Putting the words into action – 20 February 2008

In December 2007 and January 2008, I was in my motherland of Africa for work and holiday. As a believer I have long since learnt that the devil wants to kill, maim and destroy - but the Lord came in order to give us life and life in abundance. I have therefore been teaching myself or practising how to live by faith just like an athlete aiming for gold in world competition would.

One of the things I heard when I was preparing for my journey was, there is no fuel. So how are you going to travel? Though this may have been a reality in the natural I spoke to the Lord about the situation in prayer, but most importantly to anybody who spoke words of unbelief to me I replied: "It will not take place, it will not happen to me, according to the words of prophet Isaiah 7: 7. And so it came to pass that when I needed some fuel, I always found myself at a filing station with fuel and there were no queues for fuel. By the way we take for granted that we can get whatever we want when we want it in this prosperous nation. But not so in others!

Next I saw on cable news that a cyclone from the Indian Ocean was heading for the city of Maputo where I was going to visit in a couple of days. Again I spoke to the Lord about the situation, but most importantly to those who spoke unbelief I said “it will not happen to me!”

I went further and spoke to “the mountain” in prayer: “You cyclone I command you to fall apart in the Name of Jesus! It is written I shall command you and you shall move and cast thyself in the sea. Be thou removed and be gone in the Name of Jesus!” I kept confessing this prayer time and time again even as I set off on my journey and you know what it never rained or showed any sign of winds during my stay in Mozambique.

When I visited my parents in Mutare Zimbabwe, my younger brother warned, “Please don’t park your car here (at home) overnight. Our next door neighbours woke up in the morning 2 weeks ago to find their new car similar to yours vandalised by thieves. They didn’t hear a thing during night.”

I replied to my loving and well meaning brother “It will not happen to me according to the word of Isaiah chapter 7: 7! Have you not heard that a thousand may fall to the left and ten thousand to the right but it will never come near my tent!”

Having declared this I asked him and our parents to agree with me in prayer for protection of our car and for a wonderful holiday. I spent the next 10 days with my parents, parking my hired car overnight in the open space in front of my parents’ house and nobody touched it or came near our property.

I believe the Lord answered my prayer because my confession and words were always consistent with His word. I did not pray in faith and then cancel my request by speaking words of doubt. I did not sow seeds of faith and then plough again in the same field the next moment by speaking words of unbelief.

Why it’s important to speak the Lord’s promises in difficult situations is again demonstrated in the story of the twelve elders sent to spy the land of Canaan and ten of them came with a bad report. Only Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter Canaan because of what they said Numbers 14: 30.