Prayer to the power of 10!

I was reading the book of Acts this morning (oops actually I was listening to the book of Acts, you know the Bible Experience, thank God for technology) and God reminded me something about ministry. It doesn't matter what ministry you serve in, be it Sunday School (Lord help those teachers...some of those kids need deliverance),Ushering, Choir, Media or whatever. If you do it for the sake of doing it, you will be just wasting yours and everybody else's time. For example, if you usher people without the unction of God upon your life, people will just see a person showing them to their seat, nothing more and nothing less. Same thing with the choir, your songs will be just songs which will not encourage or do anything for anyone.

What gives our service and ministry power to change lives?
The fact of the matter is people, we need to prayerfully conduct ministration and ask God to fill us afresh with the Holy Spirit. That's why it's important in our private prayer life to pray for God to anoint us and fill us with His Holy Spirit so that we can be a powerful vessel in our area of ministry to touch lives. It's also very important for people to arrive early before service and pray as a ministerial department because we need a corporate Anointing of God upon whatever we're doing. So lets say goodbye to those days of trickling into church long after people have prayed....you can always catch up with your friends after church...rather than before church!

Acts 2:4 says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and started speaking in different tongues. (para)
Peter began to speak to the people with boldness which I'm sure surprised those around him and himself. Remember this is the same guy that had denied Jesus not too long before that.
The bible says in Acts 2:37 that after hearing Peter's sermon, the people were cut to the heart and they asked him "What shall we do?"
He then told them to repent and be baptized. It wasn't his fancy suit or his cute accent that did it.Neither was it merely charm. No - it was the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the hearts and minds of the people listening as he spoke. I think the conviction must have been so strong they could not resist...
Jesus promised in Acts 1:8 that once the Holy Spirit has come He shall give us power to witness....and greater works than these, we can do.

Bros and Gals, we need that power to be able to do anything effectively for God. We need to come to a time when a choir will minister and people will want to give their lives to Christ immediately. It can happen guys, all we need to do is to be of one mind and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our midst.

Let's be an anointed, praying generation and yield ourselves to God. He has so much He wishes to accomplish through us, if only we will allow Him to work in our midst. Lets cry out for the Holy Spirit to rain down on us....
The time for playing church is over, lets go out there and shake things up!

The ride of your Life!

Ever heard of the lad called Saul who fell off a horse? Well I'm not sure if he fell off his horse or what but we are told that he fell onto the ground and since he must have been travelling on a horse, I assume that he fell off his horse. Now that we have established that all important fact, lets move on. If you wanna check out the story you can find it in the Bible in Acts 9.

This brother was on his way to Damascus on an all important mission. It wasn't a good mission but to him it was something that needed to be done : Get all those pesky Christians and stick them in a prison. That will teach them to go around thinking they're better than everyone else.
I'm sure God was laughing at him and his puny efforts to wipe out of Christianity.
As it turns out God stopped him on the way and in an instant he became blind. Warning to all: Don't mess with God's people...you never know what awaits you round the corner...
Realising his mistake he repentantly asked God, "Lord, what do you want me to do...?" But God chose not to tell him what was going to happen next. I guess this was his Faith Lesson 101.
Anyway luckily for him, God decided to use him for his own cause. But for 3 days he had to sit in darkness wondering what was going to happen next. Imagine how he must have felt? In Acts 9 verses 11 and 12 we find out that Saul was praying and had seen a vision. It must have been a frightening time for him and I'll bet he was thinking Lord I thought you said someone would come here and tell me what to do....when Lord, when?

To us Believers, there's something for us to learn here.... Before God uses us for something great, we're probably gonna have to sit in the dark for a while before something happens. Now the dark is a time when all is bleak and nothing is happening. I mean zilch! For Saul it was three days, for some it may be a month or one year, for others two. During this time we may get troubled, thinking ok God, nothing is happening but you said I should wait and it will happen....
It's not gonna be a peachy ride I can tell you that much...but hold on for the time will come, when just like Saul, the scales will be removed from your eyes and you will be able to see again.
God will show you and move you into the role and place where you will fulfil your destiny.
In Acts 9:20 Saul is preaching Christ to many and by verse 22 he's increasing in strength and confounding the Jews. This man went on to write most of the New Testament which has been read by millions all over the world. Now how's that for a great comeback!

Some of the people who saw him during his blind days might have thought, that's it...that's the end of him. But they were in a for a surprise, because God pulled him out when he knew that Saul was ready and turned him into a force to be reckoned with. If you find yourself experiencing the dark, get ready for all is not lost...God is getting you ready for the ride of your life!

Don't dream your life away....make it happen!

I don't know anyone that had a dream and didn't have to fight or slave away to make it happen. Whatever your goal in life, its not just going to drop on your lap whilst you're sitting there sipping tea. It will require a lot of passion and hard work on your part. 


Now you may want to be a singer, an actor/actress, a writer, a stand up comedian, a business owner, a missionary, an inventor or maybe you just want to start up your own church. Whatever it may be, wishful thinking ain't gonna get you there honey! Trust me. Just because you want it real bad doesn't mean it's just going to happen. If you do nothing about it...guess what's gonna happen? NOTHING! You have to make up your mind that you're really going to go for it and keep pursuing it until it happens.

I'm going to use the example of an aspiring singer to talk you through a process that can help you make progress with your dream whatever it may be.


Now you may be thinking I don't want to do any of that, well this is applicable to every area of life. Even if your greatest aspiration is to be a housewife and mum. For you to be able to run a home successfully and raise your children well, you will need to work hard. You may need to read books or watch programmes on parenting skills, marriage, cooking and so on. You will also need to develop your time management skills to be able to manage all the chores and things that have to be done in the home without tiring yourself out.

Now if you're a Christian, a good place to always start is to seek God's guidance and once you have clear direction...go for it like never before!

Firstly you need to make a plan...so think clearly about what you want to do...then write it down.
Once you have a clear destination, then map out an action plan about how you can get there.

So lets take the example of the person who wants to be a singer. Maybe they feel they have songs in their heart which could encourage other people. So that person's goal could be to release a CD album with inspirational songs.

1.Now a good place to start would be to find out whats going on in the world of music. Research is essential before you launch into any project. Is there a place in the market for the type of stuff you want to sing? Is there anyone else doing something similar? If your research supports what you want to do go for it. If your idea doesn't seem feasible try fine tuning or tweaking it here and there.

2.Next start getting training to develop your voice, join classes to enhance your voice. No matter how good you already are, there's always someone out there who knows a little more than you do and you can always learn a thing or two.

3.Practise, Practise, Practise! The more you do so, the better you become. All accomplished athletes and sports people practise everyday...even Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods practised to keep themselves on top of their game. If they had to, what more us mere people,huh?

4. Start producing samples of your work, doing demos and so on. Make sure they are of good quality and copyright them, invest money into it because you want to impress those that will see the cover or listen to them.

5. Sing as much as you can, be it in a choir or as a soloist, offer to sing at weddings and parties. For those doing more circular stuff, you can sing at live gigs in hotels, restaurants. Find out what opportunities are available to showcase yourself and go for it, no matter how small the opportunity may seem. You never know who may be in the crowd listening.
Also there are shows like X-Factor, Pop Idol and so on where if you're good enough, you can get exposure and even if you don't win, someone out there might still like you enough to give you a shot and possible sign you up.

6. Network. Go to festivals, music live shows, and other places where you can meet other musicians who are singing something similar to what you want to do. Go to places where you will meet other people in your chosen genre that you're interested in. Put yourself out there and give your demo to people in high places or those who know people in high places. (but please don't be pushy) In some cases you may meet producers and the like and who knows you could be the next soul sensation...

7. Learn all about your Mentor. Most of us have someone in our chosen field who has done well and we admire. For instance, you may want to be a film writer and producer like Tyler Perry. Find out all you can about how they got started and what they did to get to where they are. Most people now have biographies and if they don't the internet is a good source of information (although please make sure your sources are credible)
Of course God may have a different path for you that is not similar to theirs, but its always encouraging and inspiring to see how other people went from zero to hero by the grace of God.

8. Prayer is essential! Throughout the whole process don't forget to pray for God's anointing to be upon everything you do. If you're gonna sing songs, I'm sure you'll want your songs to deliver people from bondage and sin or to encourage those who are weak and so on. Without the anointing your songs will be just mere words - with no power...and what a shame that would be.
Also pray for favour, that God will lead you to the right people who will help you with your dream. And once you get to the top, please don't forget the One that got you there, for without God we can do nothing.

9. And finally Persist! Its not going to happen overnight. You will probably have to get immune to the word "NO". You're gonna have to develop a hard skin coz if you're too sensitive and take things personally you ain't gonna get anywhere. If someone says no, move onto the next. Don't ever give up. Disappointments will be many along the road, but hang in there.... You know Colonel Saunders, the founder of KFC had his recipe for chicken declined just over a 1 000 times by prospective business partners. But he kept trying. Now tell me, would you keep trying a thousand times like he did?

We all know about Martin Luther King Jr or at least we pretend to..lol Anyway this man was passionate about his dream to see an end to segregation in America. He led many a peaceful demonstrations and movements to further his cause. He also wrote books and gave money to help the civil rights movement. King was arrested more than twenty times and assaulted at least four times. His dream cost him his life eventually but I'm sure he's smiling as he looks upon his nation being governed by an African American.
Friend, if they could persevere till the end, so can you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O02kxh5NMSI&feature=related

So ... there's a new man in town!

There's mixed feelings about the election results and more so about the new Coalition government. Some are thrilled because they wanted the Tories or the Lib Dems in power and in their eyes half a Tory or Lib Dem is better than nothing in their eyes...
Some are looking on with somewhat an apprehensive mindset...they're not sure what to expect from this new government and new Prime Minister, David Cameron.

They have not forgotten the days gone by of the era of the Tories rule. One has only to think of  the Iron Lady and I guess that thought brings shivers down one's spine. I guess only time will tell whether the new dispensation will do us, the public, any favours or will they work to only serve their own interests and rule us with an iron rod yet again.

To my bros and gals in Christ I would say whatever the case, we don't need to worry too much about who's in power because no matter what the economy or political situation is like, we know that we are citizens of a higher and better kingdom. God's got our back and He will see us through any crisis.

God says we should honour those in authority because he has allowed them to get into that position; so let's pray for them
and put this nation into the hands of God. And if you were not happy about the way things turned out but you didn't vote maybe now is the time to rethink your strategy or if you weren't registered, go online and register your name so that come next election, you will be amongst the many at the polls. Don't complain about things if you aren't prepared to do your part to effect change...that's some advice for free right there.

It seemed funny seeing David entering No 10 so soon after Gordon Brown had left...one of my friends remarked..."He's moving in already...I bet the bed is still warm..."
I, for one have always had a soft spot for Gordon Brown. Yeah I like the man and I was sad to see him go. His farewell speech was so touching last night and I wish him well in Scotland. So long papa Brown, we will miss you. (well some of us at least)

Thank God its Fridddaaaaayyy!

Hey guys ... thanks so much to all those who have emailed me, commented or verbally given me feedback on the blog posts. I'm glad that you have enjoyed the stoy so far and I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it.

However I won't be able to write tonight seeing as its Friday and this girl needs some time to unwind, kick back and get some fresh air. Yesss I'm going out ... thats what young girls like me do to kick start the weekend. The new J.Lo movie "The Back Up Plan" is out today, who knows I may end up there... :-)

I will be completing the story soon ... so look out for the conclusion...
Some people have asked for a sneak preview on what's gonna happen...but I'm not saying...that would be tellin innit?
However if anyone wants to try and guess the ending feel free to write it in the comments and who knows...the person who guesses right or gets closer to the truth might get a little sumfin sumfin...lol *If you decide to guess the ending and write it in the comments...one word of caution...Please lets keep it clean guys* Ta!

Have a lovely weekend ya'll.