Understanding What Is Required To Provoking Greater Favours, by Brother Adeshina Adelusi
Introduction
As an introduction, I will like to say that the bible is essentially a book of covenants. And what is a covenant?
“A covenant is a deal enacted by God based on well-defined terms and sealed with an oath” (Oyedepo, 2015). Hebrew 6:12-18 (NKJV):
12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”[a] 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might[b] have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
1. God made a promise to Abraham but in order for him to obtain this promise, there was what he had to do, he had a part to play in actualising the promise. Therefore, we can see here that a covenant is a deal sealed by an oath, that is, God swearing by his integrity to bring to pass his promise.
2. We must also understand that, we do not serve a promise keeping God, we serve a covenant keeping God. Psalm 89:34
34 My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.
3. So, every blessings of scripture has a condition attached and when these conditions are met, it is upgraded to a covenant; which is binding on God to fulfil. In the same way, every provisions in scripture has conditions to be met before they are released. That means, if we fulfil our part of the deal, we commit God’s integrity to perform his part.
4… Let’s take for example, Luke 13:3,5
Salvation, as free as it is, you cannot take delivery of it until you repent (that’s the condition), i.e. if you are too big to repent, you are too big to be saved, same as healing, you need faith to take delivery of it. Matthew 9:27-29 (NKJV):
27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”
– And where people could not fulfil this condition, the bible recorded that Jesus could not do no mighty work in their mist. Matthew 13:58 (NKJV):
Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
5. So therefore, a covenant is not a promise, it is a deal that places a demand on you to fulfil your part before God can be committed. Jeremiah 33:20-21 (NKJV):
20 “Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers.
6. Another thing I’ve realised is that we do not operate by LUCK in the kingdom of God. In fact, I looked through scripture and I never came across that word (It is not scriptural). That means, in the life of a believer, things don’t happen by luck, they must have provoke God to action. Covenant practice is better than getting lucky because you are not sure of luck but you sure of covenant.
Main text
Favour therefore is one of the provisions of scriptures; it therefore means that there is what you must do in order to provoke its release. So what does it take for me to take delivery of Gods favour in my life? But before that let’s look at a few things about favour?
1. Favour is what adds flavour to a man’s life.
2. Favour enhances a Human dignity.
3. Favour adds value to life.
4. Favour eradicates sweat to increase pleasure.
For His anger is but for a moment, His favour is for life; (Psalm 30:5a)
5. So, It is God’s favour that determines the limit of our future; and the quality of any life is a function of the favour of God at work in him. One day of God’s favour can terminate a lifetime of labour
In proverbs 13: 15 (NKJV):, it says:
Good understanding gains favour, but the way of the unfaithful is hard. [Unfaithful here can also mean IGNORANT!]
6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6). Not necessarily the lack of knowledge of what they want but a lack of knowledge of what is required for what they want to be delivered.
– We all know the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:16-17 – 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
– And the story of Abraham in Genesis 12:1-4 – Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
So, the question is, why do we have many frustrations? I want to believe that the ignorance of these conditions are the main reasons for the frustrations we have.
What are some of the conditions to be met to provoke greater favour?
1. You must be saved: Salvation is a fundamental requirement and master key to assessing the favour of God because the misfortunes of man started at the fall, before the fall, man was an enviable creature basking in God’s favour. But God is merciful he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for your sins and my sins in order for us to be re-integrated and re-connected to him. Psalm 5:12
For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favour you will surround him as with a shield.
2. Pleasurable kingdom commitment or service: God desires that our commitment and service to him is pleasurable and not burdensome. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:30)” – God cannot be a burden because whatever makes God become a burden will inevitably make one’s life a misfortune. Psalm 102:13-14
You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favour her, Yes, the set time, has come. 14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favour to her dust.
– On the flip side, It is better to be unblessed than to receive a curse. Deuteronomy 28:47-48
47 “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.
– Matthew 6:33 – But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
3. Favour provoking prayers: Luke 18:1, Jesus speaking he said – “that men always ought to pray and not lose heart”
– The prayer of Jacob in Genesis 32:24-28
24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.”28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel;[a] for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
– The prayer of Jabez in 1 chronicles 4:9-10
9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez,[a] saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
– Hebrews 4:16: Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
4. Favour provoking sacrifices: God always responds with favour to our giving’s and sacrifices. Therefore do not rub God in your tithes. Malachi 3:10-11
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts;
– The story of the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:8-37: She sacrificed her house for Gods prophet and she got her long awaited blessing of a child.
5. Sowing seeds of favour: Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Ephesian 6:8 – knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
– If you are in a position to show favour to someone, please shows it, because in return you will receive the same from God.
6. Favour provoking praise: Psalm 67:5-7
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. 6 Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
– Favours always answer to fearful and violent praise, it may interest you to know that even a mortal man was provoke. Matthew 14:6
But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.
– David a man after God own heart in 2 Samuel 6:14, the bible recorded that – David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.
7. Embrace Discipleship: A disciple is man or woman who is consistently operating under the rule of Jesus Christ in his or her life. We need to actively represent God’s kingdom everywhere we are.
– The great commission in (Matthew 28:16-20)
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
– I realised that this command was given to disciples for a reason; because frankly speaking it takes a disciples to make other disciples.
– Proverbs 11:30b say that, And he who wins souls is wise. Souls are very paramount to God.
… Let’s consider this illustration as we close: If we split the year in two and commit to getting a soul to church every 6 months, in a year we would have tripled out current size.
Conclusion
2 Peter 1:2 – Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
– Favour multiplies by knowledge, when you know then you have a chance to act on what you know.
Prayer
– Lord help me to implement this word in my life, so I can reap the benefit thereof.
The sermon, Understanding What Is Required To Provoking Greater Favours, by Brother Adeshina Adelusi was delivered on September 20, 2015 at the Youth Service