Topic: Prayer Can Subdue People
Memorise: He shall subdue the people under us,
and the nations under our feet. -Psalm 47:3
Read: Genesis 32:6-12 & 33:4, (KJV)
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau,
and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that
was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
8 And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other
company which is left shall escape.
9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the
LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I
will deal well with thee:
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which
thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan;
and now I am become two bands.
11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau:
for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the
children.
12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand
of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
Genesis 33:4
4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed
him: and they wept.
Bible in One Year: 1 Chronicles 12:14; Luke
16:14-31
MESSAGE:
When Jacob was told that his brother, Esau, who had sworn to kill him, was
coming to meet him with four hundred men, he was justifiably afraid and
distressed. However, he prayed to God for deliverance, reminding Him of His
covenant with his father. Several things happened to Jacob as a result of this
prayer. After he prayed, God changed his name from Jacob to Israel (Genesis 32:28). Prayer can rename a situation
or an individual, and it can also terminate the regime of an evil era induced
by a bad name. When prayer ends a bad name, there will no longer be any reason
to call the fellow by the former name. God told Jacob “From today, nobody will
call you that name again.” As soon as He said it, every reproach the name had
attached to him was completely erased. Royalty took over from there. From
today, you shall no longer be called barren! You shall no longer move around in
circles. You shall no longer labour without receiving a commensurate harvest.
From today, sorrow, tears and disappointment have ended in your life!
Beside this, prayer gave Jacob power with God and helped him prevail over the
anger of his brother. To subdue impossible human beings, you need power with
God. The extent to which you can control men will be determined by the power
you have with God, because it’s God who subdues men under you (Psalm 47:3). Whenever you pray intensely from
your heart, power is produced. The power that prayer generates can be
channelled towards achieving any goal. When you pray effectively concerning
your business, the power to succeed in it is released to you. If you are
struggling in your studies, you need to pray intensely, and the power to enable
you all that you should do to succeed in your academics will be released.
Acts 1:8 declares that when the Holy Spirit comes, power comes with Him. When
you pray in the Holy Ghost with your heart, power comes. This power may come in
the form of understanding difficult subjects you are studying, wisdom to relate
with subordinates in such a manner that garners their support to enable you
succeed in your assignment or ministry, and so on. Prayer also helps you to be
victorious over men. Are people rising up against you? Pray! As you pray, they
will be subdued. Is anyone threatening your life like Esau did to Jacob? Pray,
and the Lord will subdue them.
Action Point: One weapon every leader requires to keep the loyalty of
their subjects and subordinates is prayer. Pray that God will keep those under
you faithful to your righteous cause.
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