Play your part!

Message of the Week 2:

Prayer is not the Answer

Sam Adeyemi

Prayer is good no doubt, however, in most areas of life, prayer is not always required. There are a lot of people who pray to God regularly with no change or improvement in their circumstances. This is because as much as God is all-powerful and can do all things, we have a part to play. Anyone who only prays without corresponding action will live a life of mediocrity. We abdicate our responsibility by asking God, through prayer, to do what we should do. God will not do for you what you can do for yourself. There are ways we can resolve issues instead of praying non-stop about them. God has endowed us with the power and creative ability we need to deal with life’s issues.

 

Here are some of the things we ought to do rather than just praying about them:-

 

Help people in need, if you have the capacity to do so, rather than just praying about their issues. Give a hungry person food not prayers.

· Appreciate people by saying thank you whenever you have been shown any goodness. Ingratitude closes the doors of opportunity and prayer will not open them.

· Where we need to add value to our lives, prayer will not suffice. Get an education or more education and don’t pray only.

· Be humble. James 4: 6; the prayer of the proud will not be answered because God resists the proud.

· Maintain personal hygiene and strive to look good all the time. Prayer will not solve the problem of achieving a decent appearance.

· Prayer is not the answer to prospering financially rather obey the command ‘Give’ Luke 6: 38. Pay your tithes and give offerings.

· Associate with the right set of people. Surround yourself with visionaries. Your life will not change or improve until you change your circle of influence.

· Speak the right words because words are creative. Our words create our destinies. After you’ve prayed speak positive words. More prayers will not make any difference.

· Forgiveness is required for prayers to be answered. Unforgiveness hinders our prayers from being answered. Matthew 6: 15

· Form the habit of saving part of what you earn; if you don’t save money, prayer will not help in times of hardship.

· Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 19: 19. Where love is needed, prayer is not the answer. Prayer will not avail much when love is needed.

· Do not be stuck with the age barrier. Your solution to a problem might be with a younger person but trying to hold your position of seniority might deprive you of it while the problem lingers, prayer is not the answer. It is not by age but by grace. Job 32; 6-9.

· Deal with wickedness if you choose to have peace. Here also prayer will not suffice. The wicked person can never have peace.

· Where obedience is required, prayer is not the answer. Obey God, obey authority figures. Disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft.

· Learn to apologize whenever you are wrong; say sorry! Prayer will not replace an apology.

 

Don’t stop communing with God through prayer but learn to do your part by acting and God will do His.

 

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It's not the titles we bear that matter, but the tasks we accomplish...

Message of the Week:

The Holy Spirit and your Assignment

Sam Adeyemi

Your assignment is the area of service into which God has called you to meet needs and solve problems in people’s lives. To fulfil these assignments, the Holy Spirit equips us with different gifts to suit the different assignments. In GAL 2:7-9, Paul describes how he was called to be an apostle to the uncircumcised; and Peter to the circumcised. God worked effectively through both of them, to different people and for different purposes.


To fulfil your assignment, you first must discover the problem you have been empowered by God to solve. The Holy Spirit will stir your heart towards a particular need or problem; so we must learn to be sensitive to His nudgings. With the power of the Holy Spirit on our lives, we will achieve extraordinary results because grace is available in your area of calling. When God’s unusual power is working through you, it’s perceivable. So, to discover your assignment, go to God. Ask God, “What will you have me do?” not “What will you do for me?” Remember... seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all things will be added unto you...”


Other tips for discovering your God-gvien assignment include:

Be sensitive to your passions. What touches your heart and motivates you? What do you really love doing?

X-ray your past experiences, what works for you?

Maximize opportunities to serve, e.g. In church. You can start with the prayer group if you can’t seem to identify with any unit.

Check your design - are you a thinker, speaker or planner? You were specially crafted for the fulfilment of your unique assignment.

Work hard! Use your potential to the best. Nothing works until your work it. Laziness and the anointing cannot work together. To fulfil purpose you must work in consonance with God.

In our nation today, we need, more than ever before, apostles, people with pioneering spirits who will break away from tradition and establish new standards for everyone. Without change there cannot be improvement. However, this is not attainable with human ability. The anointing of the Holy Spirit makes the difference.
 
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10 things...

First let me apologize to myself for missing out on last weeks post. I got caught up in the week’s activities though I was mindful of my commitment to post on this blog every week.

I forgive myself. Thank you. (You’re welcome)

Last night I had a discussion with a dear friend. It started with a question:

Why do good relationships go bad?

A while back I stumbled on a book about relationships, marriage, and divorce etcetera. The author was a marriage counselor (of course he should be!) and he gave an account of couples having a terrible time in their young marriages and coming to him for help.

He would give each of them a chance to express themselves. And what was interesting was that each partner made solid cases for wanting a separation or divorce. So at the end of the day no one seemed right or wrong. No one had the upper hand. Each had a valid list of complaints.

However the author had what he called a master key for healing sour relationships. After each had talked and flared up and cried, he would tear out two sheets of paper and give to each partner.

"I would like you both to take the next thirty minutes and write down ten things you like or appreciate about your partner. Do not focus on the anger you feel right now. Forget about who is wrong or who needs to apologize."

They would look at him quizzically like he was mad or something.

"Didn't you hear all we just said? We want a divorce. If she/he can't apologize or change there is no point!"

"Please calm down and just flow with me for the next 30 minutes. If you can’t think of anything likeable in your partner right now, cast your mind back to when you first met. Write down ten things that thrilled you about him/her back then and see if there is still something about your partner you still admire"

They would go silent and begin to think back.

1. He does have a nice smile.
2. She is creative.
3. I like her cooking.
4. Back then he was so romantic. He still is come to think of it.
5. I like the way she swings those hips!
6. I like his confident nature.
7. She is God fearing
8. I love the fact that he is always full of ideas
9. I must confess she is intelligent. I love that about her.
10. I love him for sticking with me all these years, showing commitment even when things were rough.
11. She always encourages me. At least she used to do that then.
12. When she wears those tight jeans I melt like butter on a hot knife!
13. Though he can be a grouch, but on a good day, he is so funny. And when he starts dancing....
14. She is great with the children…

According to the author, they would start writing their list in his office and within minutes he would notice a change. The tension in the air would tangibly reduce. Sometimes one of them would break out into a reluctant smile. He would then ask them to go home and make the list up to twenty points.

Usually by the time they came back the next day, they would be holding hands and smiling and acting like 16 year olds. Most of them that is.

What’s the moral of the story?

Anything you focus on with intensity becomes magnified and starts to grow. Whatever you think about mostly becomes your reality. If you dwell so much on the faults of others instead of concentrating on what is lovely about them you will end up having many sour relationships. If you dwell on your joblessness or lack of money all the time, the problem just seems to become more and more overwhelming as the days go by.

The Bible even encourages us in Philippians to think about things that are lovely, pure, commendable, true etcetera.

No matter what you are going through right now choose to focus your thoughts on the positives, be it an uncomfortable relationship, a financial or workplace crisis, an impending job interview, a business going bad, no matter what, choose to see things in a positive light.




Take your pen out now, (or even post it as a comment to this article), write out ten things you like about life right now, or ten things you love about your boyfriend or wife, or ten wonderful things that have happened to you in the past one year. Just take time out now to write ten things. And see the lift it will give you.

Take it easy folks.

And thanks for stopping by.

The Secret To Having More...

Hello there. Its another week, the 24th week of the year 2010. And as I indicated in my last post, it's my intention to post a fresh article every week to keep this blog alive and you all my (few) readers, motivated.

I stumbled accross a very short but very profound statement this morning while reading a variety of internet articles. I found it on the pages of a free online ebook which I downloaded. The author of this book quoted the statement and claimed it was his own personal summary of all the secrets of success ever written.

The statement is: "To have more...Be more..."

I sort of agree with him because by the time you think about it, analyze it and digest it, you may realize that your level of success today depends on what is deposited inside of you: your skills, abilities and capacities. Before anyone starts responding with, "hey it is God who blesses", or "it is not of him that willeth but of God that showeth mercy", let me explain:

Why does a roadside mechanic earn more than a security guard? Why does a banker earn more than a roadside mechanic? Why does a CEO earn more than a secretary or typist? One has a more valuable set of skills and abilities than the other, that's why!



Yes I know some people have so many skills and talents and yet wallow in mediocrity and poverty. But that is because they still lack one or two vital ingredients to trigger off the success in life they need. That one ingredient may be discipline, the ability to concentrate on a certain task, the ability to rest at night, or even, a vibrant relationship with God. It may be a fear of God or love for fellow human beings that may be lacking. Whatever it is, the principle is that to have more, you have to BE more!



You want to HAVE more success? Become the person who deserves that success. Learn something new in your field or even something entirely unrelated to your field. Practise a new daily discipline, read more books, exercise more, be more friendly, be more compassionate. You want to HAVE more happiness? Give more, sing and dance more, laugh more, watch more comedies.

You want a more fruitful spiritual life? Be more spiritual, pray more, read your Bible more, praise and worship more.

You want to have more money? Save more. Learn more about money. Develop and acquire more financial skills and intelligence.

You want to have more friends? Be more friendly. You want a different set of friends? Be different!

Well, I leave the rest to our minds for deeper meditation. As always, feel free to contribute, comment or just simply say, "wow! great post! lovely blog!"

Till next week, I am saying "You can be more, you can have more, just believe!!"

Cheers

Motivation for The Week! 1

I'm back!

First I must sincerely apologize to myself, fellow bloggers, followers and of course visitors for not being consistent in updating my blogs regularly. Please forgive me.

(Me says: You are forgiven)

Thanks!

While getting ready for the day I had this sudden strong inspiration to start a series I will call "Motivation for the Week". In this series (so help me God), I will simply be staying true to the spirit and mission behind Cognito Files which is to provide encouragement for the soul.

And the message for this week is simple but pregnant with high-intensity inspiration:

Look backward with Gratitude...and forward with confidence!

No matter how depressing or disappointing your past is, no matter how terrible, you must try to be thankful. Thankful to God for bringing you through it. And thankful to the various people who stood by you or made a positive difference. In fact you can decide right now to take the time to send those people thank you messages, thanking them for just being there, or for any help they rendered.

Then look ahead. The future is full of so many unknowns and uncertainties. Rather than allowing fear to unsettle you, decide to be full of confidence. Confidence in God. Confidence in your strengths and abilities.

You can make it! Only believe.

Stay Motivated!

PS: dont hesitate to give me comments or feedback on any article in this series. And be good enough to forward any post to others if you think it may make a positive difference.

Cheers