Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Recovering the lost axe head

By Prophet O. Azuka
10 October 2021   |   3:02 am
An axe head, as presented in the scriptures above for consideration this week, is an important implement for the sons of prophets to work with. The sons of the prophet might have handled

Azuka

Text: 2 Kings 6:1-7

An axe head, as presented in the scriptures above for consideration this week, is an important implement for the sons of prophets to work with. The sons of the prophet might have handled the axe without knowing full well the importance of it until it was lost. But as soon as it fell into the water, they realised how empty they were in fulfilling their assignments without the axe.

The axe here is likened to fasting and prayer; the backbone of believers; the very spiritual strength of Christians. Regrettably, this important weapon of warfare has been lost by the church of Christ and no one cares about it. Jesus knew the importance of it. He started His ministry with fasting and prayer to enable Him to accomplish His mission on earth. It was the strength He derived from the long fasting and prayer programme that kept Him throughout His ministry on earth. Therefore, the importance of this programme to the church of Christ cannot be overemphasised. It is the spiritual muscle of believers. Howbeit, the church has neglected it.

Spiritual equipment and fortifications can only be acquired in the room of prayer. Bible school philosophy and knowledge cannot equip any preacher to proclaim the Word that has the potency of transforming souls. Conferences and seminars cannot build a church that Christ died for. The only secret to building a lively church that will please the Almighty God is fasting and prayer. There is no shortcut to this laid down pattern put in place by Jesus Christ Himself. This is the only way to salvage the church Christ died for and turn the letters that flooded many pulpits to the spirit that gives life.

There was a law in the Old Testament that kept the house of God going: there must be fire at the altar, which must burn unquenchably day and night. The church does not need firewood to generate such fire but fasting and prayer. This fire of prayer must always burn in the house of God; otherwise, the devil will take over the pulpit, as it is doing in some churches today. Fasting and prayer is the source of strength for any living church. A church that neglects fasting and prayer is dead spiritually, notwithstanding the noise being generated in those churches.

Lack of prayer engenders frustration in the house of God. The problems that suppress believers are a result of weakness in fasting and prayer. The unwarranted deaths and sicknesses that reign among believers ought not to be so if the fire of prayer is kept burning. Many things have replaced the place of prayer, so much so that ministers patronise demonic powers to perform signs and wonders in the house of God. This is madness taken too far! There is also a misplacement of the scriptural standard of fasting. Some have turned it to another thing and call it different names, such as dinner fasting, while others go to their daily business only to gather in the evening to conclude with snapshot prayer. This is not the fasting the Lord has chosen.

This period of 21-day fasting and prayer in Kingdom Power is a serious moment with the Almighty God. It is a time that heaven makes His choices in the lives of people. It is only those who will prepare and make themselves available that will be chosen. The world needs Jesus and we are the ones to take Him to them. But this can only be achieved in the room of prayer. This is the secret place of power that controls the universe. The church must make the house of God a place where the voice of God can be heard again and not the voice of a man. The church must return to God through scriptural fasting and prayer. This is the only way to bring back God to the temple. Until then, the church may be playing religion.

Obviously, the axe head of fasting and prayer has fallen, floating in the water. We must stretch forth ourselves from a deep slumber to recover it.

For further reading: Matt 4:1-2, 3,4; 17:3; Exo. 34: 27-28; Joel 1:13-15; 2:15-27; Exo. 24:15-20; 1 Kings 19:7-12; Micah 7:18-19; Matt. 16:18; 2 Cor. 6:3.

You can fellowship with us @ Kingdom Power International Christian Praying Centre, 65, Oluwatedo Road, Cele Road, Isashi, Ojo, Lagos State.

For details of our programme, visit us @www.kpicpc.org. You can also follow us live on Facebook @kpicpc & YouTube @ kpicpc.

In this article

0 Comments