PRAY! ABUNDANCE COMETH!
“Ask ye of the LORD
rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and
give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field” Zech. 10:1
Zechariah the prophet directs this statement to God to the
End-Time Church of God by hammering on the need for prayer for rain and also
consequential release of power, great grace, glory, abundance and exquisite
blessings from God. God had promised that there should be great plenty of corn,
and the vats shall overflow with NEW wine and oil [for example Joel 2:24] severally,
but the earth will not yield its fruits unless the heavens water it, and
therefore we all must look up to God for the dew and rain of heaven, in order
to the fatness and fruitfulness of the earth to come forth. God is saying here
do not pray to the clouds, nor to the stars, but pray for rain, to the Lord,
who is well able to do beyond our wildest imagination or petition.
“If I shut the heavens
so that there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the country, or
if I send pestilence among my people, if my people who bear my name humble
themselves, and PRAY and seek my presence and turn from their wicked ways, then
I will listen from heaven and forgive their sins and restore their country. Now
and for the future my eyes are open and my ears attentive to prayer offered in
this place” 2 Chron. 7:13-15 NJB [emphasis mine]
Unto God that answers prayer shall the people come. Rain of
this our appointed season is the great mercy from the throne room of Grace,
which we must ask of God, rain in the time of the latter rain, when there is
most need of it; this will usher in the greatest harvest or ingathering of
unbelievers into the barn of God with unbelievable signs and wonders to attest
to the authenticity of the word of God. The former rain fell at the seed-time
or time of sowing the seed of the word of God in our hearts, the latter fell in
the season when our faith have manifested and harvest time has come.
“But the land, whither
ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the
rain of heaven: A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD
thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of
the year. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my
commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to
serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. That I will give you the
rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain that you
may gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in
thy fields for thy cattle that thou may eat and be full. Take heed to
yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other
gods, and worship them; And then the LORD'S wrath be kindled against you, and
he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her
fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD give
you” Deut. 11:10-17
WHAT IS RAIN
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and
let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my
speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like
showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe
greatness to our God!” Deut. 32:1-3 ESV
God will give us showers of rain in great abundance, and so
give to every one grass in the field; for God is universally good, and makes
his rain to fall upon the just and the unjust. There are two twin towers that
rain and dew represents that is the Word and the Spirit of God. The seed of the
Word of God planted in our hearts that bring forth harvest is watered by the
Holy Spirit which acts as the spiritual manure for it to bud and grows into a
fruit tree, however harvest time requires the Latter Rain of the Spirit. We can
never come into abundance until the seed of the Word germinates, bear root
downwards and shoot upwards. It is the godly pathway to be commended to the
Word of His Grace which is able to build us all up and to give us an
inheritance among those who are sanctified.
“Therefore shall ye lay
up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon
your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach
them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And
thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land
which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon
the earth” Deut. 11:18-21
Time is ripe now for us all to show ourselves approved of
God, a workmen who needed not to be ashamed but rightly dividing the word of
truth. Until we know, comprehend and have spiritual insight to the seed of the
word of God we cannot understand the truth that sets free from bondage to
elements of these world and be empowered to prosper.
“Then shall we know, if
we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and
he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the
earth” Hosea 6:3
SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND
REVELATION KNOWLEDGE
There will be release of the former rain which we contact as
we study the word of God but a better and higher degree of revelation knowledge
and wisdom of God come for our understanding as the latter rain is released so
that the fruit can be ripened and we will have fruitful harvest of corn, the
new wine and the oil of power, authority, grace gifts and fresh anointing
[Psalms 92:10-14]
Paul said I never …
“Cease not to give
thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding
greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his
mighty power” Eph. 1:16-19
Under the figurative language of rain, the blessings of the
Holy Spirit, in his gracious influences, are directed to be sought for from the
Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ in the Lord’s Prayer also said that it is customarily
required to make mandatory demand of God and to ask Him for these blessings in
prayer [Luke 11:9-13; Matt. 7:7]. You seek this by praying to the Lord God to
send rain and then lustrous grass to grow in the field. The love, blessings and
favor of God, and the comfortable make discoveries of it.
“… his favor is as a
cloud of the latter rain” Prov. 16:15
What awesome promises of God to drop fatness on the earth so
that fruitfulness may abound and God Himself shall crown the year abundantly
with His goodness
“You visit the earth,
and waters it: thou greatly enriches it with the river of God, which is full of
water: thou prepares them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. You waters the
ridges thereof abundantly: You settles the furrows thereof: You makes it soft
with showers: You blesses the springing thereof. You crowns the year with thy
goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the
wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are
clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout
for joy, they also sing” Psalms 65:9-13
The Lord God visited his people, by the mission of his Son to
redeem them, whose coming was as the rain, the former and latter, to the earth
[Luke 1:68]; so God visited the Gentile world, by the preaching and teaching of
the Gospel by his apostles, whose doctrines when it is internalized dropped as
the rain, and distilled as the dew and small rain on the tender herb, and as
showers on the grass; and so made the wilderness to become a pool of water, and
the dry land springs of water.
The rain destined to
come at time like this in great abundance, and the discoveries of it are to be
asked for in prayers; in its effects, it softens and melts the heart of
hardened men into evangelical repentance; it cools and extinguishes the flaming
wrath of a fiery law in the conscience ridding us of evil conscience; it
refreshes and revives the drooping spirit until the joy of the Lord settles in,
and makes the barren soul to be abounding and fruitful: or the blessings of
grace to flow down from the throne room of Grace.
ABUNDANCE AND FRUITFULNESS
The latter rain are to be sought after, and asked for; they are
free grace gifts that are released abundantly when we have made requisition for
it diligently by faith.
These blessings are given largely and plentifully, and make
fruitful; spiritually speaking it makes the Lord of the Harvest Jesus Christ to
come into our heart as the spirit of grace which is a free gift of God to men,
that was sought after, and greatly desired, and to be desired, and we must be
very grateful when Jesus come as the rain. It is the Lord spiritual coming into
us in His power and release of kingdom in our hearts in this latter day. For
emphasis sake it must be earnestly wished and prayed for.
Rain do help to fulfil divine direction helping us to chart a
good course of sowing by the wisdom of God, sow aright; softens hard hearts;
comforts the souls of God's people; and it is a blessing to be desired, and
asked for; and will be enjoyed in great plenty in the latter day.
“And every plant of the
field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew:
for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a
man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered
the whole face of the ground” Gen. 2:5-6
No matter the circumstances, when we are in need of water for
the harvest to grow and abound with fruit, God will make adequate provision
that we shall not lack and He will ensure that fruitfulness will abound because
of adequate provision of water needed for growth and fruitfulness both as rain
or dew/mist. This is so "that he may give to them (the children of men)
corn to eat, and grass to the beasts in the field;''
“For as the rain cometh
down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the
earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower,
and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with
joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth
before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall
come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an
everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” Isa. 55:10-13
Some way or another God will take care to water the plants
that are of his own planting. God made a mist equivalent to a shower, and with
it watered the whole face of the ground. Thus he chose to fulfil his purpose by
the weakest means so that the excellence of the power might be of God. The New
Testament saints are the planting of the Lord or the trees of Righteousness
[Isa. 61:1] that God planted. In actuality, we are planted beside the Rivers of
Life [Psalms 1, Rev. 22:1-3] and whatever we do because of the release of water
of Life shall prosper. As we pray the Word of God will go forth to accomplish
its purpose, it will not come back without fulfilling God’s desire
DIVINE SPEED
“And it came to pass in
the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a
great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the LORD was on
Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of
Jezreel” 1 Kings 18:45-46
Elijah went to pray, though God had promised rain, he must
ask it [Zech. 10:1], and to give thanks for God's answer by fire, now hoping
for an answer by water.
“For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of
evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go
and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find
me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of
you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you
from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith
the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be
carried away captive” Jer. 29:11-14
This is the picture of the current day Church of God. There
is famine for a while now; it is the famine of knowing, hearing, understanding
and standing by faith in the declared Word of God [Amos 8:11] that cannot fail
but will surely come to pass except we refuse to seek for it in the place of
prayer.
The good Lord is set to do wondrous things according to His
many precious promises and good thoughts to bring His Church to His expected
end and fulfil the prophecies that has been spoken over the body of Christ.
The process of birthing forth this, is for the Church to come
to the place of birthing forth and groan in birth pangs [agonizing crying unto
the Lord – Push in prayers until something happened] just like the agonizing,
non-relenting and fervent prayers of Elijah that makes tremendous power for
actualizing God’s word dynamic in its working. However we must pray from the vantage
point of believing and trusting that God who promised will do as promised by
faith for these kinds of prayers to produce expected end. Elijah un-concededly prayed
not looking at the temporal drought for seven times until the hand of power of
God showed forth in the sky and there was heavy rain.
Stay with me now, Elijah running with bare legs outran the
chariot of king Ahab meaning that supernatural ability had been given to him as
God’s divine power of the Holy Ghost [Acts 1:8] came upon his natural to make
him supernatural in nature. The light affliction of famine was turned around and
a superlative divine ability called exceeding and eternal weight of the glory
of God given to him.
That is where the Church of God is matching up to on Mount
Zion if we will dare ask God for the rain and tarry there until the hand of
power of the Almighty Father shows up to save, deliver, heal and raise the
comatose Church from Her slumbering position.
“And when all things
are brought out to the light, then their true nature is clearly revealed; for
anything that is clearly revealed becomes light. That is why it is said,
"Wake up, sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ will shine on
you." Eph. 5:13-14
God shall bring the Church again into a state of knowledge,
holiness, and comfort, assisting us with his grace, and refreshing our minds
with joy and peace here and rewarding us with eternal glory at length if we
will become circumspect and leave unfruitful works of darkness alone and come
to the light of the spirit of wisdom and revelation knowledge of Christ “epignosis”
whereby we can know the things freely given to us by the Word and the Spirit of
God and in demanding for them in faith based [prayers, the Church can walk into
the heartbeat of God for this season of greater works and understanding who we
are in Christ Jesus. We must leave the arena of sin and death for Christ to
give us light.
“And Elijah said unto
Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain… In
a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow,
and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to
Jezreel. The power of the LORD came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight
around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel” 1 Kings 18:41, 45-46
GNB
Truly, I hear the SOUND of abundance of Rain! The POWER of
God is set to come upon you! Will you consecrate yourself and pray?
