In my few years of coming to the full realisation of my status as a child of God, I have had some of my prayers answered and some not answered. However, I have heard some people declare that there is no prayer they prayed that was not answered. This statement made me wonder sometimes whether God deals with His children differently or whether He has preferential treatment for some special people.
Even though I decided to take things as they are, I am still not satisfied. Why are all my prayers not answered like those of others?
Where I come from, people pray — morning, afternoon, night, and in between. We have prayer chains, vigils — night and day. We have different prayer mountains — some specifically for the male gender and others for both genders. We pray different kinds of prayers — warfare, supplications, all manners of prayers as outlined in the Bible — yet we have little or no results to show for it.
We have replaced all other things with prayer. Do not get me wrong, prayer is good. Yes, it is the key; we cannot do without it. But most times, our engagement in prayer is wrong.
God should always be the centre of our prayer. Our focus when we go to pray every time should be to fellowship with God, not only to ask for things.
He created us in His image and likeness, and Jesus Christ, the begotten of God, showed us clearly what this means in Mark 3:14:
“And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.”
So, your focus when you go to pray all the time should first and foremost be fellowship with your Heavenly Father.
Fellowship is not just singing songs of praise and worship to Him. It is deeper than that. That is just you entering into His gate.
Psalms 100:4 says:
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
When you have access to a friend’s house, do you just enter and begin to demand things? No. So why do we do that with our Father?
Some of our prayer time is just a time of requests. God is not a machine; He is not a robot.
Although He is the Almighty, He has some characteristics that He has shared in part with His human creation, who are made in His image and likeness — love, holiness, justice, mercy, faithfulness, goodness, etc. And so, He delights in fellowshipping with them.
Fellowship is a relationship with shared interests.
God wants to talk with you, not just hear you or your complaints or your demands. He wants to do things with you. He has His own feelings and desires.
Those of you who have best friends, BFFs, and so on, you do not just talk. You also listen to them. God has an agenda too. There are things He wants to do, loves to do, and wants to achieve. He also loves to discuss with you.
So, when you go to prayer, listen to Him too.
If He knows you are there for Him and not just for your demands, you may not need to make demands anymore. He is your Father; He knows what you need before you ask. He created all things and has even made provision for you before you were born.
This brings me to the next focus of prayer — your growth.
Sometimes, you do not need to ask for some things. They are already set in your way. All you need is to grow to the point of accessing them.
Prayer time should be a time for capacity building.
When you allow God to speak, He will tell you the areas of your life you need to work on and His Word that builds you to that point.
As a child of God, your growth is dependent on the amount of His Word in you. Not the one you just read or the one you quickly open in an emergency, but the one within you.
God told Joshua in chapter one, verse eight:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Biblical meditation is the active and deep reflection on God’s character and works through His Word, rather than the emptying of the mind. You fill your mind with divine truth. You engage actively with His Word, and through this, you see your flaws, your weaknesses, and the grace for growth is supplied.
At the end of your prayer time, we should be able to measure and see your growth. It is this growth that will determine your requests, and since it is based on your fellowship with your Father, all will have His attention.
When you meditate the biblical way, you:
* Fill your mind with divine truth from His Word.
* Recite or whisper God’s Word repeatedly to commit it to your mind.
* Become deeply concerned with the matter in the Word, thinking it over and over in your mind.
You become like a ruminant animal. Ruminants are animals that chew the cud. You give deep reflection to the Word, and through this, you are able to see areas of your life that are not in conformity with His Word and the way to change them to become more conformed, so that you and God are on the same page.
When your prayers are not answered, I can tell you categorically that it has nothing to do with the availability of God’s power or its efficacy. Under ideal conditions, the power of God will always produce the desired effect. He is God Almighty. All power belongs to Him.
* Psalms 62:11
* Isaiah 40:29
I am sure you are still wondering why all your prayers are not answered in spite of the above. There are so many other reasons.
In the next publication, we will try to look at one or more reasons out of so many others.
Stay focused.
GIMMICKS OF DARKNESS
God Almighty is the Creator of all things, and He upholds all things by His power.
The devil, like man, cannot create anything, but he is a master manipulator who can copy all things and is a great opportunist.
He is extremely patient and can watch for years and years, looking for the opportunity to unleash his terror at the right time.
For every copy, there is an original. The devil has an agenda, just as God also has an agenda. He will use every one of his arsenals to make sure his agenda is fulfilled.
As believers, we are advised to be very sensitive. Everything is not as it appears on the surface. You have to look beyond the physical. Do you think that Satan’s desire for Eve and Adam was to see as God sees and to understand like God? Of course not. His purpose first was to make sure they disobeyed God, thereby joining forces with him in his rebellion. And through that action, his agenda on earth would be fulfilled.
By virtue of creation, God put mortal men above him. Psalm 8:5 says, “For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.”
The word translated as “angels” in the Hebrew language is Elohim. Human beings are described as beings created just a step lower than the Divine.
You see, the devil is anti-God. His intention before being cast down is seen in Isaiah 14:12–14:
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
So, he fights tooth and nail against everyone and everything that has God’s imprint or stamp.
To achieve this, he has a fourfold agenda, which he achieves through men, ideologies, and institutions. He kills, steals, and destroys — John 10:10.
His agenda is:
1. To stop men from having a real encounter with Jesus Christ and accessing the transformative life that comes from Him through the Gospel.
2. To invite perpetual rebellion against the Lordship, government, and value system of Christ by seeking to replace love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
3. The institutionalisation of global hostility against those who love Jesus and against programmes that advance God’s agenda.
4. To stop men, especially believers, from accessing light, illumination, and intelligence that empower men to walk in the reality of honour, dignity, dominion, and victory.
(Listen to “Revive Us Again, Part 1” by Apostle Joshua Selman of Koinonia Global Ministry.)
In addition to being a copycat, he is a master opportunist. He can stay and watch for years, and as soon as he sees a tiny opportunity, he grabs it.
He rides on ignorance and fear, and when you let down your guard even a little, because he has been watching you, he quickly takes the opportunity. He can even present himself as an angel of light to deceive the gullible.
2 Corinthians 11:14–15 says:
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”
He offers laced help and solutions filled with dark repercussions. So, he looks for opportunities and grabs them.
He hides under darkness to perpetrate evil, especially when you are distracted and believe the attack is coming from another end. He uses subtlety to deceive and divert attention so that you will be chasing shadows while he is doing his destructive work.
Be sober. Be vigilant. Draw close to God through His Word.
You see, the battle going on is a battle between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.
The devil has no desire for your marriage. He is concerned about the godly children that will come through that union, with awesome power to destroy him. Therefore, he will fight everything to make sure those arrows that will destroy him do not come.
And eventually, when you get married, he will make sure that the home is not peaceful. He will make sure that you don’t have enough. And when the children come, he will attack your finances so that the children will not be able to go to good schools.
He will make sure that the institutions you can afford are those that are designed to work for him.
He sends evil people your way — men and women who will molest your children and damage them even before they mature enough to destroy him.
Then he continues to sell you lies about God:
* If God indeed is good, why did He not protect you and your family?
* Why do you lack in spite of serving God?
* Why does a good God not destroy the wicked?
* And so many others.
Have you noticed that a lot of people around you who have nothing to do with God prosper?
The bargain is, “Sell your soul to me, and I will give you everything.”
It has been like that since the beginning. He told God that Job feared Him because of the blessings and not because of true love — Job 1:6–11.
In Matthew 4:8–9:
“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
All he wants is your allegiance to him, and he will give you all things. But, my friend, your soul is the price.
Eternal damnation and alienation from God throughout all eternity. That is too much a price to pay for temporary things.
That is too much a price to pay to impress a woman or your colleagues.
God told us not to envy. Psalm 36:1–7. Your Father is the owner of true riches (Proverbs 24:1–2, 19–20; Job 5:2).
Why worship Satan or demons who are manipulators and have no power to create anything, who steal, copy, and disguise, when the Creator of all things, the Almighty God who is love and desires good things for you, is beckoning for you to come?
He alone can kill and raise again. He has prepared all things for you.
Choose God.
Choose the kingdom of light.
Choose true riches.
Choose peace.
Choose prosperity without adulteration.
Choose life with no strings attached.
The devil, like man, cannot create anything, but he is a master manipulator who can copy all things and is a great opportunist.
He is extremely patient and can watch for years and years, looking for the opportunity to unleash his terror at the right time.
For every copy, there is an original. The devil has an agenda, just as God also has an agenda. He will use every one of his arsenals to make sure his agenda is fulfilled.
As believers, we are advised to be very sensitive. Everything is not as it appears on the surface. You have to look beyond the physical. Do you think that Satan’s desire for Eve and Adam was to see as God sees and to understand like God? Of course not. His purpose first was to make sure they disobeyed God, thereby joining forces with him in his rebellion. And through that action, his agenda on earth would be fulfilled.
By virtue of creation, God put mortal men above him. Psalm 8:5 says, “For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.”
The word translated as “angels” in the Hebrew language is Elohim. Human beings are described as beings created just a step lower than the Divine.
You see, the devil is anti-God. His intention before being cast down is seen in Isaiah 14:12–14:
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
So, he fights tooth and nail against everyone and everything that has God’s imprint or stamp.
To achieve this, he has a fourfold agenda, which he achieves through men, ideologies, and institutions. He kills, steals, and destroys — John 10:10.
His agenda is:
1. To stop men from having a real encounter with Jesus Christ and accessing the transformative life that comes from Him through the Gospel.
2. To invite perpetual rebellion against the Lordship, government, and value system of Christ by seeking to replace love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
3. The institutionalisation of global hostility against those who love Jesus and against programmes that advance God’s agenda.
4. To stop men, especially believers, from accessing light, illumination, and intelligence that empower men to walk in the reality of honour, dignity, dominion, and victory.
(Listen to “Revive Us Again, Part 1” by Apostle Joshua Selman of Koinonia Global Ministry.)
In addition to being a copycat, he is a master opportunist. He can stay and watch for years, and as soon as he sees a tiny opportunity, he grabs it.
He rides on ignorance and fear, and when you let down your guard even a little, because he has been watching you, he quickly takes the opportunity. He can even present himself as an angel of light to deceive the gullible.
2 Corinthians 11:14–15 says:
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”
He offers laced help and solutions filled with dark repercussions. So, he looks for opportunities and grabs them.
He hides under darkness to perpetrate evil, especially when you are distracted and believe the attack is coming from another end. He uses subtlety to deceive and divert attention so that you will be chasing shadows while he is doing his destructive work.
Be sober. Be vigilant. Draw close to God through His Word.
You see, the battle going on is a battle between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.
The devil has no desire for your marriage. He is concerned about the godly children that will come through that union, with awesome power to destroy him. Therefore, he will fight everything to make sure those arrows that will destroy him do not come.
And eventually, when you get married, he will make sure that the home is not peaceful. He will make sure that you don’t have enough. And when the children come, he will attack your finances so that the children will not be able to go to good schools.
He will make sure that the institutions you can afford are those that are designed to work for him.
He sends evil people your way — men and women who will molest your children and damage them even before they mature enough to destroy him.
Then he continues to sell you lies about God:
* If God indeed is good, why did He not protect you and your family?
* Why do you lack in spite of serving God?
* Why does a good God not destroy the wicked?
* And so many others.
Have you noticed that a lot of people around you who have nothing to do with God prosper?
The bargain is, “Sell your soul to me, and I will give you everything.”
It has been like that since the beginning. He told God that Job feared Him because of the blessings and not because of true love — Job 1:6–11.
In Matthew 4:8–9:
“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
All he wants is your allegiance to him, and he will give you all things. But, my friend, your soul is the price.
Eternal damnation and alienation from God throughout all eternity. That is too much a price to pay for temporary things.
That is too much a price to pay to impress a woman or your colleagues.
God told us not to envy. Psalm 36:1–7. Your Father is the owner of true riches (Proverbs 24:1–2, 19–20; Job 5:2).
Why worship Satan or demons who are manipulators and have no power to create anything, who steal, copy, and disguise, when the Creator of all things, the Almighty God who is love and desires good things for you, is beckoning for you to come?
He alone can kill and raise again. He has prepared all things for you.
Choose God.
Choose the kingdom of light.
Choose true riches.
Choose peace.
Choose prosperity without adulteration.
Choose life with no strings attached.
GOD HELPS
The Psalmist said in Psalm 121:1–2, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”
By nature, man is limited in all areas, even though he is the zenith of God’s creation. Created in the image and likeness of God, yet he does not have absolute power like God. He may have a will, a strong one at that, yet he is limited by physical, mental, and spiritual boundaries. The human body is frail, i.e., transient. It ages over time and is subject to physical decline and death. Due to that frailty, it experiences physical exhaustion. It is subject to imperfection. Man does not have all knowledge and, therefore, cannot predict the future perfectly. Also, man lacks the ability to be in different places at the same time.
Even though he is the zenith of God’s creation, he has no control over all that God created and cannot create anything from absolute nothingness like God. He can only manipulate existing matter.
Men are confined by time and have no power to stop time, slow time down, or reverse the flow of time.
In Genesis, when God created man, He said in Genesis 1:26–30:
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.”
Note that God did not give man control over everything He created. He has no control over other men and things like the sun, moon, etc. In essence, man is very limited in the control given to him.
It has been known and seen throughout all ages that man is deficient and, therefore, men have always sought help or assistance from others; men, who are also limited; demons and devils, whose help is not absolute and has great repercussions; and from the Almighty God, who has all the power and is ready and willing to give assistance as long as it will not lead to our destruction.
God helps man in different ways. We have discussed a lot of these in previous write-ups. Today, we are zeroing our discussion in on when God sends help through other men like you. You see, when God wants to bless a man, He will send a man, and likewise, when the devil wants to destroy a man, he will also send a man.
God does send men to man as:
1. Destiny helpers
2. Burden bearers
3. Men of influence or gatekeepers
4. Gifted men
5. Divine connectors
DESTINY HELPERS
This is a person or persons whom God has strategically placed in your life to guide, help, and support you to achieve your goals and fulfill your life purpose. These may provide wisdom through valuable advice, instructions, or even mentorship. They open doors for you and lift you up. They can give financial, physical, and emotional support, especially during hard times.
They may not be in your life forever. Mostly, they are there for a purpose and for a season, and then they leave.
God sees the area in which you are lacking and sends them. They may not be rich or famous. They often show up during unexpected or difficult seasons of your life. Their support is sincere and meets your deepest need.
Sometimes, they are one-off relationships or seasonal relationships.
It is very important for you to understand this. Human nature tends to extend these relationships forever because of the comfort they bring. However, any attempt to do this may lead to unfavorable results. God brought them in during your season of lack, and He expects you to learn and grow into maturity, not to expect such people to take the place of your growth.
Examples of such are Aaron and Hur, who helped support the hands of Moses during the battle with the Amalekites in Exodus 17. Another is Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, in Exodus 18:17–24.
Do not expect that destiny helpers will be a permanent feature. They are there for a season or an assignment.
BURDEN BEARERS
These are the people God sends into your life to stay with you through hard times so as to keep you from giving up or moving backward. They prevent you from going back when the situation gets hard. They help carry your emotional or physical load when your strength is depleted. They stand by you until you achieve your goal or are able to stand and move on.
There is no condition attached.
A good example is Simon of Cyrene. On Jesus’ way to Golgotha, after the beating and terrible treatment He had experienced, He had lost a lot of blood and became very weak. Simon of Cyrene was compelled to help bear His cross — Matthew 27.
GATEKEEPERS OR MEN OF INFLUENCE
These are individuals who, by virtue of their power or influence, can help you on your way to achieving God’s goal for your life. These are strategically placed on your way by God.
They have influence and authority, and you will do well to recognize them in your life. They may not necessarily be of your faith, but they hold great influence.
You cannot fight them or wish them away. You can only ask God to give you mercy and favor in their sight. They hold a very great importance to where you are going, and only God’s mercy will cause them to open the gate for you.
They control the gate and, therefore, control access. If they deny you access, you will just continue to mark time in one place. They hold the authority to permit or block access.
You cannot cast these ones out because they determine what influences or ideas enter or leave. They are very important in the scheme of things. An example is Joseph of Arimathea. They are men of substance and influence, and if you need what they have, you must pray to have favor with them. There are no two ways about it: either God gives you favor with them, or you stay unfulfilled.
Imagine Joseph refusing to interpret Pharaoh’s dream because he was a pagan king. How would he get to a position to preserve the covenant people of God?
GIFTED MEN
These are people who demonstrate extraordinary potential or superior ability in your area of assignment, competence, or others.
When God told Moses to build the tabernacle and the ark of testimony according to the pattern shown to him on the mount, God told Moses in Exodus 31:1–6:
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee.”
God always gives His children resources and helpers for the assignments He has asked them to do.
As one sent or given an assignment, you need to develop people skills in addition to your discernment. Sometimes, these treasures need to be searched out because they are in earthen vessels.
They are not necessarily as spiritual as you are or in your league, but they have been filled with the Spirit of God, and where your education is lacking, they have been sent to fill that area.
Sometimes, they are so covered in dirt that you need the refiner’s fire to help you. You cannot do it by your power but through prayers to the Great Refiner.
DIVINE CONNECTORS
Another set of helpers God has given to His children is divine connectors. These don’t have what you need, but they know who has it or are connected to them one way or the other.
They are like bridges. These are ordinary or unexpected people sent by God to link you with the right individuals or opportunities that will accelerate your divine purpose.
These may not have the money or power to help you, but they are connected to someone who can help you. They open doors for you. They may look insignificant, but you need sensitivity and humility, or else you may misjudge them.
Examples in the Bible are:
* Pharaoh’s butler — Genesis 41:9
* The servant girl of Naaman’s wife — 2 Kings 5
There are so many examples of helpers that God sent to His people in the Bible. Some of them are:
* Jonathan to David. He stood as a loyal protector and covenant friend. He was like a gatekeeper who helped David when Saul was after his life.
* Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, who helped him when the burden of leading and judging the Israelites during their journey in the wilderness was becoming unbearable to him.
* The elders who were chosen by Moses to help him in judging the people, thereby relieving him of the heavy burden.
* There are others like Barnabas, who helped Saul; Priscilla and Aquila; the women in Paul’s ministerial team; and also the women in Jesus’ team, and so many others.
The important thing is to identify and stick to the purpose of their assignment in your life. A good relationship can be destroyed if you attempt to extend the duration of a helper sent to you for a season or to extend such help to cover all areas.
Note that, if care is not taken, a helper can be placed in the place of God. This is very dangerous, as God will not share His glory with any man.
In my life, I have experienced awesome help from God-sent helpers. However, I have also experienced terrible situations when seasonal help has been extended to include other areas in my life. The relationship became so toxic that I had to block all access.
There is always the danger of expecting too much from such relationships. You must be sensitive enough to know when the season is over or when the assignment has been achieved, and move on.
IT IS WELL
By nature, man is limited in all areas, even though he is the zenith of God’s creation. Created in the image and likeness of God, yet he does not have absolute power like God. He may have a will, a strong one at that, yet he is limited by physical, mental, and spiritual boundaries. The human body is frail, i.e., transient. It ages over time and is subject to physical decline and death. Due to that frailty, it experiences physical exhaustion. It is subject to imperfection. Man does not have all knowledge and, therefore, cannot predict the future perfectly. Also, man lacks the ability to be in different places at the same time.
Even though he is the zenith of God’s creation, he has no control over all that God created and cannot create anything from absolute nothingness like God. He can only manipulate existing matter.
Men are confined by time and have no power to stop time, slow time down, or reverse the flow of time.
In Genesis, when God created man, He said in Genesis 1:26–30:
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.”
Note that God did not give man control over everything He created. He has no control over other men and things like the sun, moon, etc. In essence, man is very limited in the control given to him.
It has been known and seen throughout all ages that man is deficient and, therefore, men have always sought help or assistance from others; men, who are also limited; demons and devils, whose help is not absolute and has great repercussions; and from the Almighty God, who has all the power and is ready and willing to give assistance as long as it will not lead to our destruction.
God helps man in different ways. We have discussed a lot of these in previous write-ups. Today, we are zeroing our discussion in on when God sends help through other men like you. You see, when God wants to bless a man, He will send a man, and likewise, when the devil wants to destroy a man, he will also send a man.
God does send men to man as:
1. Destiny helpers
2. Burden bearers
3. Men of influence or gatekeepers
4. Gifted men
5. Divine connectors
DESTINY HELPERS
This is a person or persons whom God has strategically placed in your life to guide, help, and support you to achieve your goals and fulfill your life purpose. These may provide wisdom through valuable advice, instructions, or even mentorship. They open doors for you and lift you up. They can give financial, physical, and emotional support, especially during hard times.
They may not be in your life forever. Mostly, they are there for a purpose and for a season, and then they leave.
God sees the area in which you are lacking and sends them. They may not be rich or famous. They often show up during unexpected or difficult seasons of your life. Their support is sincere and meets your deepest need.
Sometimes, they are one-off relationships or seasonal relationships.
It is very important for you to understand this. Human nature tends to extend these relationships forever because of the comfort they bring. However, any attempt to do this may lead to unfavorable results. God brought them in during your season of lack, and He expects you to learn and grow into maturity, not to expect such people to take the place of your growth.
Examples of such are Aaron and Hur, who helped support the hands of Moses during the battle with the Amalekites in Exodus 17. Another is Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, in Exodus 18:17–24.
Do not expect that destiny helpers will be a permanent feature. They are there for a season or an assignment.
BURDEN BEARERS
These are the people God sends into your life to stay with you through hard times so as to keep you from giving up or moving backward. They prevent you from going back when the situation gets hard. They help carry your emotional or physical load when your strength is depleted. They stand by you until you achieve your goal or are able to stand and move on.
There is no condition attached.
A good example is Simon of Cyrene. On Jesus’ way to Golgotha, after the beating and terrible treatment He had experienced, He had lost a lot of blood and became very weak. Simon of Cyrene was compelled to help bear His cross — Matthew 27.
GATEKEEPERS OR MEN OF INFLUENCE
These are individuals who, by virtue of their power or influence, can help you on your way to achieving God’s goal for your life. These are strategically placed on your way by God.
They have influence and authority, and you will do well to recognize them in your life. They may not necessarily be of your faith, but they hold great influence.
You cannot fight them or wish them away. You can only ask God to give you mercy and favor in their sight. They hold a very great importance to where you are going, and only God’s mercy will cause them to open the gate for you.
They control the gate and, therefore, control access. If they deny you access, you will just continue to mark time in one place. They hold the authority to permit or block access.
You cannot cast these ones out because they determine what influences or ideas enter or leave. They are very important in the scheme of things. An example is Joseph of Arimathea. They are men of substance and influence, and if you need what they have, you must pray to have favor with them. There are no two ways about it: either God gives you favor with them, or you stay unfulfilled.
Imagine Joseph refusing to interpret Pharaoh’s dream because he was a pagan king. How would he get to a position to preserve the covenant people of God?
GIFTED MEN
These are people who demonstrate extraordinary potential or superior ability in your area of assignment, competence, or others.
When God told Moses to build the tabernacle and the ark of testimony according to the pattern shown to him on the mount, God told Moses in Exodus 31:1–6:
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee.”
God always gives His children resources and helpers for the assignments He has asked them to do.
As one sent or given an assignment, you need to develop people skills in addition to your discernment. Sometimes, these treasures need to be searched out because they are in earthen vessels.
They are not necessarily as spiritual as you are or in your league, but they have been filled with the Spirit of God, and where your education is lacking, they have been sent to fill that area.
Sometimes, they are so covered in dirt that you need the refiner’s fire to help you. You cannot do it by your power but through prayers to the Great Refiner.
DIVINE CONNECTORS
Another set of helpers God has given to His children is divine connectors. These don’t have what you need, but they know who has it or are connected to them one way or the other.
They are like bridges. These are ordinary or unexpected people sent by God to link you with the right individuals or opportunities that will accelerate your divine purpose.
These may not have the money or power to help you, but they are connected to someone who can help you. They open doors for you. They may look insignificant, but you need sensitivity and humility, or else you may misjudge them.
Examples in the Bible are:
* Pharaoh’s butler — Genesis 41:9
* The servant girl of Naaman’s wife — 2 Kings 5
There are so many examples of helpers that God sent to His people in the Bible. Some of them are:
* Jonathan to David. He stood as a loyal protector and covenant friend. He was like a gatekeeper who helped David when Saul was after his life.
* Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, who helped him when the burden of leading and judging the Israelites during their journey in the wilderness was becoming unbearable to him.
* The elders who were chosen by Moses to help him in judging the people, thereby relieving him of the heavy burden.
* There are others like Barnabas, who helped Saul; Priscilla and Aquila; the women in Paul’s ministerial team; and also the women in Jesus’ team, and so many others.
The important thing is to identify and stick to the purpose of their assignment in your life. A good relationship can be destroyed if you attempt to extend the duration of a helper sent to you for a season or to extend such help to cover all areas.
Note that, if care is not taken, a helper can be placed in the place of God. This is very dangerous, as God will not share His glory with any man.
In my life, I have experienced awesome help from God-sent helpers. However, I have also experienced terrible situations when seasonal help has been extended to include other areas in my life. The relationship became so toxic that I had to block all access.
There is always the danger of expecting too much from such relationships. You must be sensitive enough to know when the season is over or when the assignment has been achieved, and move on.
IT IS WELL