Acts 10:1-4
“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.”
INSIGHT
-Cornelius the Italian Regiment was a devout man. He lived in the city of Caesarea where Pilate governed three thousand Roman troops and Cornelius was under him; and commanded a hundred soldiers. Peter’s obedience to God’s call, opened up the gospel to the Gentile nations. Cornelius was committed to serving God through prayer, fasting and alms giving. While he fasted and prayed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him at the ninth hour and instructed him to request Peter to go to his household for the Lord was well pleased with his alms and prayers. Peter was also praying at the time and at the sixth hour he was hungry and the Lord showed him a vision. It is evident that through prayer we connect with God and consistently dwell in His presence. As we know, Daniel prayed three times a day despite the opposition that he went through (Daniel 6:10). It is key therefore to dedicate some time in prayer so that we may encounter God in His presence. Like Cornelius, Peter and Daniel, we are instructed to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Even though Cornelius and his family had not come to faith in Jesus the Lord revealed Himself to them in a unique way. In Romans 10:13-14 we read that, “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” So the Lord sent His servant Peter to teach them His word, and while he was still speaking; they received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Cornelius and his family experienced the light of the gospel of peace, and the Holy Spirit came upon them to dwell with them forever. We are called to devote ourselves to prayer, being watchful, thankful, alms giving and obedient to God’s calls and we shall receive the reward of our faith in Jesus Christ.
PRAYER
Thank You Father for You are good and Your mercies endures forever. Thank for this far that You have brought us and the far that You are taking us. We count our blessings and name them one by one. Thank You for You have been gracious and kind to us. Thank You for giving us the gift of salvation to us, our families and friends. We call on Your name today save us. Fill all Your people with Your Holy Spirit, so that they may know You and glorify Your holy name together with our households. We humbly implore You Lord to heal all those who are sick and suffering, provide for those who are jobless and sleep hungry, deliver all those live in the streets, protect them from every evil and cover them with Your precious blood, open new doors for all businesses and institutions, cause promotion for all those who are employed, bring calm to those who are depressed, make a way for all our school going children who are currently at home, unite all those who are unmarried or separated, deliver our nation from corruption, bring peace to the nation of Israel and all other nations of the world, and bless all our churches and ministers so that Your word may reach all Your people. Use us Lord to proclaim Your gospel in all the earth like You used Peter and the other disciples. Help us to devote ourselves in prayer, fasting and alms giving like You did with Your servant Cornelius. May our prayers and alms giving come up for a memorial before You our Lord of Hosts, that You may answer our prayers and hearts desires according to Your will. Help us to apply our faith and faithfully do the works that You have called us to accomplish. Forgive us our sins Jesus and cover us with Your precious blood. Help us to walk with love that our bodies may always yield pleasing aroma to You dear Master. May all our prayers and sacrifices come before You Lord like incense that yield a pleasing aroma to You Lord. Do a new thing in our lives, families and nation Lord, we hope in You. Hide our stars within Yourself Jesus so that only those You intend to see they may see and come to do Your will. Deliver us Lord from every plan of the evil that comes to kill, steal and destroy and cover us with Your hedge of fire. Like You sent Peter to Cornelius, send forth our destiny connectors to locate our starts and Your purpose will prevail in our lives, for the advancement of Your kingdom. May Your light shine in us so that many may see it and come to You. All glory, honor and praise belongs to You Jesus, now and forever. Amen
Exodus 33:13-14
Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
INSIGHT
-As a leader, Moses knew that he could not accomplish anything without the grace of God. He prayed for God’s direction and purposes; and for the people. Moses found grace before the Lord as he led the Israelites out of Egypt and the Lord guided them by a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day; to show them the way. Moses was the meekest man on earth and the Lord spoke to him face to face like a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11). He obtained favor before the Lord and His presence was always with him. He saw the burning bush during his call. He experienced the Lord on mount Sinai during the delivery of the Ten Commandments and his countenance changed. He praised God and encouraged the people to worship Him alone even when their hearts turned away from Him. He only took instructions from the Lord and remained faithful to Him. He performed many signs through God’s power including; the ten plagues, splitting the Red sea, turning bitter water to sweet etc. He led the Israelites against the Amalekites and they prevailed. He was taken up by the Lord when he died and the people could not find his body. Like Moses enjoyed the presence of God, we who believe in Jesus Christ rejoice in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, helps us, strengthen us, guides us and intercedes for us with groaning that cannot be uttered. Like Moses, we are called to wait on the Holy Spirit all the time with humility in our hearts, praise Him always, remain faithful to Him, consult Him in all our decisions and give Him pre-eminence, and all our plans will succeed.
PRAYER
Lord You are highly exulted in all the heavens and the earth. All creation bows down before You. Your right hand and majestic power have shuttered the enemy. In the greatness of Your majesty; You threw down those who opposed You. In Your unfailing love You have redeemed Your people and in Your strength You have led us to Your holy dwelling. Thank You for loving us Jesus Christ. All our hope and trust is in You. You reign Holy Spirit forever and ever. You reign in our hearts and minds, You reign in our families and relationships, You reign in our government and churches, You reign in our nation and the entire world. Only You reign forever and ever. Only You deserve all the glory and praise. Guide all our going in and coming out. Help us in all our decisions that they may always be pleasing to You. Guide us to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and all other things You will add unto us. Help us to see You in all things. Help us to always harken to Your voice. Forgive us for the many times we have gone against Your will and have acted before consulting You Father. Forgive us all our sins we have done knowingly and unknowingly. Forgive us Holy Spirit for grieving You. Thank You for You have been faithful to us even when we have become faithless. Thank You for You have been good to us during seasons of rain and seasons of drought, seasons of joy and seasons of sorrow. May Your peace and joy always dwell in us. You are our Strength and Song, our Salvation, we exult Your holy name. Intercede for us always Holy Spirit and shed Your light in our lives. May Your grace and favor always be present in our lives. Bless us Lord and keep us. Make Your face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. May Your countenance always be upon us and give us peace. Amen
Romans 4:16-17
“Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;”
INSIGHT
-Abraham had strong faith and believed those things that God spoke to him. God’s presence remained with Abraham and he pleased the Lord through faith. For without faith we cannot please God, we are called to have strong faith in the Lord and dwell in His presence forever. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. We stand through faith and should not be proud for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. We who are of faith then become partakers of His righteousness, for we are not slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness. God is all powerful, He gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as if they exist through the promise. If we are Abraham’s seed, we are partakers of his blessings through the promise. Through the righteousness of faith; the blessings of Abraham has come to us who believe; for he is the father of all of us. As Abraham prayed and the Lord answered his prayers, we who are the righteousness of God pray to Him and He becomes our salvation, for the prayers of a righteous man avails much. If we believe, we hope in those things that were promised even though they have not yet come to pass. By believing, praying, proclaiming and giving thanks for those things that are yet to be as if they exist, then we have the faith of Abraham and will always receive our requests. If we believe that the Lord predestined us, called us, justified us and glorified us together with Christ, then we have peace with Him. Past tense has been used to inform us that the Lord has already predestined us, blessed us and called us to make His faithfulness known to many for His greater glory. We should then rejoice in the Lord always for He finished it all on the cross and through our faith in Jesus Christ we are baptized into Him and are united in a death like His, and have hope that we will be united in a resurrection like His. Christ is the foundation of our faith and when we hold fast our faith in Him, we become partakers of His body and blood and have the sure hope that we shall receive our reward, and dwell in His presence forever and ever. Amen
PRAYER
This is the day that You have made Lord, we rejoice and are glad in it. Like a deer pants for streams of water, our souls desire to partake of Your living water forever. Thank You for journeying with us throughout this year. Thank You for getting us to this new month, we glorify You and exult Your holy name. Thank You for the far that You have brought us and the far that You have taken us, all praise and thanksgiving belongs to You. Thank You for Your blessings and favor upon our lives, families and nation, we believe that Your presence has gone before us even as we come to a close of this year. Thank You for making all the crooked paths straight dear Jesus and making all our plans to succeed according to the promise. Thank You Jesus for justifying us through faith in You and for the gift of eternal life to us and our generations. Thank You for the peace that we continue to enjoy despite the turbulent times that we go through, we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus our Lord. Increase our faith in You dear Master so that we may hope in those things that do not exist as if they have come to pass. Thank You for Your saving grace in our lives through faith. Be with our president, deputy president and all our leaders that Your salvation may come to their lives and homes, and grant them the wisdom to lead the nation according to Your will. Thank You Holy Spirit for the gift of faith in our lives and churches. May Your unending love overtake our anxieties and unbelief. Your kingdom Lord is comprised of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, fill our hearts with these precious gifts. All glory and praise belongs to You Jesus, now and forever. Amen
Psalm 140:13
“Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence.”
INSIGHT
-The psalmist says that the righteous and upright at heart will dwell in the presence of God. When David orchestrated the death of Uriah and took his wife, he realized that the presence of God left him. In his famous repentance prayer, he cried to God saying, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Psalm 51:10-12). We notice from his prayer that sin can cause a barrier from the presence of God. We are called to repentance, live upright before the Lord and do His will. God has commanded us to love Him by keeping His commandments. John 14:21 reveals that, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Let us then work out our salvation with fear and trembling, with the fear of the Lord and He will always give us sufficient grace to flee from sin. Let us also express our gratitude to the Lord through thanksgiving and praise for He has been good to us. Let us offer a sacrifice of praise in our hearts through meditation and expressed song, as we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
PRAYER
We exalt You our God and King, Creator of the heavens and the earth. We praise Your holy name forever and ever. We praise You and extol Your name, for only You are worthy to be worshiped and praised. Great are You Lord and most worthy to be praised. We celebrate Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness. Lord You are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. Forgive us for all the sins we have done knowingly and unknowingly merciful Father in our lives, families, nation and entire world, and cleanse us with Your precious blood. Lord You are good to us all and compassionate on all You have made, renew our minds and purify our hearts; we humbly beseech You. Deliver us from all the snares of the evil one and give us the grace to keep Your commandments and always do Your will. Fill us with Your love Holy Spirit that we may love You with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. Feed our spirits with Your word of truth and help us to worship You in spirit and in truth. May Your hedge of fire always protect us Holy Spirit and keep us in Your presence always. Help us to live victorious lives from all sickness, bareness, poverty, shame, fear and lead us by Your righteous right hand in all things. We love You Lord because You loved us first, thank You for loving us with Your everlasting love. Surely Your goodness and love shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in Your house forever. Amen
2 Corinthians 13:14
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
INSIGHT
-God desires that we dwell in His presence forever. Jesus did not leave us orphaned but left us the Holy Spirit to dwell with us and in us forever. We experience the presence of the Holy Spirit first through the breath of life. Breath in Hebrew is written as Ruach, which demonstrates the image of the Unseen Spirit of God. As from the beginning when the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). The Holy Spirit then comes to create a form, fill the void in our lives, families and situations, and removes all forms of darkness from us. He gave us life when we were dead to trespass and assures us life everlasting. Jesus has given us sufficient grace and calls us to believe in Him so that we may have communion with the Holy spirit forever. He is our Helper, Comforter, Counselor, Strength, Intercessor and our hope of Resurrection in the Last Day.
SUMMARY
We are called to pray without ceasing and experience the presence of God in our lives. To praise God and enter His courts with thanksgiving in our hearts. To read God’s word and believe in Him. Hold fast faith and giving alms as put in our faith and works. When David killed Uriah the Hittite and took his wife Bathsheba for his personal benefits, he realized that the presence of God might depart from him and repented. Through sin we are separated from the presence of God and reconciled through repentance. We are called to love God by keeping His commandments and to love our neighbors as ourselves. John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus and preached the gospel of repentance and believing in His gospel. In Ephesians 2:12-13 we see that, “At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ”. We are therefore called to look to Jesus Christ; the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Through faith, we have hope of a better future as we become partakers of the inheritance of Abraham the father of faith, and dwell in God’s presence forever. Like Moses the meekest man, let us come to God with repentant hearts as we acknowledge that we are nothing without Him and can accomplish nothing without His presence. We then completely rely on the power, mercy and grace of the Holy Spirit as we commune with Him in all areas of our lives.
PRAYER
Almighty and ever present God, thank You for being ever present in our lives, families, churches, nation and entire world. You formed us in Your own image and likeness and have since called us Your children. Thank You for loving us dear God. Give us the grace to forgive all those who sin against us. To love You and our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us for all the times we have sinned in our thoughts and in our hearts and cover us with Your precious blood. When the earth was void, dark and without form, You breathed life upon it and formed the beautiful nature, seas and oceans and animals, and formed us in Your own image and likeness, thank You for loving us everlasting Master. Breath again Holy Spirit into our lives and situations and do a new things in our lives. You created the heavens, forming therein the stars, galaxies, celestial and entire universe, thank You for loving us everlasting God. Help us to appreciate all that You have created and form in us new ideas, increase our faith and wisdom, and let our purposes come to life; for the advancement of Your kingdom. Give us the grace to seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, and all other things You will add unto us. Your are our Vine and we are Your branches Lord, help us to bear much fruit according to the promise. You are our good Shepherd Lord, guide us in all our decisions, ideas, intentions and hearts desires, and be with us in every step. We are nothing without You Holy Spirit and can do nothing without Your presence, help us to serve You with sincere hearts. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forevermore. Amen