the only person You are looking for is JESUS! May You find Him in our leaders, in every facet of our human lives.

• Lord, we pray that You will breathe Your righteousness into our leaders and every facet of our society. 

• Turn around the economy /currency for good, Father.

• Frustrate every activity and every plan of all terrorist groups. Dry up the source of their funding and power in Jesus’ name. 

• Pray as led by His Spirit. 

Join This HeartCry Prayer- Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 11.30am -1.30pm (UK Time)

Nigeria: Arise and Shine

Join This HeartCry Prayer- Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 11.30am -1.30pm (UK Time)

So far:

• God wants each one of us to develop a burden for Nigeria so that we can engage Him from the heart to pray down His divine expectation for Nigeria. He wants us to make it our responsibility.

• He told us that He does not involve just anyone in this ‘holy business’. He is on a ‘holy search’ for the kind of people to engage with  - people who are in right standing with Him; people who can pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done in Nigeria as it is in heaven,” and it will be done.

• Whenever God looks in our direction we want Him to find each one of us qualified to pray kingdom prayers. It is all about what God wants to do on earth and it is only by mercy that He is involving us.

• God gave us examples of the futile effort of those in Nigeria who are raging against the Lord and His Anointed.

• Then, He told us that His time has come, regardless of all those who say otherwise. It’s time for God to do what He said He would do in the earth because He’s committed to fulfilling His promises to His beloved Son, who is the Desire of the Nations. 

The Lord gave us this promise, which we have held on to for Nigeria:

“For the Lord Almighty says, ‘In just a little while I will begin to shake the heavens and earth and the oceans, too, and the dry land. ⁷ I will shake all nations, and the Desire of All Nations shall come to this Temple, and I will fill this place with my glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. (Haggai 2:6-7)

Nigeria too will be part of this move of God in the name of Jesus.

However...

Believers must ARISE and SHINE!

• It is to believers that Jesus made the declaration: “You are the Light of the world....” Matthew 5:14a

• His goal for all believers to be carriers of His light.

• The life light of Christ is the only answer to the spiritual darkness of Nigeria, which manifests itself in all the evil that we see today. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4

Arise, my people! Let your light shine for all the nations to see! For the glory of the Lord is streaming from you. ² Darkness as black as night shall cover all the peoples of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine from you. ³ All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see the glory of the Lord upon you. (Isaiah 60:1-3 TLB)

This is God’s divine expectation.

             - For us as believers praying for Nigeria.

             - For all the believers within the borders of Nigeria.

We are not only called to be carriers of His light, we are also expected to arise and shine. 

There is a ‘Making’ and a Purpose

 “...I will make you a Light to the nations of the world to bring my salvation to them too.”(Isaiah 49:6b TLB)

• To meet God’s divine expectation, God has to make us His light.

• God is aware that we were once darkness with all the traits of darkness established in us at the time He declared, “You are the light of the world.” Yet, he made the declaration to envision us - to help us to see that we no longer have any allegiance to darkness.

• He wants us to see that He has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light for a specific purpose.

• But for us to step into the reality of our calling, He’s saying that there has to be a ‘making’.  This making is DISCIPLESHIP.

• We must enter into a discipleship relationship with Jesus Christ and allow His word to transform us progressively into His likeness. It would be better for us to have a hand nurturing and correcting us, so that darkness will not have a chance in us again.

• The light of God must first of all be inside me for it to shine through me. Christ is the source of this light, and we are ones that the light will pass through to its destination in the nations.

• If we arise in darkness, then darkness cannot overcome the darkness that has covered all the people. We would not be able to be that much needed channel for the light of God to pass through to bring God’s salvation to the nations.

• If we have any hope for the thick darkness brooding over Nigeria to be dispelled, then we must arise as the light of the world, and shine.

• It is only then that  “...All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see the glory of the Lord upon you.” Isaiah 60:3

Believe God for Nigeria

We want the Lord to heal Nigeria. God eyes are languishing to see the life of Christ in every Nigerian, but it will take those who are already carrying His light to arise and shine.

• Can we believe God for Nigeria?

• Can we allow God to envision us concerning His purpose for Nigeria?

• Will we invest prayer into it?

Prayer Points: Make me Your Light

 “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”  John 12:46 (NKJV)

“...I will make you a Light to the nations of the world to bring my salvation to them too.” Isaiah 49:6b (TLB)

• Thank the Lord for coming as light into the world. Thank him for the work of the cross that delivered us from darkness and called us into His light.  Colossians 1:12 “...giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”

• Thank Him for making His expectation clear to us when He called us. He wants us to be the light of the world, and we are no longer expected to abide in darkness.

• Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” Walking as children of the light is only possible through the discipleship. It is only then that I can be transformed in knowledge of God and in character.

• Lord, engage me in an active discipleship relationship with You and with those You have given to nurture and grow Your life in me. In this, You will flush out all the traits and habits of darkness established in me when I was once darkness.

• Lord, I cannot arise and shine as divinely expected if I don’t settle me in the place of my making, because darkness in me cannot overcome darkness in the nations. Give me revelation of why I must be discipled into becoming a carrier of Your light, no matter how tough my discipleship dealings are.

• Help me to understand that the purpose for which You are ‘making’ me in discipleship is so that I can be a light to the nations of the world to bring salvation to them. Please help me to be fully aligned to Your kingdom and Your purpose.

Believers in Nigeria

• It is the absence of lives that carry the life of God that gives darkness room to operate. When darkness is in operation, individual lives and every aspect of the nation – the government, the economy – everything becomes barren as far as the purpose of God is concerned.

• The dark environment brings blindness and if believers are blind, how will others come to His light?

• We need to pray for all those who believe in Jesus within the borders on the nation to truly be carriers of the life light of God.

• For this – the gospel must be preached in fullness. The knowledge of God must flood the nation. The disciples must arise in boldness and shine the light, so that those who are in darkness can come to the light.

Prayer Points:  Believers in Nigeria

• Lord, make believers in Nigeria carriers of Your light – this light that burns, this light that attracts those in darkness.

• Let the gospel be preached in fullness so that the knowledge of God will flood the nation.

• Let disciples arise in boldness and shine and cause those in darkness to come into Your light.

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. ³⁴ The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.³⁵ Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. ³⁶ If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.” (Luke 11: 33-36)

• Lord, make them carriers of the light – the light that burns; the light that attracts. 

• Lord, please give good eyes to your children in Nigeria.

• Let Your Word enlighten their eyes. “The commandment of God is pure, enlightening the eyes.” Psalm 19:8

• Let His children to whom He has proclaimed the true gospel, arise and begin to preach the gospel afresh in Nigeria.

• Let the truth of the Word, the complete gospel be preached throughout Nigeria.

• Help them to reserve their eyes for beholding Jesus from the pages of Scripture and make them can become like Jesus.

• Bring our believers in Nigeria into an intimate discipleship relationship. Let them be flooded with Your light.

• Let there be multiplication of disciples. One disciple will become a thousand.

• Lord, make believers in Nigeria carriers of Your light – this light that burns, this light that attracts those in darkness.

• Let the gospel be preached in fullness so that the knowledge of God will flood the nation.

• Let disciples arise in boldness and shine and cause those in darkness to come into Your light.

 

Prayers for President Buhari:

The president is currently absent from office due to illness. The enemy want to use the speculations of his illness and unavailability to cause havoc or plunge people into further darkness. Despite handing over to the Vice President, certain decisions are still waiting to be made.

• Lift the President up to the throne of Grace and ask for his healing.

• Ask God to reveal Himself to him.

• Ask that God's purpose will be established in his life.

• Ask that He will see the light of God and come to You.

Prayers for Vice President Osibajo:

As Mordecai said to Esther, “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place...Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

• Ask God to Impute into him boldness to say, "If I perish I perish, I will arise.”

• Cause Him to arise in his position as vice president to shine the light of Christ and defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. (2 Samuel 15:31)

• Work inside of him and cause Him to take a stand for You.

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Europe: Who Is This Little One That Will Become a Thousand?

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A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in its time. (Isaiah 60:22)

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. (Zachariah 4:6)

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:23-38)

Who is this little one that will become a thousand?

Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (Isaiah 66:1-2)

• I will pay attention to those who are humble and sorry for their sins and who tremble at my word. GW

• The people I treasure most are the humble - they depend only on me and tremble when I speak. CEV

• But there is something I’m looking for: a person simple and plain, reverently responsive to what I say. MSG

• These are the people I am pleased with. They are those who are not proud or stubborn. They fear me and obey me. ICB

• But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands. AMPC

Who is God looking for really?

This man will be seen as shattered, broken, weak, poor, deprived, underprivileged, destitute, feeble, frail, fragile , pathetic, wrecked, scattered, worn out, pitiable, wretched, worthless, despicable, useless, valueless, miserable, insignificant,  unimportant, irrelevant, in the eyes of man, and even in His own eyes.

• In God’s eyes, this is the man He is looking for.
• Our Father is searching to and for the earth looking for this kind of man.
• What kind of man is this?
• Who can accept to be described with all these adjectives, not as mere words but as their real life?

Philippians 2:5-8

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (AKJV)

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. (MSG)

• He is looking for Jesus, no more, no less.

• God is looking into my life, into my family, into my church, into the nations and He is only looking for Jesus.

• God is looking on this platform and saying, “Is Jesus here on this platform so that I can multiply Him?”

• God is looking at me and He is asking, “Is it Jesus praying?” I am ready to answer?

• Since God is not going to multiply us in any way, shape or form, if it is us praying, we have all come in vain.

Mr Flesh must NOT live forever

Genesis 2:22-24

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Genesis 5:3

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.

• Who is this small man that God wants to multiply?

• God can only multiply Jesus and NO compromise!

• God will not multiply Mr. Flesh in any quantity, no matter how small he is in the work of the kingdom. In any real work of the gospel, minute traces of Mr. Flesh will contaminate the work.

• Mr. Flesh has already multiplied himself to the maximum degree in our world.

• He has also infiltrated the church for ages and the work of God; he is the culprit for the way other revivals finished and scattered.

• This time around, God will not multiply Mr Flesh. That is a danger for us because if He does not see enough quantum of Jesus in our lives, He will wait for another generation.

• God will pack us aside if He can’t see Jesus, the little one in us, and we will not be useful for His kingdom. The danger is that we are multiplying anyway our own kind.

Romans 8:29

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (AKJV)

God, in His foreknowledge, chose them to bear the family likeness of His Son, that He might be the eldest of a family of many brothers. (MSG)

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (AKJV)

So that just as we have been made like the material pattern, so we shall be made like the Heavenly pattern (Phillips)

Prayer Points

• Imprint the image of Your Son upon my life.

• Stamp Jesus upon every segment of my life.

• Quicken Thou me, Lord Jesus.

• The new man, Jesus inside me, is more superior to the man who once lived in me. Lord, please overwrite, erase and dismantle structures, edifices, constructions and arrangements of the old man that will not allow You to multiply my life.

• John 3:30  - He must increase, but I must decrease. (AKJV) 
• He must grow greater and greater and I less and less. (Phillips)

• Lord, put me in situations and circumstances where Your life can grow, and grow and increase and increase inside my life.

It is time for personal prayers and definite decision making before the Lord:

• Present your life before the Lord and make a decision to follow Jesus; to go with discipleship – the school where myrrh is rubbed to remove the earthiness of virgins who have been to Calvary, and perfumes are rubbed until the sweet smell of Jesus oozes out of every pore.

• Present your will to the Lord for shattering. This is a transaction of the will. Tell Him, “I am ready to be offered, whatever the consequences may be.”

• Present your body and yield your members as a sacrifice; bind the sacrifice to the altar with cords and ask the Lord to send fire.

• Pick a pen and paper and begin to write down the instructions of grace which the Lord will be bringing your way.

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