Fountain of Living Waters Ministries (FOLWAMS)

SPIRITUALLY AMBITIOUS OR A GOD SEEKER?

PSALM 24:6

Just as one can be ambitious physically, one can also be ambitious spiritually too.

Sometime ago, I listened to a preacher and he mentioned the number of hours he spent praying and I was challenged.

Right in that meeting I made up my mind to jack up my prayer life and I set it as a goal. Immediately after I left the place I began to work at my new goal and was I able to meet up my new goal? Yes I did and I was excited and very happy.

It continued like that for some time, I was hitting the mark that I set for myself at all cost and along the line I was so consumed with meeting that mark that I didn't notice that it was creeping into the time I spent to sit in the presence of the Holy Spirit just to hear Him speak to me.

He stopped being the Lord of that prayer time. If He wanted me to worship, I would stifle the worship because I wanted to meet that prayer target.

When His voice is coming during that prayer time and I was suppose to stop praying and listen to what He has to say, I suppressed that voice just so I can make the prayer target.

I became the lord of that prayer time and He allowed me have my way but not for too long because I began to notice that something was terribly missing.

I was hitting the mark I set for myself and I was happy that I could pray for that number of hours but I began to notice something else too.

Though I was praying for longer hours but the particpation of the Holy Spirit during those long hours of prayer began to reduce, infact it was obviously missing.

Then one day in His mercy, the Holy Spirit told me I was being spiritually ambitious and I have shifted my focus from seeking Him to meeting a target that I have set for myself.

He granted me the desire of my heart for I was able to pray for as long as I desired but there was a leaness in my soul, evidenced by the lack of His participation in those long hours of prayer, Psalm 106:15.

It wasn't what it used to be when my focus was just seeking Him and not hitting a mark.

Am I saying it is wrong to pray for very long hours? No. Am I saying it is wrong to press into God and stretch? No.

But as long as it is done to satisfy an ambition and not to seek more of God, we won't get the best out of those long hours of prayer or voluminous bible study or fasting or any spiritual activity at all.

You can read the Bible everyday just because your Pastor said if you are not reading your Bible everyday you are not a serious christian.

You can join a unit in the church just so that the church leaders can leave you alone and stop labelling you as unserious with your destiny.

You can pray for many hours just because you heard someone whom you considered to be a spiritual giant say he does that too.

You can fast so that you can boast when you get into the midst of fellow believers that you have fasted for 100 days, Isaiah 58:4.

The real thing is not how long you fast, pray or study the Bible but who and what those activities open you up to.

All these things are not an end in themselves, they are a means to an end. The end is that you encounter LIFE(JESUS) in doing them, John 5:39.

At the end of those activities, what did you get out of it. Can you say you touched something in God or know more of Him?

Does God become more real to you? Has your faith in Him jack up to a higher level? Has His voice become clearer to you more than before?

What about the level of His righteousness, love, peace and joy that is in you, has it increased after engaging in those spiritual activities?

Is your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit sharper at the end of those spiritual activities. Are you getting better in accuracy and precision in your walk with God?

At some point, the practice of the law became mere ritual to the Israelites because God stopped being their focus.

So they didn't care whether God was pleased with the way they live their lives or not, they just kept observing the sabbath, the new moon, bringing the ram, bull and doves, paying tithe, Isaiah 1:11-14.

They never missed the passover and the three times their men were to appear before God annually; just doing what Moses handed over to them, Amos 4:4&5, 5:4&5.

It didn't began like that, God was their focus when they started, but subtly God was phased out and all they were doing though spiritual became mere religion, no life in it at all.

It was so bad that the Pharisees and Sadducees, the scribes, teachers of the Law and even the high priest could not recognize Jesus as the son of the very God they claim to be serving so religiously.

They considered entering the palace of the Roman Governor a more grievious sin that would make them ceremonially unclean and disqualfy them from participating in the passover; than killng Jesus, the very son of God, so they didn't enter Pilate's palace, he had to come out to meet them, John 18:28-29. Religion is terrible!

Anything at all done in the flesh whether it is praying in tongues, reading the Bible, fasting or going to church profiteth little. It is whatever is done by and in the Spirit that gives life, John 6:63.

WHATEVER SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY YOU ENGAGE IN, MAKE SEEKING HIM THE REASON BEHIND IT.

Look for His voice when you pray, don't just look at the number of hours. Look for His voice when you read the Bible, don't be too eager to finish ten chapters so that you can boast to your friends when next you meet.

You must love Him more than reading the Bible or praying or fasting or going to church. Do only those things because they are the activities that reveal Him and if when you do them you don't encounter Him refuse to be satisfied by those activities without Him.

A man of God once said if Jesus leaves heaven and go to hell, I will follow Him to hell. You know why he could say that? He loves Jesus more than heaven. He only loves heaven because Jesus is there. His pursuit is Jesus not heaven.

So wherever He is that is where He wants to be regardless of the name of the place. Anything at all can become a distraction in our pursuit of Him, even so called spiritual activities that should help us find Him.

Look for His voice when you go to church, don't just go and mark register. Let seeking Him be the reason why you fast not just so that you can fulfil a spiritual ambition.

LET HIS VOICE BECOME YOUR MOST TREASURED POSSESSION NOT ACTIVITIES. SUCH THAT WHEN YOU HAVE NOT FOUND HIM, NO MATTER THE NUMBER OF HOURS SPENT IN ACTIVITIES YOU ARE STILL NOT SATISFIED!

You may be reading this message and you are yet to give your life to Jesus. This is another opportunity for you to make that decision for the Lord by saying this prayer and mean it genuinely from your heart:

Lord Jesus, I love You with all my heart, I believe that You are the Son of God that died and shed His blood for my sins. Today, I receive Your life and I declare that I am Yours.

Congratulations, you are now born again.

PEACE

SALVATION PRAYER

Anything short of you being born again and living a life of holiness and purity hurt Jesus so much. But you can make things right here and now by saying this simple prayer and mean it genuinely from your heart:

Lord Jesus I come to you today. I acknowledge that I am a sinner and I cannot help myself. I repent of all my sins and I forsake them. Jesus, I invite you into my life, be my Lord, be my Saviour.

Wash me by your precious blood, forgive my sins and write my name in the book of life. From this day, I promise to follow you all the rest of my life. Help me Lord, in Jesus name, Amen. Congratulations you are now born again!

PEACE

CONTACT US:

folwams@gmail.com

+2347033299066

OUR SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

Twitter account: @OTEGBADE OLAYIN8

Facebook: Otegbade Olayinka

Whatsapp: +2347033299066

Instagram: Otegbade Olayinka

Telegram: FOLWAMS

Call: +2348052105284

Blog site: folwams.blogspot.com