Its that time of the year when various churches name the year with a statement of faith. Latter Rain – “Good success”, Daystar – “Soaring Higher”, Winners Chapel – “My new dawn”, FOTA – “Year of enlargements”, Believers Love World – “The Supernatural”, Salvation Ministries – “Expansion”, to name but a few.
Naming the year is in accordance with scriptures. God is in the business of giving names. One of the initial assignments God gave to the first man, Adam, was to name the animals. Our God is one who calls the things that are not as though they are. The prophetic is real.
Giving names to the year is however insufficient. Individuals need prepare for the manifestation of their declarations of faith. A major way to prepare is to pray continuously. This is critical and many churches and individuals are already doing this. But, there is more.
In II Kings 3:1-20, a combination of the army of Israel and Judah ran out of water on their way to fight the Moabites. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, decided to enquire of God through a prophet what must be done to get water and win the battle. Elisha gave a word of prophecy that assured the kings and their soldiers of a miracle of the provision of abundance of water from an unusual source.
The prophecy, like the annual declarations, had a proviso. They were to dig deep ditches in expectation of its fulfillment. Thankfully, they obeyed. Water did find its way to the ditches in abundance without wind, cloud, rain or other usual circumstances. It came from Edom, which was earlier in verse 8 referred to as a wilderness. It was a miracle!
What if they failed to dig the ditches? There would still have been the miraculous provision of water because God is a promise keeper. However, the provision would have become a disaster for the people. They would have been unable to store the water for use. They may have had a flood. The blessing would have been a waste.
There is a tendency for us to assume that the declaration of faith on what the year would bring means that all we need do is wait for the manifestation. Remember the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21)? He was so called because he waited for a miracle of surplus harvest before he decided to put up a bigger barn to keep the supply.
Your proclamation will come true but you must be ready for it so you are able to stand the blessing. Improve on your skills, commence that prayer meeting, buy that land, apply for the job, join that church department, read those books, invest in that relationship, open that account, break that alliance, write that proposal – dig your ditches!
Have a truly happy 2018.
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